OWA web parts in SharePoint 2013

When I tried finding the OWA web parts in the SharePoint 2013 OOTB web parts, I couldn't find the web parts and “Outlook Web App” category is also not available. I was thinking it is deprecated or not available in SharePoint 

2013.

After searching, I found the following solution.

Steps to add Outlook web parts

1.   Go to Web part Gallery.

2.   On Web part Gallery page, Click Files-> New Document -> New in the ribbon.

 3.   On New web part page (NewDWp.aspx), look for Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal.WebControls.OWA, select the web parts related to the outlook as shown below and populate gallery.

4.   Now, under Miscellaneous Category, you will see the web parts related to Outlook. 

Hope this helps you!

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SharePoint 2013 & 2010 OOTB Web Parts Comparison

There are many changes made in SP 2013 in OOTB web parts. I tried creating
a summary which shows the following:
1. What category is added or removed in SP 2013?
2. What are the web parts removed from SP 2013?
3. What are the new web parts added and their functionality?

Downloadable Link for the below file: Link to download

Share the post if this helps you!

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Promoted Links in SharePoint 2013

Promoted Links is a new list type added in SharePoint 2013.

What it is and how to use this?

1.   New app in SP 2013 available Out of Box

2.   It is similar app like “Get Started with your site” in the home page 

3.   It is a very cool feature which allows you to add images and links to it and display it in a Tile view in a page for quick navigation.

4.   Let’s create a promoted links app for our SharePoint 2013 home page.

5.   Go to “Add an App” -> Promoted Links -> Give a name “Home Page Navigation”

                    

6.   You will see a message. The list is empty, Add tiles from the All Promoted Links view. Now, start adding the images and links in the app as shown below

When you click on the “All Promoted Links” you will see a list view to add items in it.

Adding new item will have the following fields

a.    Title

b.    Background Image Location

c.    Description

d.   Link Location

e.    Launch behavior

f.     Order 

Example of one item added.

Similarly, I have added 4 items in the list.

Now, in the list, if you navigate to the Tile View, you will see the images with the links displayed with Links. Cool Isn't? It is OUT OF BOX. 

If you hover the mouse, the title automatically goes up. You can click and navigate to the desired page.

This list can be displayed in a web part in the site home page which can be used for quick navigation. Please share this if it is useful!

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Micro blogging in SharePoint 2013

Introduction:

Microsoft has introduced a new social feature called “Micro blogging” in SharePoint 2013 to enhance the social networking and collaboration features.

This powerful feature is added as an OOTB web part to SharePoint 2013 and ready to useJ

So, what is micro blogging?

It is a type of blog which allows users to share their updates. This updates are called micro posts and the use of this services is called micro blogging.

Ref: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/microblog.html

Micro blogging in SharePoint 2013

The SharePoint Micro Blogging feature is like Facebook and Twitter which allows the users to communicate with others easily, by posting some questions, responding, comments and etc.

Following are the list of features:

  Ø  Update picture and links in the posts and replies

  Ø  Participate in a conversation by posting comments (with rich media and

        Links in the post) and replied

  Ø  Use mentions (@) to tag a user in  a post and in the replies

  Ø  Use tags (#) to define keywords so that the users can follow and search for   the same topic easily

  Ø  Like a post, follow people, documents, sites and tags

   Also, the author’s (one who posts an update or comment or reply for a post)

   presence (online, off-line, busy, in a meeting) are also displayed.

Add the Site Feed web part to the page:

Edit the page -> Insert -> Web part -> Social Collaboration -> Site Feed

 Once added, you will see a dialogue to post your feeds as shown below:

Add a new Post in the Micro blog:

You can add a post by typing your post in the text box and hit post to update your post

Add Rich Media & Links, Delete a Post:

In the Post you can add Rich media such as Image, Video, Links, etc.. Also, you have options of deleting  the post.

Like, Reply, Copy Link to conversation, Follow up, Lock Conversation:

Like other social networking as I mentioned earlier in this post you have options of Like, Reply, Copy Link to Conversation, Follow up and Lock a Conversation :)

Also, there is an option "Show More Posts" to view the old posts.

Tagging a User and Topic

The options of Tagging a user by "@" allows the other user to specifically tag a post to a user and also Tagging a topic by "#" allows the posts to be categorized and also it helps in searching the posts easier.

 See where the Micro blog contents are stored?

This micro feed are based upon the User Profile Service in SharePoint. This feeds are stored in a list called Micro Feed by default where you will see all the details stored.

Navigate to the following path to view the Micro Feeds:

http://SiteName Here/Lists/PublishedFeed/AllItems.aspx 

Check for the Micro Feed List

Clicking on the List, you will see a List with different columns which stores the feeds.

Hope you enjoyed the post. Feel free to share your valuable comments which always make me to write more. Also share this post to your friends if it is helpful. 

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Web Part with Custom Tool Part in SharePoint

To know about Basics of Creating a Custom Web Part with Validations and Deploying it in the SharePoint, read this article.

In this article, we will know how to create a custom web part in SharePoint with Custom Tool Part (Custom Properties).
Before creating a custom web part with custom tool part, we will know about the basics of Custom Tool Part in SharePoint.

What is custom tool part?
The Custom tool part is part of the web part infrastructure, which helps us to create a custom user interface for the web part properties which is different from default property pane.

Difference between Standard Tool Box and Custom Tool Part Properties
Below is the difference between the Sandbox and Custom Tool Part properties in a web part:
Sand Box Tool Box Properties:This is the tool box that comes by default and it contains Text Boxes, Check Boxes and Drop down lists to fill or select the data. But this tool box does not contain any dynamic controls for displaying the dynamic data from the SharePoint list or libraries. This is something like hard coding the values in the .cs file of the web part.
Custom Tool Part Properties:With the Custom tool part or tool box can contain any asp controls in it and it can bind the data to from the database or list and libraries. Hence displaying the dynamic values or data is possible using this tool box.

List of attributes used for creating a Custom Tool Part

 Ref: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd584174(v=office.11)

Two Classes used in the Web Part Tool Pane Creation

WebPartToolPart – represents a tool part that can be used to show and modify Web Part base class properties.
CustomPropertyToolPart – used to show and modify the custom properties created in the web part.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and share this post if it helps you!

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Creating and Deploying Custom Web Part in SharePoint

In this article, we will learn how to create a Custom Web Part in SharePoint using Visual Studio.

After reading this article, you will learn the following:

  Ø  Creating custom web part using visual studio

  Ø  How to use Labels, Rich text box and Buttons (with events) and validation   

        controls in the custom web part?

  Ø  How to validate the fields in custom web part in SharePoint?

  Ø  How to deploy the web part in SharePoint site?

Scenario:

Suppose that in a SharePoint page, you want the users to comment about the page or send some feedback, and then you can use this web part.

Solution:

It is created the following solution using Visual Studio 2005.

Steps:

1. Open the Visual Studio -> Click File -> New project -> Select Visual C# from Project types -> SharePoint -> web Part (Use this link for downloading the Visual Studio Extensions for SharePoint for creating SharePoint solutions in the Visual Studio 2005)

2. Once created, delete the web part present in the solution named webpart1. Now click on the Project Solution -> Add -> New Item -> SharePoint -> Web Part -> Give the name as CommentWebPart -> Click Add to create a web part file in the project solution

3. Now, we will create controls and add in the web part. See the following code which is used for creating this web part.

Program.cs:

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages;

namespace CommentWebPart
{
    [Guid("745a216c-1126-4000-a189-02ebc60d7e67")]
    public class CommentWebPart : System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.WebPart
    {
        TextBox txtContactName;
        TextBox txtEmailAddress;
        InputFormTextBox txtBox;
        Button btnSubmit;
        Button btnCancel;
        Label lblSpace;

                                     
        public CommentWebPart()
        {
            
        }

        protected override void CreateChildControls()
        {
            try
            {
                base.CreateChildControls();

                Table t;
                TableRow tr;
                TableCell tc;

                // Creating a table to add the controls in it
                t = new Table();

                // Label for contact name
                tr = new TableRow();
                tc = new TableCell();
                tc.Style["padding-top"] = "5px";
                tc.VerticalAlign = VerticalAlign.Top;
                Label lblConatctName = new Label();
                lblConatctName.Text = "Conact Name";
                tc.Controls.Add(lblConatctName);
                tr.Controls.Add(tc);


                // Text box for contact name
                tc = new TableCell();
                tc.VerticalAlign = VerticalAlign.Top;
                txtContactName = new TextBox();
                txtContactName.ID = "txtContactName";
                txtContactName.Width = Unit.Pixel(250);
                tc.Controls.Add(txtContactName);

                /* Creating required field validator for Contact Name. 
                * If the value is empty, then should throw error on clicking button Submit*/

                RequiredFieldValidator objName = new RequiredFieldValidator();
                objName.ControlToValidate = "txtContactName";
                objName.ErrorMessage = "Conatct Name cannot be empty";
                tc.Controls.Add(objName);
                tr.Controls.Add(tc);

                t.Controls.Add(tr);
                
                // Label for email id
                tr = new TableRow();
                tc = new TableCell();
                tc.VerticalAlign = VerticalAlign.Top;
                Label lblEmailId = new Label();
                lblEmailId.Text = "Email ID";
                tc.Controls.Add(lblEmailId);
                tr.Controls.Add(tc);

                // Text box for email id
                tc = new TableCell();
                tc.VerticalAlign = VerticalAlign.Top;
                txtEmailAddress = new TextBox();
                txtEmailAddress.ID = "txtEmailAddress";
                txtEmailAddress.Width = Unit.Pixel(250);
                tc.Controls.Add(txtEmailAddress);

                /* Creating required field validator for Email ID. 
                * If the value is empty, then should throw error on clicking button Submit*/

                RequiredFieldValidator objEmailID = new RequiredFieldValidator();
                objEmailID.ControlToValidate = "txtEmailAddress";
                objEmailID.ErrorMessage = "Email Id cannot be left empty";
                tc.Controls.Add(objEmailID);
                tr.Controls.Add(tc);

                /* Creating Regular Expression validator for Email ID. 
                * If the value is empty or not in a regular Email ID format,
                * then should throw error on clicking button Submit*/

                RegularExpressionValidator objEmail = new RegularExpressionValidator();
                objEmail.ControlToValidate = "txtEmailAddress";
                objEmail.ErrorMessage = "Email Id is not in the correct format";
                objEmail.Display = ValidatorDisplay.Dynamic;
                objEmail.ValidationExpression = @"^([0-9a-zA-Z]([-.\w]*[0-9a-zA-Z])*@([0-9a-zA-Z][-\w]*[0-9a-zA-
                Z]\.)+[a-zA-Z]{2,9})$";
                tc.Controls.Add(objEmail);
                tr.Controls.Add(tc);

                t.Controls.Add(tr);

                // Label for text box
                tr = new TableRow();
                tc = new TableCell();
                tc.VerticalAlign = VerticalAlign.Top;
                Label lblComments = new Label();
                lblComments.Text = "Comments";
                tc.Controls.Add(lblComments);
                tr.Controls.Add(tc);
                               
                            
                // Creating a rich text box for comments
                tc=new TableCell();
                tc.VerticalAlign=VerticalAlign.Top;
                txtBox=new InputFormTextBox();
                txtBox.ID="txtBox";
                txtBox.RichText = true;
                txtBox.RichTextMode=SPRichTextMode.FullHtml;
                txtBox.TextMode=TextBoxMode.MultiLine;
                txtBox.Rows=10;
                txtBox.Width=Unit.Percentage(100);
                txtBox.Height = Unit.Percentage(30);
                tc.Controls.Add(txtBox);
                tr.Controls.Add(tc);

                t.Controls.Add(tr);

                // Creating empty cell for spacing
                tr = new TableRow();
                tc = new TableCell();
                lblSpace = new Label();
                lblSpace.Text = "   ";
                tc.Controls.Add(lblSpace);
                tr.Controls.Add(tc);

                tc = new TableCell();

                // Creating button submit event
                btnSubmit = new Button();
                btnSubmit.ID = "btnSubmit";
                btnSubmit.Text = "Submit";
                btnSubmit.Click +=new EventHandler(btnSubmit_Click);
                tc.Controls.Add(btnSubmit);
                
                // Creating button cancel event
                btnCancel = new Button();
                btnCancel.ID = "btnCancel";
                btnCancel.Text = "Cancel";
                btnCancel.Click +=new EventHandler(btnCancel_Click);
                
                lblSpace = new Label();
                lblSpace.Text = "   ";
                tc.Controls.Add(lblSpace);
                tr.Controls.Add(tc);
                tc.Controls.Add(btnCancel);
                
                tr.Controls.Add(tc);

                t.Controls.Add(tr);

                this.Controls.Add(t);

            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                string err = "Error Occured while loading the web part" + ex.Message;
            }
      }

        protected void btnSubmit_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                // Creating the EMail message 
                System.Text.StringBuilder txtMessage = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
                txtMessage.Append("Contact Name: ");
                txtMessage.AppendLine(txtContactName.Text);
                txtMessage.Append("Email Address: ");
                txtMessage.AppendLine(txtEmailAddress.Text);
                txtMessage.AppendLine();
                txtMessage.AppendLine("Comment:");
                txtMessage.AppendLine(txtBox.Text);

                // Creating the Email subject message
                System.Text.StringBuilder txtsubject = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
                txtsubject.Append("Comment from");
                txtsubject.Append(txtContactName.Text);

                // Cerating the message header
                System.Collections.Specialized.StringDictionary txtmessageHeader = new
                System.Collections.Specialized.StringDictionary();
                
                // To whom the mail should be sent
                txtmessageHeader.Add("to", "MAIL ID OF THE USER TO WHOM THE COMMENT HAS TO BE SENT");

                // From whom the comment is being sent
                txtmessageHeader.Add("from", txtEmailAddress.Text);
                txtmessageHeader.Add("subject", txtsubject.ToString());
                txtmessageHeader.Add("content-type", "text/RichText");

                // Send the email with the comment from the user
                Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.SPUtility.SendEmail(SPContext.Current.Web, txtmessageHeader,               
                txtMessage.ToString());

                // Clear the fields after sending the mail
                txtContactName.Text = "";
                txtEmailAddress.Text = "";
                txtBox.Text = "";
                
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                string str= "Unable to send mail:" + ex.Message;
            }
        }

        protected void btnCancel_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            // Clear the fields on clicking cancel
            txtContactName.Text = "";
            txtEmailAddress.Text = "";
            txtBox.Text = "";
        }

   }
}

4. Build the web part and check for errors.

5. Now, to deploy the solution Right Click on the project solution -> Select Deploy to add the solutions in the Solution Gallery.

6. Now the solution will be present in the Solution Gallery (Central Administration-> Operations -> Solution Management) in the SharePoint site and we have to add it to our site.

7. Go to the SharePoint site -> Site Actions -> Site Settings -> galleries -> web parts

8. Now, Click on New -> You will see the list of deployed web parts and click on Comment Web part and then Click Populate Gallery

9. Now the web part is available in the SharePoint site but we have to add Safe control entry in the web.config of the site. Add the following in the web.config in the SAFE CONTROLS tag section 

10. Now you can add the created custom web part in your SharePoint site. This will look as follows:

According to the required field validation, if the name and email id is field is left empty then the following screen should be seen:

If the Email ID is given in the wrong format then according to the regular expression validation, the following screen should be seen:

If the input fields are correctly given, then you will be able to submit the 

comment to the described mail ID in the code as shown below:

HAPPY SHARING J

Also, to know about the Basics of Visual Web Part read this article.

To know about Creating and Deploying a Visual Web Part using Visual Studio 2010 read this article.

Please free to share your thoughts and share this post if this helps you!

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Inserting a web part into SharePoint page without designer

In the article “Inserting a web part into SharePoint Page without designer”, we have discussed about inserting a web part in New/Edit/Display from.aspx in without using designer the lower versions of SharePoint (WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007).

Now, in this article we will discuss about inserting a web part into the New/Edit/Display form.aspx page without designer in SharePoint 2010.

Now, suppose that we have custom list named “City”

Now, go to the List Settings of the custom list “City”

Under General Settings -> Advanced Settings

In the advance settings, we have an option for the Launching the forms in dialog when click on NEW for inserting a new value in a list.

Here, now we will disable that option by selecting NO in launch forms in a dialog as shown below:

Now, we will click on “New Item” for inserting a new item in the custom list

Now, we will be navigated to the newform.aspx without popup dialog since we have disabled it.

The URL in the address bar will be as below:

http://SiteName/Lists/City/NewForm.aspx?Source=http%3A%2F%2F%2D%3A2020%2FLists%2FCity%2FAllItems%2Easpx%3FInitialTabId%3DRibbon%252EListItem%26VisibilityContext%3DWSSTabPersistence&RootFolder=

In the above URL delete the URL before NewForm.aspx, we will have

 http://SiteName/Lists/City/NewForm.aspx

In this URL in the address bar, append “?ToolPaneView=2”

http://SiteName/List/City/NewForm.aspx?ToolPaneView=2

Click Go in the address bar, then you will see the Add Web Parts option for inserting into the newform.aspx page.

In the similar way, we can insert the web part into editform.aspx and displayform.aspx

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SharePoint Web Part Maintenance Page

In this post, we will come to know how to navigate to the web part maintenance page.

Why we need this page in SharePoint ?

In the webpart maintenance page, we will see the web parts present in a SharePoint page.

By adding “?contents=1” at the end of the page URL, you can navigate to the web part maintenance page.

For Example:

http://severname/default.aspx?contents=1

Here, you can see the web parts present in the SharePoint page and you can delete the web parts if it is corrupted or not used in the particular page.

Advantage:

There will be scenarios like; you will get an error while opening the SharePoint page in the SharePoint designer. Read this article to know more Deafult.aspx is not opening in the SharePoint Designer

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Creating and Deploying a Visual Web Part using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

To know about the Basics of Visual web part, read this article before knowing how to create and deploy the visual web part using visual studio 2010.

We will create a Visual web part for uploading the document to the SharePoint document library.

At the end of this article, we will learn

     1.How to create and deploy a Visual Web part

     2.How to programmatically upload a document to the SharePoint Document library

Open the Visual Studio and create a Visual Web Part project as shown below

When you click OK, you will see a pop-up window which will ask for the SharePoint site where the web part is going to be deployed as shown below. Hence give the proper URL of the SharePoint site. Also select the option Deploy as a farm solution because, visual web part is not a sandboxed solution

Once clicked Finish, you will see the project created with all the necessary files (assembly, .ascx files, feature to be deployed, .web part file) for a web part in the solution explorer as shown below

Click on the .ascx file and in the design mode, drag and drop the controls (FileUpload Control and Button) as shown below and complete the design part

I have added a JavaScript code which we used in this article for validating the file being uploaded is only .doc and .docx file.

Now, we will go for the coding the functionality of the web part. I have added a code in the Button1_Click event (Upload) of the web part as shown below

In the above code, give the proper name of the Document Library. I have used the default document library “Documents”.

Now Build the application and check for the errors. Once the build is successful, our web part is ready to be deployed in the SharePoint site.

It is very easy to deploy the visual web part. See the screenshot below.

That’s it. We have deployed our solution to the SharePoint site, which we have mentioned during creating the project.

Now, we will use the web part in our share point page.

Go to the SharePoint page -> Edit Page -> Insert web part -> Categories -> Custom -> Select the web part created (in our case I have named visualwebpart1)

Once added, we will see our web part designed in the SharePoint site page.

I will select a file and click upload. The file will get uploaded into the document library mentioned in the code.

Once Clicked Upload, the document is uploaded into the document library as shown below.

That’s it! We are done. We have learned to create and deploy the visual web part in SharePoint 2010.

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