Don’t forget to install InfoPath

Today’s the day when InfoPath gets it’s first official punch in the gut – Office 2016 has been released today, and as promised does not include InfoPath as part of the install.

But as we know (and will learn more about on October 10th) InfoPath ain’t dead yet.

So, after your Office 2016 install finishes, be sure to take the additional step of separately downloading the standalone InfoPath 2013 install.

Upcoming SharePoint Events–Sept & Oct 2015

I’ll be speaking at several SharePoint events over the next couple of months. More details to come, but here’s the 10,000 feet view:

Microsoft DogFood Conference 2015
(Oct 7-8, Columbus, OH) – The biggest Microsoft-focused technology conference in the region. My talks will include:

• Moving Your SharePoint Development to the Cloud
• Getting Information from SharePoint – A 365 Degree View

SharePoint Saturday Cincinnati 2015
(Oct 10, Cincinnati, OH) – This free event includes great talks from SharePoint MVPs and thought leaders from around the country. My talk will be:

• InfoPath – I Ain’t Dead Yet. Here’s Why…
  
  2015-spscincy-infopath-spcb—SharePoint Cowbell

SharePoint Roundtable Cleveland
(Sept 9, Cleveland, OH) – Bennett Adelson regularly hosts this roundtable meeting to discuss relevant and timely topics for Information Workers. Join my colleagues and I as we discuss:

• SharePoint Futures: Processing the MS Ignite Announcements

Microsoft DogFood 2013 Conference–Day 1

What a great kickoff for DogFood 2013! A large number of attendees showed up for the first day of this year’s Microsoft DogFood Conference in Columbus Ohio. Tons of Microsoft topics were being presented, including topics like Windows Phone App development, automated testing strategies, InfoPath, and of course SharePoint. 
As we now move into Day 2, I’m looking forward to presenting on PowerShell with PS guru Ryan Dennis. Be sure to follow the conversation on Twitter at #DogFoodCon.

Attendees listening to Ricardo Wilkins discuss
SharePoint 2013 development features

I delivered two presentations on Day 1:

• Leveraging the Powerful Forces of InfoPath
• “I’m a Developer and I Hate SharePoint…” – Why SharePoint 2013 Will Change Your Mind

Each had great attendance, and great participation. You can find the slidedecks below, or on Slideshare:

Update: below you’ll also find the PowerShell talk mentioned above, as well as the slides from fellow colleague Eric Grover on Windows 8 App development:

Eric grover strategies for sharing code with windows 8 and windows phone 8 apps from Eric Grover

Fake It ‘Til You Make It–Alternatives to Custom Application Pages for Non-Developers

SharePoint is a versatile tool meant to empower end-users. So, for me it seems such a shame when end-users feel powerless when it comes to their ability to ‘create’ in SharePoint. Sometimes for a non-developer, it can seem like the only way to make something interesting in SharePoint (besides a fancy list or some Wiki pages) is to get help from a Developer or Web Designer. But I submit that, with a little creativity (and maybe some smoke-n-mirrors), non-developers can make an ‘application’ that looks and feels like a Developer’s custom application page.

InfoPath 2010 presentation at Buckeye SPUG: May the FORMS Be With You…

Last nite I gave my InfoPath 2010 talk to the attendees at the Buckeye SharePoint User Group. Despite a nasty snow storm that swept in inconveniently right at the evening rush hour, lots of folks braved the cold and joined me in an engaging and entertaining talk about the untapped power of InfoPath 2010.

The end of the talk included a demo of a form I created call the Dog Lover’s Application. It’s simply a way to demonstrate some standard, and some not-so-standard, features of InfoPath. I used SharePoint 2010’s built-in InfoPath Web Part to embed the form on the homepage of my site. I then asked the audience – “how do you know this isn’t a custom-built web part??” The point I was trying to make is that, with enough clever design, InfoPath forms designers can create some pretty fancy composites that might otherwise normally only be associated with the realm of the all-powerful Developer. : )

My goal was to hopefully make people see the value that InfoPath delivers as another tool in their SharePoint arsenal, and to show that it can be used for more than just the basic form.

The slidedeck can be found below, or on Slideshare::

SharePoint 2010 Is Better Because: InfoPath Links Work Better

I do a lot of solutions involving workflow and InfoPath Forms Services. In SharePoint 2007, whenever I go to the Workflow Status page, it always bugged me that the “Document:” link [that links me to the related InfoPath form (ie XML document) for my workflow] always wanted to open as XML or in the InfoPath client, as opposed to the browser.  There are some customizations I could do to get it to work the way I want, but out of the box it was a no-go.

Well, it appears that SharePoint 2010 Is Better Because that Document: link now opens in the browser using Forms Services the way I’ve always wanted!  Kool!  What do you think – do you like this behavior?

InfoPath: Team Development

InfoPath can be your best friend when it comes to building dynamic and engaging forms in SharePoint that your customers can use to interact with their data in a rich and visual manner.  In many ways, it’s suitable even for the Power user to quickly produce a feature-rich form.  But I think it becomes even more powerful in the hands of a team of SharePoint Developers, who can fully explore advanced design options like data integration, complex rules generation, and even incorporation of code-behind files.

As with any SharePoint development technology, it’s important to follow good practices when developing in a team environment.  This series (which you can follow with the infopath-TeamDev tag) will look at several aspects of InfoPath team development, and attempt to offer helpful advice on best practices.

Some of the challenges we’ll look at will include:

• versioning your team work
• working in parallel
• managing data connections

We’ll also explore useful team dev tips, like incorporating Template Parts, using data field naming conventions, and maximizing the power of InfoPath Rules.

Let’s see where this ride takes us!  More posts to come.

SharePoint Workflow for Cowboys: my slide deck from DaySPUG

I had a great time hanging with the members of the Dayton SharePoint User Group this past Tuesday.  We discussed “Business Process Automation with SharePoint and Workflow – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”.  I talked about how the tools and development experience of automating process using SharePoint have improved in SharePoint 2010 (the Good) versus SharePoint 2007 (the Bad, the Ugly).  [I gave them the disclaimer that the “Bad” and “Ugly” bit was just for effect – MOSS 2007 is still awesome] :)

Document Management & SharePoint: Forms vs Documents

I’ve spent the last couple of months developing a customized document management system in SharePoint 2007 for a client.  Many interesting challenges have surfaced as a result of working thru the different requirements for this solution, and I thought it might be useful to write about them.  Check back from time to time to read the ongoing saga.  Now, of course, it would be a miracle if I were able to discuss them here in any kind of logical order, so I’m going to settle for random thoughts instead. :)