Using color-coded calendars in SharePoint to manage resources

Color-coded calendars in SharePoint are a simple to create, visually appealing, popular and easy way to manage resources that, for whatever reason, cannot be managed using Outlook calendars. A common use case for this option is to manage pool cars in 'local' business areas (as opposed to the entire organisation). This avoids having to add …

Migrating to SharePoint Online Part 2 (implementation)

In my previous post I described what we did to prepare for the migration of our SharePoint 2013 (SP2013) environment to SharePoint Online (SPO). In this post I describe the process we undertook and the lessons we learned along the way. By August 2017 we had around 245 SP2013 sites across seven web applications: apps …

Migrating to SharePoint Online – Part 1 (Planning)

We implemented SharePoint 2010 in early 2012 and then upgraded to SharePoint 2013 in early 2015. After acquiring Office 365 enterprise licences in April 2016 we began to play for the migration of our existing on-premise environment to SharePoint Online. After testing the migration process with inactive sites, we started to migrate active sites from …

Can ‘traditional’ records management survive the digital future

At a conference last year I listened with interest to a panel discussion on the subject of 'paper versus digital'. Perhaps the debate was only meant to be light-hearted but it was clear that quite a few records managers continue to manage paper records and see them as their primary focus. In almost all cases …

Folders uninterrupted – the enduring problem of folders

In September 2014 I presented to the Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia (RIMPA)'s annual conference in Adelaide, South Australia, on the subject of folders and how it is possible to manage digital content differently using products like SharePoint. Last week a couple of people in completely different parts of the company I work for demonstrated …

Managing documents in SharePoint 2013 and SharePoint Online – what’s changed?

We are in the process of upgrading our extensive 'out of the box' SharePoint 2010 environment to SharePoint 2013 and, at the same time, setting up a limited SharePoint Online presence. So, what's changed in relation to managing documents as records? In SharePoint 2013, the short answer is 'not much'. However, there are some new …

Implementing SharePoint to manage documents – changing user behaviours

From around 25 years ago, computers began to replace paper-based processes for most office-based workers. Users grumbled and some (mostly at senior levels) managed to avoid using a computer altogether. The majority of office workers (who became known as 'users') just adapted to and eventually adopted the new work practices, often with the promise of …

Is your SharePoint team site a ghost town?

One of the best 'unknown' (to end users, anyway) features of SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint 2013 is 'Site Web Analytics', hidden away under Site Settings. This, out of the box, feature provides useful information such as the average number of site views per day, the average number of unique visitors per day, trends, as well …

SharePoint 2013 Site Disposal Policies

SharePoint 2013 includes the option to set a disposal date on site collections. This article describes how to configure a SharePoint 2013 site collection to include a site disposal policy. Default settings A site cannot be deleted (either manually or automatically) unless a Site Policy has been set up (exception - the SharePoint Administrator has …

Managing Physical Records in SharePoint 2010

It is sometimes said by records managers that one of the drawbacks of SharePoint 2010 (and SharePoint 2013) is that it doesn't manage physical records, or at least not very well. This article describes how to manage physical records in SharePoint 2010/2013 using a list that includes barcodes. Up front and out of the box, …