In this chapter you learned that:
q The traditional file system is not enough anymore. It is much too easy to create file chaos, where few, if any, have control of the information stored.
q Traditional document management systems, DMSs, are often very advanced and hard to use, which may be an obstacle when implementing a DMS in an organization.
q Traditional DMSs are not always so well integrated into MS Office.
q SharePoint enables you to create new columns for document libraries that contain metadata or properties for documents.
q Using SharePoint's view, documents can be sorted, presented, and grouped in a large number of ways, based on the column settings for the document library.
q By default SharePoint does not allow all file types to be stored in a document library, but that is easy to fix. However, be sure to protect your document library with SharePoint-enabled antivirus solutions.
q Each document library may have individual permission settings. All settings will be valid for all documents in that library.
q SharePoint allows unique permission settings for libraries and lists, plus folders and individual list items and documents.
q Create alerts when you want to be notified that a specific document or a folder has been updated.
q To keep track of changes in lists and libraries, you can also choose to configure them to be RSS feeds, then use Outlook 2007 as an RSS client.
q You can lock a file for editing by using Check Out; this will remain active until the user does a check in.
q An administrator can break an active checkout.
q SharePoint supports version history. However, by default it is disabled; when activated it will store any number of versions for all documents in a folder.
q SharePoint 2007 only stores the changes, not the complete document, when the document is updated.
q Using MS Office 2007, a user will have access to a lot of SharePoint specific features, such as Check Out/Check In, version history, document properties, workflows, and undelete functionality.
q Use Access Datasheet for fast editing of document properties and for managing columns and their position on the page. This requires that the local client have MS Access 2007 installed.
q SharePoint supports content approval but will not send e-mail to the person who should approve any modification. Solve this by using workflows.
q A Document Workspace is a team site that contains a copy of a document; this copy can be updated by several users. When done, you will publish this document back to its source location.
q Create network drives, such as F:, or web folders, such as Shared Documents on IT to make it possible to view information in SharePoint as a file share.
In the next chapter, you will learn more about building intranets and extranets, using SharePoint 2007.