In my Search presentation at SPC I demonstrated how to tap into Internet Explorer and Firefox’s search capability to detect open search definition files on the server. The technique is quite simple and the resulting effect very powerful. Open search defines where the browser can send a search query to the current site. It also enables visitors to save the settings of the current site as a search provider in order to send a query from any browser session.

Links

My Blog

https://ableblue.com/blog

Social Networking with MOSS

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/488d329d-306a-436d-a9fa-4b1e4037c8a61033.mspx

Blogs and Wikis in business

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/sharepoint/bb400751.aspx

CKS:EBE & EWE Wiki

http://www.codeplex.com/cks

Social Computing for SharePoint

http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/capabilities/collaboration/social.mspx

SharePoint Team Blog

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/

Mike Gannotti’s blog

http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/blogs/mikeg/default.aspx

News Gator

http://www.newsgator.com/

Code

My In Common With Web Part: SCP2008.ICW.Zip

Thanks to everyone who attended, I had a GREAT time!

Well, after a significant final push the CSK:EBE Team has released version 2.0 of the Community Kit for SharePoint: Enhanced Blog Edition!

The details are on the SharePoint Team Blog.

After I get my life back after the conference I’ll write more about the details. (Plus I have to upgrade this site!)

Thanks to everyone on the team, I am really proud of this effort.

The February version of the SharePoint SDK has been released! The notice is on the SharePoint Team Blog. As they say, while you are there update your Visual Studio Extensions for SharePoint.

I just finished a strange troubleshooting session. While attempting to start the WSS Search Service the process would create the database and then error out with “File not found”. There was a bit on information in the Event Log, but it all pointed to “File not found”.

I finally tried to launch regedit.exe and received the message:

"Registry editing has been disabled by the administrator."

Turns out there was a group policy in effect that limited the rights of the service account. We removed the restriction and everything started properly.

I’ll be speaking at South by Southwest Interactive on the Content Management System Roundup panel on Tuesday, March 11^th from 10-11a.m. I will represent SharePoint, while the other panel members will represent the other options available in the CMS space. It will be a short format as we only have an hour. Now all I need to figure out is how to cram everything that SharePoint does into a 10 minute talk!

I just had the pleasure to present at the Sleepless in Dallas event. Contestants receive 8 hours of training in SharePoint and then are split into teams. The teams receive a challenge and then have all night to design, develop and present a solution using what they learned.

My presentation on SharePoint Master Pages and Page Layouts. I covered how to create and troubleshoot master pages. The tool that I created to facilitate the process is my Page Anatomy master. You can download the file and use or customize as you see fit. One thing I notice is sometimes the master does not load correctly because the import process changes the URLs on the ~/_controltemplates/ references and removes the “~/”. After you import the page you may need to fix the references.

I am happy to announce that I will be presenting three topics at the SharePoint Conference 2008 in Seattle March 3-6.

Advanced Search Configuration and Management

Organizations intending to implement a search solution in SharePoint often approach this “technical problem” by asking “What do we need to index?”. While this approach may yield results they are usually less than optimal. The approach presented in this session begins with the user and drives to determine what the user needs and wants in their search experience. We will discuss:

I have been working on updating many of my “fundamental” skills lately. CSS and XSLT are two indispensable SharePoint skills that I find most SharePoint professionals lack. (Don’t get me started about basic HTML!) I recently picked up a book on CSS and the only good part of that book was that the author referenced HTML Dog. For all I care the other book could have only been one page stating “Go buy the HTML Dog book!”.

You’ve been asking (dare I say begging) for the Service Pack. Well, it’s finally here!

• Windows SharePoint Services V3 SP1
• MOSS 2007 Service Pack 1
• SharePoint Designer 2007 Service Pack 1
• Microsoft Office Suite SP1
• Microsoft Office Visio 2007

PLEASE: Read the directions carefully and review the guidance in Deploy Software Updates for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. For example the MOSS Service Pack depends on the WSS Service Pack.