Microsoft SharePoint(TM) Portal Server 2001 Resource Kit (Examples & Explanations Series)

With SharePoint Portal Server, information on your dashboard site dynamically changes as users create, modify, and store files in the workspace. With the document management features of SharePoint Portal Server, users participate in developing content for your dashboard site. Office XP users are ready to work with SharePoint Portal Server out of the box. No additional installations are required.

When you use SharePoint Portal Server, you can focus on the accessibility and organization of content, instead of spending time on content preparation. As users add content, you customize and control what content appears on the dashboard site, how it is organized, and to whom it is available. Because SharePoint Portal Server eliminates the extra steps of preparing existing content for the Web, the process of finding, sharing, and publishing information is shorter and easier. When you use them in combination, Office XP and SharePoint Portal Server add value to the user experience by reducing the time to prepare content for the Web.

For Office XP users, the productivity benefits of using Office XP and SharePoint Portal Server together are:

• Personal dashboard and Web Part development. With Office XP, you can save Web Parts directly by using the Save As feature on the File menu. Office XP users can create a personal dashboard. A personal dashboard gives a customized view of information to share information across groups.
• Integrated search. Users have a rich search experience from within Office XP. They can look across local servers, SharePoint Portal Server computers, Microsoft Exchange Server computers, or any Web server, making it simple to find and retrieve information regardless of its location. You can search SharePoint Portal Server workspaces directly from within the Office XP applications by using the Search Pane feature. During a search, you receive the same results that you would receive from conducting a search query on the dashboard site.
• Rich built-in document management. When you use Office XP with SharePoint Portal Server, Office XP users get a rich, secure, and customizable document management experience. SharePoint Portal Server adds check-in, check-out, publishing, and document profiles to the document management process of Office XP. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications all have built-in awareness of SharePoint Portal Server for document management. By using My Network Places from Office XP applications, users can check documents in and out of the workspace directly. When users open documents in the workspace from Office XP applications, SharePoint Portal Server automatically prompts them to check out documents before opening them. In addition, Office XP automatically prompts users to check in documents that they have edited when closing them.
• Smart Tags within Office documents. Users can use Smart Tags technology within Office XP documents to directly link to categories and searches within SharePoint Portal Server. Users can also access the profile form for a document directly from Office XP applications.
• One-touch client installation. You can use Office XP and SharePoint Portal Server together out of the box with a simple, unified installation process. All Office XP applications are native clients for SharePoint Portal Server.

Together, Office XP and SharePoint Portal Server simplify the process of taking information from everyday applications and presenting it on the Web in a central location. Office XP makes creating a Web page as simple as using the Save As feature.