Call me picky, but I think it’s important to consistently name your SharePoint databases—especially on a shared SQL Server hosting multiple farms and applications. Not only is it a good practice, but by showing that you care about the databases, you’ll earn the respect of even your most grumpiest DBAs...

One error you may see when packaging solutions with VSEWSS is: Microsoft.SharePoint.Tools.Utilities.VSeWSSServiceException VSeWSS Service Error: Unable to load one or more of the requested types. Retrieve the LoaderExceptions property for more information. Like most error messages from VSEWSS, there...

In a previous post , I provided a walkthrough for automating builds for VSEWSS 1.3 projects. The script I used was based on the SharePoint Guidance Drop 11, and after using it, I felt it could be simplified. I’m a proponent of implementing the “simplest possible thing that will work,” and the following...

A common error you may encounter when using VSEWSS 1.3 is “System.ArgumentException, Value does not fall within the specified range.” This post outlines the common causes and resolutions for the issue. One suggestion I have seen on the web is to delete the pkg directory since it is auto-generated...

In this walkthrough, I’ll demonstrate how to achieve automated builds and continuous integration by creating a build script for VSEWSS 1.3 solutions. The patterns and practices SharePoint Guidance (11 drop) contains an example build script that this article is based on, but I found some issues with it...

One of the shortcomings of the RSS Viewer web part is that it can only be bound one feed. In this walkthrough, I’ll show you how to make the RSS Viewer web part dynamic with filter web parts and web part connections to enable binding to multiple feeds. Create the RSS Feeds List In View All Site...

One of the new features of Internet Explorer 8 is Web Slices. This feature enables you to subscribe to a section of a web page and notifies you when the content changes. By design, SharePoint Web Parts are a natural fit for this feature, and in this article I’ll show you how to build a Web Part that...

The SharePoint developer community has produced a wealth of knowledge and code samples that demonstrate how to consume SharePoint web services and leverage them in domain-specific applications.  This information is often task-centric, such as  "How to add an Item to a List using SharePoint...

A common SharePoint customization request is to copy or move items and documents between lists. This can be accomplished without development by creating a workflow using SharePoint Designer (SPD). With this approach, you may encounter issues with list item fields not copying or copying intermittently...

If you were to survey corporate America on how it defines an enterprise content management (ECM) system, the majority response would be a software tool primarily used by large organizations to create and publish Web content. This article challenges that definition and proposes that ECM is a process that...

In this post I'll show you how to build a PowerShell cmdlet that consumes SharePoint web services using WCF. What I like about this approach is that it provides the ability to use some of the SharePoint API without having to be logged in to the SharePoint server. Although you can accomplish the same...

In this walkthrough, I'll show you how to import data from a line of business (LOB) system into SharePoint user profiles and make that information searchable. Using this approach, you can leverage information that is stored in other LOB systems and create a unified view of user information in SharePoint...