Understanding the Internet Options

Hidden under the Tools menu in IE 6.0 is the Internet Options tool. Within the Internet Options dialog box is an extensive set of tools that affects how IE behaves relative to SharePoint sites. Although all the tabs in the Internet Options dialog box have extensive features, we will concentrate on just the Security and Advanced tabs in the section.

CAUTION

Before changing any of the settings in the Internet Options dialog box, check with your Site Administrator or friendly help desk person to see whether it's okay to do so. Some organizations lock down the settings in IE, and you won't be able to change any settings, whereas others have standards and guidelines they follow and simply discourage any changes. Take care when making changes within any of the tabs!

Figure 2.2 shows the Security tab within the Internet Options dialog box and the four Web content zones that IE uses to categorize different types of sites. You can add sites to any zone other than the Internet zone by highlighting the zone and clicking the Sites button, then typing in the address in the Add this Web site to the zone cell, and then clicking Add. Here are brief definitions of the zones:

• The Internet zone This zone contains all websites that haven't been added to other zones. The default security level is High for the Internet zone.

• The Local Intranet zone This zone contains all websites that are considered to be part of the company's intranet. The default security level to this zone is Medium-Low.

• The Trusted sites zone This zone contains the websites that you trust not to damage your computer or data. The default security setting to this zone is Low.

• The Restricted sites zone This zone contain websites that you feel could potentially damage your computer or data. The default security setting to this zone is High.

Figure 2.2. Internet Options dialog box with the Security tab active.

TIP

Adding your SharePoint site or sites to the Trusted Sites zone is a recommended best practice in most cases. Because this site is run and managed by the organization you work for, it is generally a safe bet to trust the site and subsites. Note also that the default authentication is to use Automatic logon with current username and password, which can eliminate the need to enter in your username and password every time you access the SharePoint site or open a document stored in a document library if you are on the local network of your company. From a home or remote computer accessing the SharePoint site over the Internet, you will still be prompted for username and password.

For each zone, you have the ability to determine the settings within each site (unless the IT department has locked down the desktop so no changes can be made to IE). Clicking the Custom Level button brings up the Security Settings dialog box, as shown in Figure 2.3. If you scroll down to the bottom of the list, you'll see the User Authentication section, with several options available under the Logon heading. If Prompt for username and password is checked, every time a SharePoint site is accessed, the user will have to enter his or her username and password, which gets very annoying. Changing this to Automatic logon with current username and password typically avoids this problem.

Figure 2.3. Security Settings dialog box.

Accessing the Advanced tab in the Internet Options dialog box provides access to many other custom configuration choices for IE, including Accessibility, Browsing, HTTP 1.1 settings, Microsoft VM, Multimedia, Printing, Search from the Address bar, and Security. In general, it is a good idea to stay away from the Advanced settings for IE 6.0 unless you have help desk support.