Becoming a Power User in SharePoint requires an ongoing effort to expand your abilities. SharePoint is a platform upon which we can develop a seemingly endless variety of solutions. There is always more that you can do with curiosity and persistence.
I've spent the last several years focused on building solutions almost entirely in SharePoint yet I feel as if there is no end to the possibilities.
Infowise Ultimate Forms has become indispensable to me as a consultant / developer, however I am even more effective combining these tools with other proven SharePoint strategies.
The various methods you learn to build solutions in SharePoint comprise your "SharePoint Toolbox". If you want to be confident and effective, it's time to add some tools!
- Are all the Infowise Tools in your toolbox? Have you tapped into everything that Ultimate Forms has to offer? There are a lot of possibilities that you may not have considered. In addition to the free tutorials on our web site, we have hands on instructor led training showing you new ways to utilize your Ultimate Forms tools to develop advanced design and functionality. Regardless of your ability level, there is a training that will help you. Details about our training courses are here: https://www.infowisesolutions.com/training.aspx
- Is Powershell in your toolbox? This command line utility lets you query your SharePoint environment or perform batch updates. Depending on your background, your first attempts at Powershell may seem frustrating. Once you get over the hump, you'll feel like you have joined a new SharePoint Club that you thought previously was exclusive to SharePoint Administrators. You can write Powershell scripts to perform operations to update user accounts, create sites, batch update lists, produce output files or do just about anything you would otherwise have to do manually in the user interface. Tie this to Windows Task Scheduler to automatically run processes on a recurring schedule and you will begin to realize the power of this toolset. Here is some information on how to run Powershell scripts:
On prem SharePoint:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee806878.aspx
SharePoint Online:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fp161362.aspx
- Is SharePoint Workflow in your toolbox? SharePoint workflows have gotten such negative attention, many of us have completely abandoned the ideas of using this at all. This is a mistake! It's true that SharePoint is changing. Microsoft has a commitment to improving their platform with Flow and PowerApps, however these new tools don't represent a replacement for this functionality. Infowise actions allow us to do most of what we want to do instead of writing SharePoint workflow, but there are situations where extra functionality can help solve problems in workflow. If you haven't ever made a workflow, challenge yourself to make some basic workflows if only to learn a new approach to solve some of your business challenges: https://goo.gl/Fd51Es
- Is Javascript in your toolbox? If you haven't delved into the world of possibilities via including javascript in your solutions, it's time to explore! Our Advanced Training module shows you how to incorporate Jquery scripting into your Ultimate Forms related solutions to create more effective customized solutions. The SharePoint Client Side Object Model (CSOM) provides a full API to query SharePoint and make updates from client side code! You could build your own interface and buttons in SharePoint using this functionality to solve custom requirements that would otherwise be impossible: https://goo.gl/tBcfZ2
But Wait There's More!
There are so many ways to tap into SharePoint. With Microsoft's commitment to the platform, the landscape continues to change. Look for ways to explore and experiment with new approaches when you learn about new tools from SharePoint. Challenge yourself to add more tools so that you are more capable of solving problems!
Do you have any interesting tools in your SharePoint Toolbox? We'd love to hear about what you are building!
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