E-mail Notifications

SharePoint Portal Server sends e-mail notifications for document approval requests and subscription notifications. The URLs in the notification mails can use the NetBIOS name, the internal FQDN, or the external FQDN of the server. If you are using FQDN without WINS, SharePoint Portal Server cannot automatically choose which form of the server name is appropriate for a particular e-mail recipient.

For example, assume you are in one domain and you approve a document by accessing the document through the NetBIOS name. The next person to receive the approval e-mail is in another domain (either a parent domain or another domain entirely). The link this person receives in the approval e-mail contains the NetBIOS name for the link (href). Because the recipient is in another domain, the name used in the link does not resolve and the recipient cannot access the document by clicking the link.

SharePoint Portal Server allows administrators to control the form of the name by adding a property to the folder that contains all the workspaces on the server. You can edit this property by using Web Storage System Explorer in the Web Storage System Software Development Kit (SDK). For more information about the Web Storage System SDK, see Appendix B, For More Information. The administrator can specify that the URL use the internal FQDN or the external FQDN.

• If you specified the external FQDN, users on both the intranet and the extranet need to use Basic authentication or SSL, depending on how you configure the server. In addition, each user must modify the hosts file on her computer, or the network infrastructure must be able to resolve the external name and force the user out to the Internet and back into the intranet through the proxy.
• If you specified the internal FQDN, everyone on the intranet can click any links sent. However, users on the extranet receive an error when they attempt to click the link in the subscription or approval e-mail. If you have a small percentage of extranet users, you might choose to specify the internal FQDN so that the majority of your users do not need to modify the hosts file.

To specify the URL of the server name:

1. Open Web Storage System Explorer.
2. Connect to http://NetBIOS_name/SharePoint Portal Server/workspaces:
   • Type username.
   • Type password.
   • In Web Storage System URL, type http://NetBIOS_name/SharePoint Portal Server/workspaces. For example, to connect to a server named AdvWks, type http://AdvWks/SharePoint Portal Server/workspaces.
3. Click the node for http://NetBIOS_name/SharePoint Portal Server/workspaces to display its schema detail view.
4. Right-click in Detail View, and then click Add Property.
5. In Add Property:
   • In Name, type urn:schemas-microsoft-com:publishing:ServerUrl

     The property name is case-sensitive. Type the property name exactly as specified.

   • In Datatype, select string.
   • If you always want to use the NetBIOS name in e-mail, in Value, type http://NetBIOS_name. If you always want to use the internal FQDN in e-mail, type http://internal_FQDN. If you always want to use the external FQDN in e-mail, type http://external_FQDN.
   • Click OK.
6. Close Web Storage System Explorer.
7. Restart MSSearch. To do so:
   • On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
   • Right-click Microsoft Search, and then click Restart.