The wonderful world of knowledge technologies

Microsoft has done a great job with pushing their search technology a step further into the central arena of creating SharePoint applications: Using the content by search webpart one can now show result sets across site collections whereas the content by query webpart was limited to the scope of only one site collection; Using display templates in order to create customized visual representations – just by editing html templates right from your favorite html design tool. Some caveats though that I would like to express, hoping to influence Microsoft product development: Web Part configuration – the configuration of all the various content search webparts across your solution can become quite cumbersome, i.e. 1) Browse to the page, 2) Toggle Edit mode, 3) Edit the webpart, 4) Edit all the various settings of the content by search webpart, 5) Save the webpart settings, 6) Save the page. I am looking forward to a tool that will make my live easier; Where is the js bundle? These dis...

The following applies to SharePoint 2013 RTM and potentially to SharePoint 2010, but was not tested. Ever tried to backup and restore a site collection with PowerShell using a least privilege SPRestore account approach and bumped into some fatal errors? As a starter you should have followed the instructions that are documented on TechNet: Restore site collections in SharePoint 2013 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee748655.aspx Apparently this documention is not completely sufficient, as you bumped in some fatal errors and are seeking for help. In this blog I would like to discuss two error messages and show you how to address them. Error 1: access denied In PowerShell: 02/26/2013 15:38:27.95 PowerShell.exe (0x2B28) 0x2B78 SharePoint Foundation General ai1wu Medium System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED)), StackTrace: at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPSite.Restore(String filename, Boolean isADMode, Boolean& ...

Have you ever wondered how you would be able to show the superb SharePoint 2013 My Site Task Center within a custom webpart page? By inspecting the application page AllItems.aspx within the My Site site with SharePoint Designer you can find out how. Open your webpart page in advanced mode. Register a prefix to the required namespace as follows: And add the following webpart to your favorite webpartzone: Et voila!

Last week I managed to pass the Microsoft exam 70-480 Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 successfully. Some tips: To prepare yourself you could do the following: Start right away with a test exam; as the exam will mostly test your basic skills, chance is big that you will already possess most of the required knowledge; Then study all the items you felt uncomfortable of thoroughly; expect a study load of around 10+ hours; Test your newly acquired knowledge with another test exam. PLEASE NOTE: With regards to CSS3; don't waste your time with studying all the available w3c CSS3 draft specifications, as these are by far not ratified yet. Focus on the css3 features that Microsoft has included into Internet Explorer 10. Ultimately it is a Microsoft exam after all! The Internet Explorer (IE10) guide for developers can be found at the following url: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/hh673549(v=vs.85).aspx The exam consisted out of 39 questions and among others th...

With their Office 2013 suite Microsoft introduces the App Store model for all major Office related applications, comparable to the App Stores for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8: Outlook Word Excel SharePoint This enables huge opportunities for developers to provide their custom solutions to a large customer base! Two things I learned today with regards to apps for Outlook 2013: 1. Exchange 2013 is required If you try to add an app for Outlook from the store, you’ll find the following instruction: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/store/add-apps-for-outlook-using-exchange-2013-FX102837494.aspx?ai=WA103786430 Indeed: Exchange 2013 is required! 2. Some apps require provisioning by administrator And, there appears to be some apps that will need to be provisioned by the administrator, for example harmon.ie: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/store/harmon-ie-WA103004101.aspx?queryid=b3be69de-b411-4fbe-8db8-d01a921f32eb&CTT=1

Today I was struggling with my first try at some SharePoint 2013 Client Side Object Model C# code, starting with the example I found at  http://www.learningsharepoint.com/2010/07/22/get-all-users-and-groups-client-object-model-sharepoint-2010/ . As all of you may know, you need to reference at least two assemblies to get this going: Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll Unfortunately at that point I was still inexperienced, and I forgot to add a reference to Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll. When I tried to compile the following code: The compiler threw the following error message: 'Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext' does not contain a definition for 'Load' and no extension method 'Load' accepting a first argument of type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference? Luckily the compiler hinted to the possi...