Governing SharePoint Designer with Group Policy

  Now that Contributor Groups are gone, how are you controlling the use of SharePoint Designer?  There are some farm and web-application settings, but nothing as customizable as 2007.  Our last resort is Group Policy.  A software restriction Group Policy can enable/disable running SharePoint Designer for specific groups of users or computers.  The Office 2010 Administrative Template files can allow application-level settings in SharePoint Designer.

  Group Policy: Software Restriction Hash Rule

·         Create a new Group Policy

o   Create a new Software Restriction Policy in Group Policy Editor

§  Create a new Hash Rule

·         Locate the installed executable file

·         Select a Security Level (Disallowed)

§  Create two hash rules

·         32-bit SPDESIGN.EXE

·         64-bit SPDESIGN.EXE

·         Apply the Group Policy to a Group Policy Object

o   Linked to the Domain, Site or OU

o   A GPO linked to an OU (SharePoint Administrators?) would overwrite a GPO linked to the entire domain (Disallowed)

Group Policy: Office 2010 Administrative Templates

·         Create a new Group policy

o   Manageable Ribbon Controls for SharePoint Designer 2010 (enable/disable):

§  Web Component

§  Customize...

§  Web Component | Hit Counter

§  Web Component | Marquee

§  Web Component | Confirmation Field

§  Web Component | Search Form

§  Web Component | Java Applet

§  Web Component | PlugIn

§  Web Component | ActiveX Control

§  Position...

§  Shared Border Properties...

§  Page Transition...

§  File tab | Help | Options | Add-Ins

§  File tab | Help | Options | Application Options

§  Site tab | Manage group | Administration Web Page

§  List Settings tab | New group | List Workflow

§  Workflow Settings tab | Manage group | Import from Visio

§  Workflow Settings tab | Manage group | Export to Visio

§  Workflows tab | New group | New Workflow

§  Workflows tab | New group | List Workflow

§  Workflows tab | New group | Reusable Workflow

§  Workflows tab | New group | Site Workflow

§  Workflows tab | Save group | Publish Globally

§  Master Pages tab | New group | From Content Type

o   Manageable Application Settings for SharePoint Designer 2010:

§  Default CSS Schema

§  Default Doctype

§  Default New Page Type on SharePoint

§  Default Secondary Schema

§  Default New Page Type

§  Hide missing component download hyperlinks

§  Set download location for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

·         Requires the Office 2010 Administrative Template files (ADMX, ADML, ADM)

o   http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=18968

o   A separate download, Reference.xls, has more information on these settings

Can we standardize our SharePoint acronyms?

We have the following acronyms almost canonized:

XLS - Excel Services
PPS - PerformancePoint Services
SSRS - SQL Server Reporting Services
VGS - Visio (Graphics) Services

But, for PowerPivot, I don't see anyone using an acronym. Since PowerPivot is really 2 different products, should we call it:

PP4E: PowerPivot for Excel
PP4S: PowerPivot for SharePoint

Your thoughts?

New Microsoft Certification Exam prices

The new U.S. price of a Microsoft exam is $150, effective July 1st, 2011. You can find out the price changes for other countries cost here.