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

New SharePoint 2010 Training Roadmap

SharePoint 2010 is growing and growing, and a new roadmap for learning has been released. Microsoft is planning on MOS, MCTS, MCPD and MCITP certifications. Whereas many people have known about the TS and Pro certifications, now we have information about the MOS exam for Info Workers.

Here, we see that the Microsoft Office Specialist exam - SharePoint - will include SharePoint Designer 2010 and SharePoint Workspace 2010.

SharePoint 2010 Sneak Peeks - Overview

The SharePoint team released much more 2010 material this week. I feel like I can practically start using the product at this point. We now have 3 "sneak peek" videos - an Overview, one for IT Professionals, and one for Developers.

I'm very excited about what I've seen so far.

Overview
SharePoint pages have the Ribbon. Site Actions occupies the first tab location, similar to the Office 2010 Backstage. Many of the options that were available in List Settings / Site Settings / etc. are now in tabs in the Ribbon. For administrative pages, the forms suddenly "show" in the foreground (while the background dims).

Edit Page has a similar, "live" feel to it. Changing images used to require entering URLs into fields; now, there are Upload controls. Once images are uploaded, they can be resized in place using resizing handles. Tool Zones suddenly "show" in the foreground while the background dims. There is an option to Make Homepage, similar to the option in SharePoint Designer.

I noticed Office Client Applications Web Parts and Silverlight web parts. Theme Gallery has options to Custiomize Themes. There is also a PowerPoint Theme, which will steal colors, fonts, etc. from any PowerPoint slide.

Visio Services
Visio is now run server-side, similar to Excel. The interface looked much like Excel Web Access, with controls labeled Open in Visio, Refresh, etc.

Lists/Libraries
Upload Multiple Documents now opens a textarea-looking control, wherein files can be dragged and dropped. There are options in lists to Change List Order (sort?) and a link for Validation Settings. I can select multiple items and perform a single function (checkout, e.g). Upon Check Out of an item, an httpGetRequest is made, without the need for a server roundtrip. No word yet on whether other browsers will update without a roundtrip.

SharePoint Designer 2010
SPD now uses the Ribbon. I saw a control on the Ribbon for Reusable Workflow. The interface used a "Web Parts Page" look-and-feel. The Web Site tab has now been replaced with a web-parts-page-looking form with site information grouped in chunks.

BDC Business Connectivity Services can now read/write to an external database! There is also a feature enabling offline data editing and synchronization (is this Groove SharePoint Workspace under the hood?).

In the Folder List, we can now see Entities (LOB Entities), and we are always one right-click away from creating CRUD transactions. Also, the right-click menu includes options for creating Relationships between entities.

The Office DIP and Smart Parts continue to connect to Business Connectivity Services. We can issue queries and read records directly from Office clients.

SharePoint WorkSpace
New controls on the SharePoint Ribbon include Sync to Computer (similar to Check Out, but includes the ability to take lists offline - without Outlook). A Synchronization group contains controls such as Connect to Server and Disconnect from Server.