Happy Earth Day!

Howdy everyone!

It's Earth Day today, http://www.earthday.gov/, and in a bit of interesting timing, it's also the first day of the SharePoint VConference (virtual conference) over at the SSWUG site: https://www.vconferenceonline.com/shows/spring09/sharepoint/.

Participating in virtual events are a great way to be green, as you save money on travel, hotel, wear and tear on your luggage, clothing, you, etc.

This time, for this vconference, I did sessions concerning getting the most out of WSS, seeing as many of us (all of us?) need to be able to stretch our time and dollars as far as we can. The sessions start with exploring the built-in web parts available with WSS. The point of the session, for me, was to give you an idea as to what's available in order to have you consider how useful they can be for you. Exploring, very, very quickly, the settings, views, zones, and configuration of the web parts. In addition, I have to admit that I was also focusing on getting the audience to understand web parts so they can use them for dashboards.

Why? Because the second session took those web parts, well at least the list view and content editor web parts, and make them into dashboards. I created two dashboards, one for users and one for management, during the session, securing them as well, then added them to the quick launch. Part of what I was doing with the dashboards was preparing you for the idea of having the resources of a site self-contained in that site.

Why? Because the final session was how, after setting up nice web parts and good dashboards, you can create a template out of the site itself. So it helps to show you how and why, first hand, centralized resources are useful in a site.

The final session, of course, covers how to create a site template out of the site used in the previous two sessions. It starts with what to consider, self-references, how to maximize the size limit for templates, how to create the site template, how to apply a site template, and then how to check to see if it really works and how to tweak it to be appropriate in the new place. I focus in particular as to what you might want to do with a site template, and what to worry about.

(and, because I had one minute and thirty seconds left, I tossed in a "contact us" page and showed an example of using google maps in the content editor web part by using the source editor-- just for those who stuck it out for all three sessions)

Now, for you, my dear readers, I will give you some insights into the sessions from my view, behind the scenes. Last time I recorded vconference sessions, I was really, really nervous and was suffering from a bit of food poisoning (had to eat at an airport on the way there...). This time, I had some real problems on the flight there (lost luggage, delayed flights, then cancelled flights, then a really, really late arrival-- 3 am my time), didn't get to sleep until 5am my time.

Needless to say, I was pretty groggy while at the studio. Sigh.

For the session slides, I was torn. I could have a few graphic filled slides and all demos, or I could have text that could be used as notes so attendees could use them later and a lot of demos. I went for word filled slides, and simply stated that I wouldn't be reading them all during the session, just hitting the highlights. I did try to go over as many as I could to a certain extent, but I also did simply do much of the content, then just gave some slides a mention.

Also, I was really afraid, because I was going to be going so fast to build web parts, dashboards, then site templates, that I was going to lose the more inexperienced viewers. So I might've gone too slow during the explanation portion of the session (tell them what you're going to do, tell them/show them how to do it, tell them what you did). If so, please forgive me, dear readers, I meant well. ; P

Finally, my big issue is, I am used to presenting exactly 1, 1.5, 3, or 6 hour sessions. For this vconference, I had fifty minutes. That's it. I lost ten minutes out of my carefully crafted Frugal Admin content.

And it did kick my butt a little. But, I tried to avoid compromising the content as much as I could.

So now you know, this is where I was while doing my sessions for this conference. I was exhausted, distracted by the truncated time, worried about not giving enough backstory so the attendees could follow along, worried about pacing (because of the loss of the ten minutes and my exhausted habit of rambling-- made worse when I am alone in a room instead of having a live audience), and determined to give you as much hands on proof of what works and what it looks like as I could.

If you want to see what I am talking about, my session are going to be broadcast tomorrow, Weds., April 23rd, 2009. If you are interested, feel free to register (not free, but pretty cheap) for the vconference at http://www.vconferenceonline.com/shows/spring09/sharepoint/. Feel free to use my tell-a-friend code VCTAF502105-0, or the discount code SPVCCASP09. Keep in mind that you can also sign up for the on-demand feature, meaning you can download the videos to see review later.

Another thing to keep in mind concerning sessions you've downloaded, is you can pause and rewind the video so if, during the live session, there was a bit that went too fast, with the on-demand version, download it, and rerun the session, pause where you need it.

Just a thought. : )

Happy Earth Day everybody!!

Thoughts, plans, hopes, and dreams. Hello and welcome to 2009.

Howdy Everybody.

My apologies, again, for falling behind on my blog.

I'd finished all the work I needed to do for the SSWUG vconference in November, and was working on a two part vcast (of which I have the first half done and mostly edited) that I'd mentioned in one of my last posts, when my video card crapped out. Since, in my case, my video card is part of the motherboard of my machine, I had to wait weeks and weeks for it to be fixed. Falling weeks and weeks behind on blog entries, podcasts, vcasts, and work of any kind that required my trusty laptop.

Then the holidays came. Pushing my productivity down even further.

Then, on January 1st of 2009, I was sent an email congratulating me on being awarded an MVP- SharePoint Services.

Yup, for the year of 2009 at least, I am an MVP! Woo hoo.

That means I will be able to go to the infamous MVP Summit, visit the Redmond campus, meet the program team for WSS in person, and more. This is particularly important as the next version of WSS is right around the corner (well it may not be out til 2010, but there's got to be some beta testing to do), my timing is pretty good.

And now here I am, working on doing some more sessions for the spring SSWUG vconference (more on that in a second), planning for travel to the summit, and trying to get back to my vcasts and other things for this blog.

Concerning working on content for the vconference: I've been thinking of doing a full series of sessions, in part at the conference, or in whole. I may only be able to prep for about three for the conference, and may do the rest here.

You see, I have a problem coming up with titles for my session proposals (which are often, if accepted, used as session abstracts). The content is easier for me, describing just what I am going to do in the session and why that might be interesting. I can do that. But catchy titles? Not so much.

Because I was recently made an MVP I was able to send in some session proposals for TechEd 2009 (of course, I got the MVP code the day of the deadline, so I only had time to send in two). However, I really just didn't feel I did a good job with creating a catchy title for the proposals-- ones that popped, ones that really effectively sold what I was cookin' (so to speak).

Troubled, when I was asked to do some more sessions for SSWUG's vconference in the spring, I wasn't confident that I could really generate some good titles. And everyone knows it's the title that attendees (and the curious) click on. If the title isn't right, no one will bother to read the description.

So I hemmed and hawed, and hemmed some more. I thought of "Super Duper Admin Tricks" and "The Secret Life of WSS: things that even MOSS can't do". But they didn't quite fit for me.

Then I thought of something. Really, a lot of my motivation with sticking stubbornly to evangelizing WSS (instead of MOSS) is because I cringe at the idea of paying out the nose for something that isn't entirely going to be used. There are so many things that WSS does, for free, that there are good, solid reasons to never install MOSS. I like getting the most out of my servers, and their features for the money I spend, before I spend another penny.

And if I need to spend more money, I want to know why, exactly what I need to buy, and exactly what it needs to do before I write any checks.

And that's why I like doing presentations about WSS. Because I like to show you what you can do with what you have. Help you get the most out of the free product before you have to buy the server product, the standard CALs, and even the additional enterprise CALs. Push the envelope, think outside the Admin box.

In the very least, show you it's limits so that you clearly know where the line is, and when it's time to pay for the server version of SharePoint.

In a word, I like to be frugal.

And because that sums up the point, the underlying motivation of a lot of my sessions, I've decided to do a "The Frugal Admin" series (well, if I don't get any feedback telling me not to).

Ideas I have for the series (please let me know which you like):

The Frugal Admin, How to get the most of the built-in web parts: Don't just accept that your home pages are boring. Put some life into them without spending a penny. Explore the existing web part templates and broaden the horizons of existing list view web parts. Push them to the limit and turn your bland, hum drum home pages into the spectacular, useful, web part pages they were meant to be. Wow your users, impress your boss, and never wonder if you could have built yourself what you just paid some one else to make. Know for sure what your options really are, without any additional cost.

The Frugal Admin, Do it yourself dashboards. or maybe How to make your own Dashboards, without being a developer or SharePoint Designer: Dashboards are easy, depending on what you want to do with them. Why pay for one when you can roll your own. Come see the secrets of the simple dashboard; how to create the views, the web parts, and the web pages that make a site's home page more relevant from management to worker. See how far you can go out of the box before you spend a dime.

The Frugal Admin, Make your own Custom Site Templates. So you think only Microsoft can come up with useful site templates? Think again. Don't be trapped into thinking that if you want a nice site (especially one you'd like to deploy in a few places) you have to pay a developer to create it. Come see how we wrap up this three part series by bringing together the fancy web parts and dashboards to create our own unique site templates. Filled to the rim with useful goodness. With tips and tricks concerning workflows, resource libraries, and more. Learn how to make your templates self referencing, so they can pack up and go without having any extra files to worry about. Elevate your status, become that much closer to a WSS expert by seeing how it's really done-- all without special developer training or expensive additional software. Create the templates you wish Microsoft had thought of after attending this session.

The Frugal Admin, Exploiting what's out there. So you need to create a new user group site, or your managers want you to create a time sheet site to track each department's hours on sharepoint related projects. Maybe your IT department want's their own helpdesk site. Well, before you start either trying to create those yourself, or find someone to pay who will-- consider looking online at the resources already available from Microsoft and Codeplex. With the Fantastic 40 templates, Groupboard 2007, and the Community Kit for SharePoint, you've probably got all bases covered, and then some-- for FREE. So before you start making promises to anyone, stop by this session and get a glimpse of the good stuff, and discover all those pre-made templates before the need to make your own wears you down.

Stepping back a bit--

The Frugal Admin, So you're considering installing WSS? A quick run down on what you need to install WSS, tips concerning licensing, Authentication (AD, and a few of its cheap alternatives- AD Account Creation Mode and Forms Based Authentication), Planning, and a quick overview about Design. Consider who you want to use SharePoint and how they're going to use it. Know what you're getting into before you start, and you'll always save money in the end. Don't be surprised, plan ahead. (for those experienced admins, you might want to stop by to get some insight into why, sometimes, it is a good idea to install SQL and SharePoint on the same server... for those tips and more, stop by the session, it'll be worth it)

For those experienced Frugal Admins, I'd like to go into detail about getting more out of SharePoint doing Intranet/Extranet deployments (not always the cheapest thing to do, but I'll show you how to squeeze every penny out of it), The nitty gritty on ADAC, the inside scoop on Directory Mangement Services (and why it's rather a wet balloon), and more. There are also some interesting tools for those admins- for free of course- that's I'd like to explore, such as the administration kit for Sharepoint, and some of the solution accelerators, as well as good ol' Search Server Express.

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So what do you think, would these sessions be worth attending? Anything you'd like to see that I haven't mentioned? Feel free to comment. Kthxbai. ; )

Things I've been up to

Howdy everybody,

I've been crazy busy this month, but I wanted to catch up with a few things.

This Weds, Thurs, and Fri (Nov. 5th, 6th, and 7th) is the SSWUG Vconference (virtual conference). I did three sessions for the event (see the "Happenin' Things" widget on the left of this blogs homepage to access the link and check out the event). Their schedule may be changing in the next day or two, so I'd rather you checked the conference site than putting it here.

Although the event is primarily for the SQL Server Worldwide User Group members (shout out to the SSWUG peeps), anyone can sign up to attend the sessions. They aren't free, there is a fee (somewhere around a hundred bucks, US) to see all the sessions you can handle, all day, everyday, from the morning of the 5th to the evening of the 7th.

The sessions were recorded, live, in a tiny little studio in AZ. I did mine in September. It was a weird, exhausting, and pretty uncomfortable experience for me, I must admit. I teach people, not cameras set up on tripods in an otherwise empty, black room. It had a very make-believe, surreal feel to it. I am not sure how well I did, performing in front of no one, but I had pretty solid content. The sessions were rushed; essentially all one take, all three sessions back to back, in one day. So my first time out trying this new medium, was the only time. Please be gentle. ; )

I have learned that I am not necessarily a one take girl-- especially since it was the first time I ever tried to perform in that environment. I am pretty sure I have it down now though, so if asked to do it again, I might go for it. If circumstances permit.

For those of you who don't know what a vconference is about, here's the scoop. It is a conference that is presented online instead of live and in-person. The presenters present in a recording studio, in front of cameras, and do essentially live recordings of their presentations (they were supposed to be about an hour in length, some are a little shorter, as the presenters learned that, without the distraction of students, the sessions go faster ). The presentations are then prepared for viewing (minimally, to keep that "live" feeling). Then, during the period of time selected for the conference, they are made available to the viewing public during certain times and dates. The viewing public pays a certain fee and uses the username and password they create to "attend the sessions".

After (or even during, I'm not sure) the sessions, the speakers are available, real time, in session specific chats so the attendees can ask them questions concerning their sessions, just as they would be in a physical conference.

The point of having a virtual conference, as opposed to a physical conference, is for the convenience of the attendees. They don't have to waste money, time, or resources travelling to a location, paying for that travel, housing, food, and other expenses, or spending time locked into the conference itself. They don't expose themselves to the press of humanity, and instead can get the sessions without leaving their home. These vconferences are being advertised as being "green" because they are not as wasteful as a full-blown conference would be.

So if you are interested in attending a virtual sharepoint conference (there are also tracks covering business intelligence, SQL, and more, as well), experiencing numerous interesting and informative sessions, right in the comfort of your home or office, then I suggest you check out http://www.vconferenceonline.com/SharePoint/. It's a really cheap opportunity to get in some additional training, learn some useful stuff, and get to see me possibly embarrass myself in an empty room.

--For my loyal readers, here are some embarrassing things to look for: the lighting was not meant for a 5'3" person, so it magnified through my glasses onto my face in an interesting way during all of the sessions, also, if you watch closely, you might get to see me unintentionally stepping off camera (I was instinctively trying to give camera 2 a better view of the slides behind me) at least once during the conference... good times, good times. : P--

Which brings me to what I have been focusing on concerning this blog-- more recorded material. Because I had such an interesting time recording for the vconference, it made me more interested in using the internet as a more active medium, and recording material in general.

I still had to finish the Richard Series podcasts, and I really felt I needed to do more with the content I had recorded for the vconference.

(The podcasts were originally started because my book was delayed and Richard needed to come up to speed on WSS 3.0-- in the interim the book came out, making the rest of the series moot- but what the hey, I might as well finish them.)

To that end, I recorded the second Richard series podcast, "Introduction to WSS 3.0, Planning Site Collections and Web Applications" (which was something of a nightmare due to my beloved logitech headset breaking, two additional headsets being too low-quality to use, and finally just using a stand-alone logitech mic).

I am still going to finish the series with a podcast for capacity and performance planning, and disaster planning, but I wanted to take some time to try to reproduce and improve on my performance in the studio by doing more video presentations.

Currently I am working on some WSS focused videos. I was given a better mic-- a Snowball from Blue Microphones (http://www.bluemic.com/), which should help with audio quality. The first video 'cast should be out by the end of the week, and should be part of a series covering the implementation of the User Group Edition site template from the Community Kit for SharePoint.

These podcasts and videos should supplement the continuing entries for this blog, so expect intermittent additions as time permits.

Altogether, these last couple of months have been all about exploring the options of spreading the WSS 3.0 word beyond written material and some screenshots.

So that's the latest update on what's going on in the world of a WSS servergrrl. If you decide to attend the vconference, please let them know I mentioned it to you. They like knowing stuff like that.