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Introducing myTeamSite



SharePoint Products and Technologies facilitate collaboration within the organisation, students and with partners. Using the combined collaboration features of Windows SharePoint Services and SharePoint Portal Server 2003, you can easily create, manage, and build their own collaborative Web sites and make them available throughout the organisation. Learn more about Windows SharePoint Services to determine what is right for you.

Overview

myTeamSite uses the Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services. This allows teams to create Web based sites for information sharing and document collaboration, benefits that help increase individual and team productivity. Windows SharePoint Services sites take file storage to a new level, providing communities for team collaboration and making it easy for users to work together on documents, tasks, contacts, events, and other information. In addition, team and site managers can coordinate site content and user activity easily. The Windows SharePoint Services environment is designed for easy and flexible deployment, administration, and application development. SharePoint sites are made up of Web Parts and Windows ASP.NET-based components. Web Parts are designed to be added to pages and configured by site administrators and users, creating complete page-based applications. Windows SharePoint Services ships with a number of ready-to-use Web Parts and templates.

SharePoint sites provide places to capture and share ideas, information, communication, and documents. The sites facilitate team participation in discussions, shared document collaboration, and surveys. Site content is accessible from both a Web browser and through clients (example: Office 2003) that support Web Services. The document collaboration features allow for easy check in, check out, and document version control.

Site content can be easily searched, and users can also receive alerts to tell them when existing documents and information have been changed, or when new information or documents have been added. Site content and layout can be personalised on a per-user basis, and Web Parts can be used to present targeted information to specific users on precise topics.

Microsoft Office System programs can make use of SharePoint site content. All of a site's collaborative content—for example, documents, lists, events, task assignments, and membership rosters—can be read and edited within Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Office Excel 2003, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003. Picture editing of Web-based photo libraries is also possible. Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 allows SharePoint site event calendars to be viewed side-by-side with personal calendars, and it also creates meeting-specific workspaces to augment group appointments.

SharePoint site managers can customise the content and layout of sites to ensure that site members can access and work with important and relevant information. Members' participation can also be monitored and moderated when necessary. Security and task responsibilities are both flexible and easily accessible.

Creating myTeamSite

All NTU staff and students may create their own Team Site for collaboration the project work. The creating process is online and only takes a few seconds.

myNTU

myTeamSite is a module in the myNTU portal. To create your very own site, just logon to your Personal portal (http://gemsweb.ntu.edu.sg/dashboard/igems/login/login.asp) and go to the myWorkroom. Once you are in myWorkroom, just click on the Create personal TeamSite link under the myTeamSite section. You will be asked to choose a new site name. Remember to choose a meaningful site name as this will be used in the URL link to your site. Try not to choose too long a name. You will also have to select a template for your site (see Templates below). The creation process will take a few seconds, and once it has been completed you can start using your new Team Site immediately.

Quota

The default size quota for each Personal Team Site is 50MB. Once you hit this quota, you will not be able to upload any more new files on to your site. You may apply for a quota increase from Stafflink or Studentlink. Please include your full site URL in your quota increase application.

Ownership and Administration

The Owner of the site will be the person who created it. You will also be the Administrator of the site. You may grant Administrator permissions to other NTU users if you so wish to.

Templates

During the creation process you will have a choice of templates which are provided out of the box. As these are only templates, you may further customise the layout of your site. The available templates are:

·  Team Site - This template creates a site for teams to create, organise, and share information quickly and easily. It includes a Document Library, and basic lists such as Announcements, Events, Contacts, and Quick Links.

·  Blank Site - This template creates a Windows SharePoint Services-enabled Web site with a blank home page. You can use a Windows SharePoint Services-compatible Web page editor (example: FrontPage 2003) to add interactive lists or any other Windows SharePoint Services features. (For advance users only.)

·  Document Workspace - This template creates a site for colleagues to work together on documents. It provides a document library for storing the primary document and supporting files, a Task list for assigning to-do items, and a Links list for resources related to the document.

·  Basic Meeting Workspace - All the basics to plan, organise and track your meeting. This Meeting Workspace contains the following lists: Objectives, Attendees, Agenda, and Document Library.

·  Blank Meeting Workspace - A blank Meeting Workspace for you to customise based on your requirements.

·  Decision Meeting Workspace - A Meeting Workspace in which to review relevant documents and record decisions. This Meeting Workspace contains the following lists: Objectives, Attendees, Agenda, Document Library, Tasks, and Decisions.

·  Social Meeting Workspace - A planning tool for social occasions, featuring a discussion board and a picture library to post pictures of the event. This Meeting Workspace contains the following lists and Web Parts: Attendees, Directions, Image/Logo, Things To Bring, Discussions, and Picture Library.

·  Multipage Meeting Workspace - All the basics to plan, organise and track your meeting with multiple pages. This Meeting Workspace contains the following lists: Objectives, Attendees and Agenda in addition to two blank pages for you to customize based on your requirement

Using your Team Site

After you have created your site, you may access it in the future via myNTU Personal Portal. Alternatively, you may access it directly using the following links (Details on granting access to other users to access your site will be covered later in this section.):

For users with a NTU staff, student or assoc account, http://staff.teamsite.ntu.edu.sg/sites/sitename

For outside users (with no NTU account) http://staffx.teamsite.ntu.edu.sg/sites/sitename

Where sitename is the name of your Team Site

In each Team Site there are various components which allow you to share information with your Team members. Some or all of these collaboration tools will be available to you depending on the template you have selected for your site. We will now introduce these components and collaboration tools found in a Team Site.

A typical Team Site will look like the one shown above. As you can see the various Team Site components, or web parts, are displayed on the Home page. On the left of the page is a list of Quick Launch links which allows you to navigate to other collaboration components not displayed on the Home page.

Announcements

The Announcements web part allows you to post general notices for all members of the Team Site to view. It is a simple and convenient way to put messages across to your team. Besides a text message, each announcement may also contain file attachments. You are also able to set an expiry date to the announcement, after which the announcement will not be displayed on the Home page.

To add an announcement, simply click on the Add new announcement link. When you have completed with the message, click Save and Close.

Events

Events is a Team Calendar. This tracks milestones or important dates which the team should be aware of. These dates will be listed under Events in the Home page. To create an Event, just click on Add new event.

You can link the Events calendar appointments to Outlook 2003. This will make the events appear in a Calendar view in Outlook. The information will be automatically updated on Outlook, however, you will not be able to modify or add appointments using Outlook. To link to Outlook, simply click on Events and click on the Link to Outlook button . A prompt will appear asking you to confirm the link, just click Yes to acknowledge. In Outlook, click on the Calendar shortcut icon and under the Other Calendar section check the calendar of your Team Site. The Calendar will be shown on the right. The Team Site calendar folder is also found in the Folder List view of Outlook. Just click on the Folder List icon in the Shortcut Bar and locate the SharePoint Folders tree found at the bottom. This is shown below.

Links

Links are just web links to other web pages or sub Team Sites. These, bookmarks to web sites, are conveniently located on the Home page for your team members to access. To add a link, click on Add new link.

Documents and Lists

One of the most important and useful components of a Team Site is the Documents and Lists. This component allows you to upload document files to the site and share them with some or all team members.

Clicking on the Documents and Lists link of the top bar will display the page shown below. From this page you will be able to create new document or picture folders. Notice that Announcements, Events and Links (covered above) are classified as Lists, and that there are other types of Lists available. You can even create a customised List.

Create a Document Library

To create a new Document Library:

  1. Access the Document and Lists page, as shown above.
  2. Click on the Create link, a Create Page will appear.
  3. Select the appropriate library type you wish to create. In this case, select Document Library.
  4. Complete the Name and Description accordingly.
  5. If you wish to maintain your document versions, select Yes under the Document Version section. This allows you to save the pervious versions of your individual documents as you and your team members edit it. At any time, you may then refer to or recover the older versions.
  6. Once done, click on the Create button.

After you have created your Document Library, you can upload or create new documents into the library.

Checking out Documents

Shared documents in the Library can be edited by any team member who has the correct account permission. Sometimes you may want to Check out a document for editing so that no one else will overwrite your changes when you are working on the document. Checking out a document will prevent other users from editing the document until you have checked in the document. Other user can continue to view the document even if it has been checked out. To check out a document:

  1. Move you mouse over the left of the document name until a down arrow appears.
  2. Click on the Edit down arrow to display the menu.
  3. Select Check Out . The document is now checked out by you and your name will appear in the Check out column. Open the document and edit it as usual.
  4. Once you have completed your editing, you may check in the document using steps 1, 2 and selecting Check in.

Version History

If you had decided to maintain Document Versions when you created the Document Library, copies of your old document versions are stored in the library. This means that every time you save a document, the pervious version is not overwritten but stored in the History. To view the version history of a document:

  1. Move you mouse over the left of the document name until a down arrow appears.
  2. Click on the Edit down arrow to display the menu.
  3. Select Version History . A list of document versions will be displayed.
  4. You may View, Restore or Delete any of the document versions by selecting your choice on the menu by clicking the down-arrow of each document version.

Sharing and Security

You may grant other users access to your site at various levels. This could be at a global site level, where the user will have access to everything in your site; or at individual Document Library (or other Lists), where they will only have permission within that Library.

Sharing a Document Library

To share your individual library:

  1. Navigate to your Document Library.
  2. Under the Actions section (on the left panel), select Modify Settings and Columns.
  3. Under General Settings, select Change permissions for this document library.
  4. Click on the Add Users button. Notice that some default groups already have permissions to your library.
  5. In the Users box, type in the email addresses of the NTU users you wish to grant access permission to. If you have Outlook installed on your PC, you may also click on the Address Book button to select the user accounts.
  6. In the Permission section, select the appropriate permission and click Next.
  7. Confirm that the correct users are listed, and type a message to inform the user that you have granted him/her permission to your library. When done, click Finish. An email when be sent to notify the user that you have just granted him/her access to your site. The email will contain the link to the document library of your site.

Sharing the Entire Site

You can grant specific users to your Team Site by going to Site Settings, then click on Manage users. Once the user has been granted permission, your Team Site will be listed as one of the myTeamsites on MyWorkroom for the user to access. When you grant the user access, you may also send an email. The steps are similar to the one above.

Granting to Groups