Using Internet Explorer 6.0 to Access SharePoint 2003 Sites


The latest version of Internet Explorerversion 6.0 at the time of writingoffers some new features that go hand-in-hand with the SharePoint 2003 technologies, and this section reviews those features, as well as points out some features that may be overlooked that can improve the SharePoint 2003 user experience. It is assumed that you understand the basics of using a browser, entering URLs, selecting hyperlinks, adding favorites, and accessing the configuration settings for Internet Explorer.

Experience has shown that most end-users are familiar with 50% or less of Internet Explorer's features and are comfortable with basic Internet browsing but have not experimented with many of the more advanced features covered in the following sections. Familiarity with these features helps users more efficiently navigate the sites and pages, configure their browsers for optimal performance, and take a stab at troubleshooting problems that may be encountered.

Basic Settings to Apply to Internet Explorer 6.0

Instead of leaving Internet Explorer and XP Professional configured with the default settings, some quick changes can be made to improve the efficiency of Internet Explorer and the operating system.

The first thing that can be done to increase the exposure of the SharePoint 2003 portal site or top-level website is to change the default home page:

  • From Internet Explorer 6.0, choose Tools, Internet Options from the menu.

  • On the General tab, in the Home page Address box, enter the appropriate portal site page or top-level website, or click on Use Default when your browser is on the desired page. Click OK.

This ensures that each time Internet Explorer is opened this page loads automatically. This can be an excellent way to get users to access a specific site on a regular basis such as the portal home page, or the user's personal site, or a departmental home page.

TIP

Group Policies in Active Directory can be used to set a user's home page in Internet Explorer, which saves time over manually configuring each user's computer.


Following are some additional recommendations on settings in Internet Explorer 6.0:

  • From Internet Explorer, choose Tools, Internet Options. Click on the Advanced tab.

  • In the Browsing section, uncheck Automatically Check for Internet Explorer Updates. Instead of having the users update Internet Explorer, the organization should provide regular updates after the updates have been tested.

  • In the Browsing section, check the Enable Personalized Favorites Menu box. This displays only the most used favorites when the Favorites menu is selected. To see all the favorites, click the double arrows, and the full list is revealed.

  • In the Browsing section, check the Use Inline AutoComplete box. This enables Internet Explorer to suggest possible matches for entries typed in the Address bar, a web page form, or a username or password box on a web page. Additional configuration settings for AutoComplete are available from the Content tab in the Internet Options window.

    CAUTION

    For security reasons, some organizations prefer not to use the AutoComplete feature for usernames and passwords on forms.


  • Under the Security area of the Advanced tab, check Empty Temporary Internet File folder when browser is closed. This is especially important if the user is accessing proprietary or confidential files through the browser and has a laptop or uses a home computer.

TIP

The Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) 6 Service Pack 1 (SP1) (available from Microsoft's website http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/ie/ieak/default.mspx) provides programs and tools for the administrator that make it easy to deploy and manage custom browser software packages. The Internet Explorer Customization Wizard provides step-by-step instructions for the process of creating custom browser packages. When these packages are installed on desktops, the users will receive customized versions of Internet Explorer with the settings and options that are approved by the organization. The included IEAK Profile Manager allows the administrator to change browser settings and restrictions automatically.


Managing Temporary Internet Files

Whenever a web page is visited, the content needs to be downloaded to the local computer before it can be displayed. Some fine-tuning of Internet Explorer can be helpful to optimize the experience.

1.

From Internet Explorer 6.0, choose Tools, Internet Options from the menu.

2.

In the Temporary Internet files section, click on Settings and the Settings window opens, as shown in Figure 7.1. From here, a recommended best practice for most environments is to select Check for Newer Versions of Stored Pages Every Visit to the Page (circled in the Settings window in Figure 7.1). This ensures that the temporary files are updated each time the page is visited so that the user is viewing the latest information.

Figure 7.1. Temporary Internet file settings.


The amount of disk space allowed for temporary Internet files can be set here as well, which can be useful as an administrative tool to control the amount of data users are saving as offline websites. The default location can be moved for these files by clicking the Move Folder button, or the files can be viewed by clicking the View Files button. Note that by viewing the files, you can see any actual files stored in SharePoint 2003 sites if they were set to be available offline.

3.

After the settings are configured properly, click OK to close the window.

History Feature in Internet Explorer 6.0

One feature overlooked by many users is the history tracking capabilities of Internet Explorer 6.0. The history information can be accessed by using Ctrl+H.

Figure 7.2 shows the History pane at the left-hand side of the screen. The view options are By Date, By Site, By Most Visited, and By Order Visited Today. In Figure 7.2, the By Date option is selected. This view organizes sites visited by folders, and in this example icons are included for a domain controller on the network (ABCDC01) an SharePoint Portal Server 2003 server (ABCSPS01), a Windows SharePoint Services server (ABCWSS01), two Internet sites (www.cco.com, www.msn.com), and another SharePoint site (sp.cco.com). Note that when the cursor hovers over an entry, the full URL is provided, and, if the icon is selected, the page loads normally.

Figure 7.2. Internet Explorer history information.


Using the entries in the History pane, the user can easily jump to previously visited pages. By clicking on View, By Order Visited Today, the user can see the pages visited in order, with the most recent at the top.

The amount of time that historical information is tracked can be modified by choosing Tools, Internet Options and then in the History section of the General tab, selecting the appropriate number of days (up to 99). History can also be cleared in this area. This information can be useful for troubleshooting problems that users are encountering because the help desk resource can find the specific pages visited and see whether the problems can be replicated or assist the individual with problems.

Making Sites Available Offline to Empower Mobile Users

A powerful tool in Internet Explorer 6.0 is the ability to save a site as a Favorite and opt to Make It Available Offline. Offline sites should be used for reference purposes, because the full functionality of SharePoint 2003 sites can't be provided without the server actually being online. For example, when offline, a document library can be accessed, and the documents contained in it can be opened and read, but if a change is made to the document, it can't be saved back to the SharePoint 2003 site, which is now offline. Even so, offline websites, similar to offline files, can be valuable to knowledge workers who are out of the office frequently and carry laptops, especially as SharePoint 2003 usage increases and these individuals become more reliant on the collaboration and document-management tools provided by SharePoint 2003.

The first step in allowing sites to be made available offline is to configure the desktop operating system to allow offline access as follows:

1.

In XP or Windows 2000, open My Computer; choose Tools, Folder Options; then select the Offline Files tab.

2.

Make sure that the Enable Offline Files box is checked, and check one or more of the additional boxes as appropriate. The choices are Synchronize All Offline Files When Logging On, Synchronize All Offline Files Before Logging Off, Display a Reminder Every X Minutes, Create an Offline Files Shortcut on the Desktop, and/or Encrypt Offline Files to Secure Data. The amount of storage space allocated to use for temporary offline files can be set here, as a percentage of total drive space.

3.

Click OK after the settings meet the organization's requirements and standards.

The steps to make a SharePoint 2003 site collection and connected sites available offline are as follows:

1.

In Internet Explorer 6.0, click on Favorites and then click on Add to Favorites.

2.

In the Add Favorite window, verify that the name of the favorite is acceptable and click on the Create In button to choose the favorites directory to use. Or you can click on New Folder to create a new folder. Check the Make Available Offline box and click on Customize.

TIP

When adding a favorite that will be enabled for offline use, adding the word "offline" to the name of the favorite is an easy way to make it stand out in the Favorites list.

3.

In the first screen of the Offline Favorite Wizard, check the In the Future Do Not Show This Introduction Screen box and click Next.

4.

In the next screen, choose Yes or No to make links to other pages available offline. It is typically helpful to have other linked pages available offline, unless that one page contains all the information and files the user needs. If Yes is selected, select the number of levels deep to go (3 levels is the maximum). Click Next.

TIP

When deciding how many pages deep to go when making a SharePoint 2003 page available offline, some investigation and testing are needed to ensure that all the required information is made available offline. The user should check the different links on the page and see where they go before deciding how many levels deep to go. Some functionality of the Web Part will not be available offline because it requires code and files not downloaded during the offline synchronization, so some experimentation is helpful to know what features are available.

5.

In the next screen, select how to synchronize the pages, by choosing either Only When I Choose Synchronize from the Tools menu or I Would Like to Create a New Schedule. For the purposes of this example, choose I would like to Create a New Schedule and click Next. (Note that if prescheduled synchronizations are desired, check to make sure that they are allowed by Internet Explorer by choosing Tools, Internet Options; selecting the Advanced tab; and then in the Browsing section, making sure that Enable Offline Items to be Synchronized on a Schedule is checked).

6.

Enter the number of days and the time to check and name the scheduled event. You can also click the check box next to If my computer is not connected when this scheduled synchronization begins, automatically connect for me. Click Next.

7.

On the next screen, if a password is required to log on to the network, choose Yes, my username and password are:, enter the username and password information, then click Finish.

8.

Click OK in the Add Favorite window to complete the process. Synchronization then takes place for the sites and linked sites selected.

These files are stored by default not in the Offline Files folder, as might be logical, but in the Temporary Internet Files folder located in Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings. The Local Settings folder is hidden by default.

A useful feature is the ability to have synchronization take place when the computer is idle. To access this feature

1.

In Internet Explorer 6.0, click on Tools, and then Synchronize.

2.

In the Items to Synchronize window, click on the Setup button. Synchronization can now be set to occur during log on or log off, during idle times, or on a scheduled basis by choosing the appropriate tab. For this example, click on the On Idle tab.

3.

Select the appropriate site by clicking on the check box next to the site name, and click the check box next to Synchronize the selected items while my computer is idle (as shown in Figure 7.3). Click on the Advanced button.

Figure 7.3. Synchronization while the computer is idle settings.


4.

In the Idle Settings Window, select the appropriate number of minutes to automatically synchronize the specified items after my computer has been idle for, and the number of minutes to repeat synchronization after (also shown in Figure 7.3). Click OK.

5.

Click OK to close the Synchronization Settings window, and click Close to close the Items to Synchronize window.

Fine-Tuning Offline SharePoint 2003 Sites

Now that the site has been saved to be available offline, additional fine-tuning can be done to optimize the experience.

When Internet Explorer 6.0 is next opened to access the saved site, follow these steps:

1.

From the toolbar choose File, Work Offline. After this is selected, the title bar of Explorer reflects the offline status.

2.

Select the offline website from the Favorites menu. Click on the name of the offline site, and it loads.

If the user clicks on a tool or hyperlink that references a page or site that is not available offline, an error message states "The Web page you requested is not available offline. To view this page click Connect." The Connect and Stay Offline buttons are provided. When working with a SharePoint 2003 site offline, this error is encountered if a feature of the Web Part is used that is not available offline (such as adding a document to an offline document library, or adding a link to a Links Web Part).

TIP

To make a document library available offline, make sure to save the document library itself as a favorite, as saving the top-level site that contains the library will not make the documents contained within it available when off-line.


The offline settings of the Favorite can be fine-tuned as follows:

1.

In the Favorites menu, select Organize Favorites, and select the offline Favorite.

2.

Click on the Properties button (circled on the left hand side of Figure 7.4).

Figure 7.4. Offline properties.


3.

The Properties window then opens, (as shown in Figure 7.4 with the Download tab selected). The other tabs (General, Web Document, Schedule, and Security) allow the user to review information about the site, change the icon associated with the Favorite, change the scheduled synchronization or add one, and modify the security settings of the offline site. These tools provide more options than the initial setup process.

As shown in Figure 7.4, the Download tab contains options such as how many links deep to download and a check box that enables or disables following links outside the web page's website. Unchecking the Follow links outside of this page's Web site box can be a good idea if the site contains a number of links to other websites. The option also is available on this tab to send an email when the page changes. The intention here is that the user would know that she then needs to synchronize that page.

4.

Click on the Advanced button in the Download tab (circled to the right of Figure 7.4) to open the Advanced Download Options window (also shown in Figure 7.4). Images, Sound and Video, and ActiveX Controls and Java Applets can be excluded from or included in downloads, and the option to follow links only to HTML pages can be selected.

5.

Click on OK to close the Advanced Download Options window, and click on OK to close the Offline Properties window. Click on Close to close the Organize Favorites window.

NOTE

Web pages can also be saved as files by choosing File, Save As and then selecting between the following file types: Web Page, complete (*.htm, *.html); Web Archive, single file (*.mht); Web Page, HTML only (*.htm, *.html); or Text File (*.txt). However, in this state only the active page is saved, and there is no option to save connected pages and files in lists or libraries, so for the average SharePoint 2003 user, these options won't have the same value as creating offline web pages.


It should be clear based on the complexity of configuring pages for offline use that this process is not well suited for novice users. However, for more experienced users, who understand the limitations of offline websites and require access to content stored in SharePoint 2003 sites or lists, this process can enable them to have this data available even when access to the Internet isn't.

Using Web Content Zones in Internet Explorer 6.0

Internet Explorer allows the user to assign websites to web content zones. When first installed, Internet Explorer 6.0 considers anything that is not on the computer or an intranet, or assigned to any other zone to be part of the Internet zone and uses a medium level of security. The three other zones are Local Intranet, Trusted, and Restricted. To access and modify these settings:

1.

From Internet Explorer, choose Tools, Internet Options and select the Security tab.

2.

Click on the Custom Level button in the Security Level for This Zone box (circled in Figure 7.5) and the Security Settings window opens and shows the settings for .NET Framework-reliant components, ActiveX controls and plug-ins, Downloads, Miscellaneous, Scripting, and User Authentication settings.

Figure 7.5. Web content zones security settings.


TIP

Add company SharePoint 2003 sites to the Trusted web content zone in Internet Explorer, then select Custom Level, and set the User Authentication to Automatic logon with current username and password (indicated with an arrow in Figure 7.5). Otherwise, you may be prompted to login in one or more times when accessing favorite SharePoint 2003 sites.


The organization should provide guidance to the end users about how to use the different zones, and either approve the use of the predefined settings in each zone, or recommend appropriate settings. For example, it might be a good corporate policy for the SharePoint 2003 sites to be added to the Trusted sites zone, and train end users to put new sites in the restricted sites zone until they are proven to be safe. The organization might choose to add sites to the restricted zone using IEAK or Group Policies.

Managers might want to improve the security of the Internet zone, to disable file downloads, disable drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste files, and to prompt for username and password. Often users aren't aware of why and how to use these zones, and a quick orientation session would help them better understand the functions of these zones.

Using Discussions in Internet Explorer

A standard button provided in Internet Explorer 6.0 Standard Buttons toolbar is the Discuss icon, which looks like a Post-It note. This enables SharePoint 2003 site users to post notes on sites for design or discussion purposes. While not that widely used in production, this can be handy during the site design process.

To add a discussion to a web page, follow these steps (numbers correspond to Figure 7.6):

1.

From Internet Explorer, click on the Discuss button in the Standard Buttons toolbar. If the Standard Buttons aren't visible, click on the View menu, then select Toolbars, and click on Standard Buttons.

2.

Click on the Insert Discussion icon (#2 in Figure 7.6) to display the different areas on the page where discussions can be posted.

3.

Click on the Discussion icon on the page to insert a discussion (#3 in Figure 7.6).

4.

Once the discussion has been added to the page, click on the marker (#4) for options, such as reply, edit, or delete.

Figure 7.6. Discussions in Internet Explorer.


Discussions can be hidden individually by clicking on the minus sign in the Discuss button directly above the discussion, or by clicking on the icon with the minus sign in it in the Discussions toolbar at the bottom.

Although there is the danger that these discussions can make a page very "busy," they allow conversations to take place outside the documents or web pages themselves and can be hidden if needed.

CAUTION

One danger with discussions is that unless users know that they exist and know how to view them by clicking on the Discuss icon on the Standard Buttons toolbar, they may never see the discussions! If used properly, however, and if end-users are familiar with them, discussions can provide a means of quick and easy communication about contents of the site without using the more formal tools of email or a discussion Web Part.


Exploring Other Internet Explorer 6.0 Features

Several other enhancements to Internet Explorer 6.0 further support the features offered by SharePoint 2003. A subset of these features is as follows:

  • Full CSS Level 1 Support Provides full support for Cascading Style Sheets, Level 1 (CSS1) including borders, padding, and margins, which are now supported for inline elements. It also adds the capability to lay out articles in the same style used by newspapers and magazines, and display text vertically on web pages.

  • Content-restricted IFrames Displays HTML content to provide web-based email applications or build browser applications. Developers can make it more difficult for malicious authors to launch email or content-based attacks that catch users unaware.

  • Support for Microsoft XML (MSXML) 3.0 Provides better performance and up-to-date XML standards support.

  • NET integration Makes integration of server- and client-side code easier and enables applications to call functions on the server asynchronously.




Microsoft SharePoint 2003 Unleashed
Microsoft SharePoint 2003 Unleashed (2nd Edition) (Unleashed)
ISBN: 0672328038
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 288

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net