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1.2. Working with SharePoint SitesSharePoint Services helps you locate a site by providing navigation links, a search framework, and standardized site layouts. These features help increase the productivity of your team and other users by reducing the time spent trying to locate a site or master the details of a new site layout. 1.2.1. Locating a SiteIn order to work with a SharePoint site, you must first know how to get to it from a web browser. Without knowing its direct link, finding the site can be challenging. SharePoint solves this problem by providing a page that lists all available sites.
From the Manage Sites and Workspaces page, you can access:
To access this page:
Figure 1-3 shows the list of all sites and workspaces at the Infusion Development intranet site. Figure 1-3. Sites and Workspaces main page1.2.2. Browsing a SiteOnce you have found a specific site, you can click the title of the site, which will forward you to the home page. Figure 1-4 displays a typical team site home page, in this case the site used by the writers of this book. Figure 1-4. Team site home pageSharePoint separates a site into three distinct navigation areas. While the content in these areas may change, their location will usually remain the same. 1.2.2.1 Top menu barThe top menu bar remains the same across all sites and workspaces unless advanced customization tactics are used. The top menu bar provides links to the following areas:
Each of these items is described in Chapter 2. You must have appropriate access rights to create any of the above items. Access rights are discussed in Chapter 4.
1.2.2.2 Quick Launch menuThe Quick Launch menu is found on the navigation bar located on the lefthand side of a SharePoint page and provides most of your navigation needs for accessing libraries and lists. Any library or list can be added and removed from the Quick Launch menu. This provides you with full control over the contents in the menu. The Quick Launch menu is organized into five categories on the home page:
Each of these items is discussed in Chapter 2. When you browse a SharePoint team site, the links on the Quick Launch menu change depending on the page being viewed. For example, when you select the Documents link on the Quick Launch menu, the menu changes to display the Select a View and See Also links. The biggest change to the Quick Launch menu occurs with meeting workspaces. A meeting workspace does not have a Quick Launch menu. Instead, the workspace has tabs that provide the navigation for the site. 1.2.2.3 Main contentWith the top and the lefthand side of a page devoted to site navigation, the remaining part of the page contains the main content of the site. The main content of a site is always changing, depending on which page you are viewing. The home page main content area provides sections that a user typically needs to access immediately. For example, in a meeting workspace, the main page contains sections for attendees, agendas, objectives and documents. With sufficient privileges, you can add and remove these sections in your personal view or for all users. Customization is discussed later in this chapter. From the home page, you can navigate to pages that display a single item or Web Part. For example, from a "Writers Team" site, you might link to a page displaying a discussion on a particular book project, as shown in Figure 1-5. Figure 1-5. A page displaying a discussion board itemSingle-item pages display a limited set of choices. For example, on the discussion board page, you can only perform tasks that relate to the discussion, such as viewing an existing thread or creating a new discussion. Other secondary pages contain Web Parts that have a wider range of choices. Figure 1-6 shows a Documents and Lists page. This page displays the libraries and lists that are available to users. Once you select a specific library or list, you will see a new page that looks more like a single-item page. Figure 1-6. Options available on the Documents and Lists pageNot only can you select a specific library or list, you can also sort the items in each section by description, number of items, or last modified date. 1.2.3. Searching a SitePrevious versions of SharePoint handled searching using Internet Information Services (IIS) catalogs. IIS catalogs index documents within a file system, limiting your search to those documents rather than all of the content in the site. To fix this limitation, Windows SharePoint Services stores all content, documents, and settings in a database. Now, instead of using IIS catalogs to search, SharePoint uses the full-text searching capabilities of the database. Searching the database ensures that all content, documents, and settings are searched.
1.2.3.1 Enabling and disabling searchingIn order to search a SharePoint site, you need to enable searching within SharePoint. Only site administrators can enable or disable the search setting. To enable or disable searching:
1.2.3.2 Searching a siteWith searching enabled, a new search text box appears on the top right of all site pages. To execute a search, enter a search string in the text box and click on the arrow button. Figure 1-7 shows the results of a search on the Search Results page. Figure 1-7. The Search Results pageYou can click on any result to access the returned item. If you performed the search within a subsite, you can search for additional results by clicking the "Search for <search string> on <main site title>" link. This will expand your search to include all the sites within SharePoint. |
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