Penny Coventry

Let's celebrate and tie Ribbons around SharePoint

Penny Coventry — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 08:29:00 GMT

SharePoint 2010 is coming up to its 2 year birthday, so it worth talking about Ribbons. Too often solutions concentrate
on pages, Web Parts, lists, libraries and workflows. A SharePoint solution should be more than this - each of these
components should be combined to provide users with a holistic solution, where the components work together and
not as discrete entities.

Using Web Part connections and customizing the Data Form Web Part (DFWP) Form Action button to initiate workflows,
are examples of how you can achieve this. However, SharePoint 2010 provides other components that can be used to
improve the users experience (UX).

Microsoft did much refactoring of the user interface (UI) introducing the Office 2007 client application Ribbon to
SharePoint Foundation, targeting standard tasks that users need to compete and reduced the use of tables. In your
solutions you can extend the out-of-the-box UI, specifically by displaying links, relevant text and commands on the:

Server Ribbon

Status bar
Notification area

List Item Menu (LIM), also known by developers as the Edit Control Block (ECB).

In my sessions at the Australia SharePoint Conference (20-21st March) and the SharePoint Summit in Toronto
(14-16th May 2012), I'll concentrate on how to extend the server Ribbon interface and create LIMs, using
SharePoint Designer 2010, with no-code. I'll also briefly introduce how to use Visual Studio to extend the four UI
components listed above, and then in conclusion I'll highlight the pros and cons of using SharePoint Designer as
compared to Visual Studio. Along the way I'll also mention what is possible if you are using SharePoint Online, which is
part of Office 365.

The session is based on working at client sites and my investigations whilst writing Chapter 3, "Working with Lists
and Libraries", in SharePoint Designer 2010 Step by Step and Chapter 15, "Customizing the User Interface", in
SharePoint Foundation 2010 Inside Out. Developers can find more information on customizing the Ribbon, on my blog
post, SharePoint Conference: Session SPC402 Ribbon Development and Extensibility.

Speaking at SharePoint Conferences in 2012

Penny Coventry — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:47:00 GMT

Well, 2012 is looking like a very busy year. I am lucky to have been accepted to speak at four conferences in the next few months:

3rd Annual Australian SharePoint Conference, 20th - 21st March 2012 at Hilton Park, Melbourne, Australia
4th Annual New Zealand SharePoint Conference, 28th - 29th March 2012 at The Langham Hotel, Auckland, NZ
The International SharePoint Conference, 23rd - 25th April 2012, QEII Conference Centre, London, UK
SharePoint Summit, 14th - 16th May 2012, The Fairmont Royal York, Toronto, Canada

I'll be speaking on a variety of topics: Fiddler, SharePoint Online (Office365), Ribbon Customization, branding and workflows.

Oh! and did I mention that I'm writing another book (my husband's words were: you are kidding aren't you?). This time it's on Business Connectivity Services and my co-authors are Brett Lonsdale - @brettlonsdale and Phill Duffy - @phillduffy. It should be out in June 2012 - ready for the North America and European TechEd conferences.

Speaking at SEF2011 and SharePoint Saturday UK 2011

Penny Coventry — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:59:00 GMT

On Saturday November 12th at #SPSUK, I'll be presenting a session titled:

Automating Business Processes with SharePoint Online
In this session I'll be using Visio 2010 Premium and SharePoint Designer 2010 to explore the options available when automating business process in the cloud with SharePoint Online which is part of Office 365. Towards the end of the session I'll also show how such processes can be extended using Visual Studio 2010, as well as discussing how the deployment and packaging of workflows differs from using on premise SharePoint 2010. This is a free event, but you must register at the following site: http://sharepointsaturday.org/uk/default.aspx

Two days later - 14th - 15th November, I'll be repeating this session on Day 2, 13:30-14:40, Room C10 at the Swedish SharePoint & Exchange Forum in Stockholm, plus presenting another session on Day 1, 17:10-18:10, Room C58 on How to use fiddler with SharePoint 2010.

Book Signing at SharePoint Conference 2011

Penny Coventry — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 06:32:00 GMT

Like many other people who are passionate about SharePoint, I'm attending the SharePoint Conference 2011, twitter hashtag #spc11 being held in Anaheim, CS, US - October 3-6. So in a couple of days I'll be making my way over there.

Whilst at the conference I'll be soaking up the new information and experiences that attendees and speakers have to tell, attending the many social events (see event map: http://bit.ly/q03FBN and http://bit.ly/nbsBfw) and I'm also doing three book signings for four of the books I've helped to produce*:

Monday 3rd October, 12:30 Mindsharp booth #323, where I'll be signing copies of Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Step by Step along with Bill English and Todd Bleeker. There will also be book signings at this time for the book, Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Administrator's Companion, which I also contributed to. This event is a real pleasure for me as it was Bill, who gave me my first opportunity of becoming an author when I contributed 6 chapters to Sharepoint Products & Technologies Resource Kit.
Tuesday 4th October, 15:00, O'Reilly Media / Microsoft Press booth #143, where I'll be signing copies of Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 Inside Out along with some of the other co-authors, such as, Tom Resing, Johnathan Lightfoot and Troy Lanphier.
Wednesday 5th October, 12:00, O'Reilly Media / Microsoft Press booth #143, where I'll be signing copies of two books, Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010 Step by Step and Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 Step by Step.

So come and say hi. I'm also part of the army of bloggers that have signed up as part of Dave Coleman's push for live blogging during the event - twitter hashtag #SPC11LB.

There are many other book sigining happening during the conference.

This blog post is a mirror of the post created on my main blog site: http://www.sharepointdesignerstepbystep.com/Blog

* Books are never the result of one person.

Speaking at European SharePoint Best Practices Conference 2011

Penny Coventry — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:45:00 GMT

Next week, commencing 11^th April, there's the 3-day, SharePoint Best Practices Conference 2011. It's taking place at the same venue as last's years SharePoint Evolution Conference event – Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, UK - opposite the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

So what's the important information you should know:

The event kicks off with a football event on Sunday afternoon.
There's a large number of sessions.
An Exhibitor evening reception on the first night 17:00-19:00, which includes a Meet the Author's session at the Microsoft Press/O'Reilly bookstore at 18:30, where you can meet me, Andrew Connell, Ben Curry, Ben Robb, Bill English, Brian Alderman, Ted Patterson and Todd Bleeker.
A SharePint evening at the Old Star Pub later on Day 1 after 19:30.
A Conference Party night on Day 2 from 20:00 onwards.
A post conference DVD containing the recordings of the sessions. Probably the only conference in the world that still gives out DVDs containing the recorded sessions. That alone make it work attending.

The speakers list is just awe inspiring – it's a Who's Who of the SharePoint world, and I'm lucky to be presenting:

Day 2: 15:00-16:00, Information Worker track 2, IW510, Henry Moore room on "Controling who can use SharePoint Designer".

Join the conversations on twitter, tweet with #bpcuk, and join the Facebook group.

If you haven't already registered for it, do so – NOW! You will truly regret it if you don't.

MVP for the Fifth Year

Penny Coventry — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:58:00 GMT

I don't write blogs very often, but when I do - it's good news.

Yes it was April Fool's day and to me that means will I receive a wondrous letter from Microsoft? - and yes I received my Congratulations email. Thanks to everyone who helped me or should I say allowed me to continue my passion for SharePoint.

New Book: SharePoint Designer 2010 Step By Step sent to printers

Penny Coventry — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:20:00 GMT

I'm excited to tell you that my book SharePoint Designer 2010 Step By Step, was sent to the printers on the 7th December 2010 and is now available. It consists of 14 chapters, and three appendices as outlined at: http://www.sharepointdesignerstepbystep.com/Blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=20. This book can be purchased in print or ebook format from the O'Reilly site, or from book stores such as Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

US SharePoint Best Practices – Here I come

Penny Coventry — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:15:00 GMT

Once again, I'm packing my bags for the flight to the US. This time it's the SharePoint Best Practices Conference, 24^th – 27^th August, at the Hyatt Regency Reston Hotel in Washington, DC - over 120 sessions, 4 tracks, 4 post-conference workshops and 60+ speakers. It's definitely one to attend.

It's the first time I've been to a US Best Practices Conference and the first time in Washington, DC, so I'm really looking forward to it. I can't wait to meet up with so many friends and colleagues. I'll be presenting two sessions:

What does it takes to become certified on SharePoint Server 2010? – Tuesday 16:30 – 17:15 – Room: Lake Ann A.
SharePoint 2010 goes native with PowerShell – Thursday 11:00 – 12:15 – Room: Lake Fairfax A
ATE Administration Panel

If you can't make, follow: Twitter hash is #BPC2010 and I've also seen #BPC10 used too. There is also going to be live blogging.

SharePoint June 2010 Cumulative Updates

Penny Coventry — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:44:00 GMT

The June 2010 cumulative updates for WSS 3.0 and MOSS07 have been released, see http://blogs.msdn.com/b/joerg_sinemus/archive/2010/06/30/wss-and-moss-june-2010-cu.aspx.

Also Joerg Sinemus announces that the first CU for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 - MSS2010 and Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 - MSF2010 has been delayed.

I have updated my SharePoint Versions page with the latest numbers.

[Updated: 22nd July 2010] CU 2010 June now available for SPF 2010 and MSS 2010: see http://blogs.technet.com/b/stefan_gossner/archive/2010/07/22/the-first-cumulative-update-for-sharepoint-2010-family-has-been-released.aspx.

SharePoint User Group UK Meeting - Nottingham

Penny Coventry — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:27:00 GMT

I'm presenting a session on Thursday 8th July 2010 at Nottingham. I'm giving the first session of a series of three that Mark Macrae is planning on Workflows. This first session is "back to basics". I'll briefly look at the out-of-the-box workflows that come with SharePoint Server 2007 and then how to use SharePoint Designer 2007 for building workflow solutions - pros/cons. The second session starts at 20:10 when Andrew Woodward will talk about Automated UI Testing. There will be a break following first session when BBQ and drinks will be served.

I have some SWAG that I've brought back from TechEd 2010, North America, to give away, so make sure you attend.

Location:
Intelligent Decisioning Ltd Offices
Strelley Hall,
Nottingham,
NG8 6PE

For full directions please see the following link http://www.id-live.com/ (and click 'Contact Us')

Arrive around 6 pm for a 6:30 pm start.