Office 365 Newswire: SharePoint Online site templates – 3.9.2012

When I look at software, I spend a lot of time considering its design and its features. The design is important but it’s the features that ultimately make the decision for me. If it solves the problem I need solving, I’ll buy it.

I view writing the newswire in the same vein as I do writing software…
…see a problem
   …decide I can do something about it
      …write something
         …ship it (or publish it)
Then repeat.

In the repeating process, it is critical to dream up new problems to solve. Once identified, these problems turn into product features.

Thus, today, we are publishing version 1.2 of the Newswire format. Where is version 1.1? We are skipping it because this change is big enough to increment the version number by two-tenths. Not more, not less.

Today, we are adding a feature known as Estimated Reading Time. This is our estimate of how long it should take you to read the listed article. If it takes longer, you should just stop reading… and move to the next one.

Adding things. Tinkering.
…in an attempt to make life better
   …for you
      …for me
         …for everyone.

That’s what the newswire is all about.

Office 365 news!

• First impressions: SharePoint Online’s site templates :: Office 365 is still new enough that “introductory” and “first impressions”-type of articles are good things. This one is all about site templates. The author even offers some analysis of the page structure. I don’t agree with their conclusion however. (est. reading time :: 3 minutes)
• Office 365 brings remote staff together :: Not only is the headline correct, Office 365 goes even further by helping a non-profit group fight poverty. This is a case study about how Concern collaborates with field staff using Office 365. This is big, the kind of stuff that shows just how good Office 365 is. (est. reading & viewing time :: 7 minutes)
• Interview with Bo Burlingham – Author Small Giants on Technology :: I love to read and I read a lot about a plethora of topics. Plethora was one of my first SAT words. My brother used it on me. I acted like I knew what it meant. Then I looked it up. It is now one of my favorite words… along with preclude. The fact that they both begin with a “p” is a coincidence. Anyways, this Bo guy is a big deal. He has written some books and I think I should have read his books. I don’t know of him and I have not read his books but I plan to look into this omission. Microsoft interviewed him and the topic was, of course, Office 365. I found the discussion regarding its impact on small business most interesting. (est. reading time :: 3 minutes)
• SharePoint 2013 App Marketplace – functionality :: I was browsing the Interweb one night and stumbled on Bjorn Furuknap’s blog. I bookmarked it because it is great! He is digging into the SharePoint Protocols documentation to find clues about the next version of SharePoint. In this post, he pontificates over what might be in “store”. (est. reading time :: 5 minutes)
• Microsoft: The world’s biggest cloud software company? :: As it turns out… probably so.

Office 365 tips, tricks & tools

• Office 365 productivity advantage :: This is a tip for anyone still working to figure things our regarding Office 365. (est. reading time :: 1.5 minutes)
• Office 365 troubleshooting resources :: Straight from the Office team. Bookmark each of the resources listed. (est. reading time :: 1 minute… including time for bookmarking)
• Public folders in Office 365 :: Public folders are no longer supported but the idea of them will never die. Can you do something similar to Exchange public folders with Exchange Online? (est. reading time :: 1 minute)

Office 365 developer & IT admin items of note

• Adding HTML5 drag and drop to SharePoint lists :: Why isn’t this a standard feature with SharePoint? I don’t know. If you want to add some drag and drop goodness to your site, read and implement this strategy. (est. reading time :: 12 minutes)
• Guidance for two factor authentication to Office 365 :: Yep, you can use RSA SecurID with Office 365. But as one commenter states, “$60 a pop for something that is easier to lose than chapstick?”. I would have lost mine if I hadn’t left in the passenger seat of my car and let the sun melt it. (est. reading time :: 1 minute)
• Office 365 single sign-on with AD FS 2.0 whitepaper :: ADFS is a big deal. Learn how to put WS-Fed and WS-Trust to work for you. (est. reading time :: 30 minutes?)
• Office 365 Migration Tools – unsurpassed migration result :: Lots of migration tools here from PCVita Software. Migration is a big deal too… like ADFS but probably in reverse order. I bet most companies will migrate first, then worry about federation. (est. reading time :: 1 minute)

Cutting room floor

• The Startup Ecosystem [Infographic]
• Can Microsoft ever be “cool” like Apple?
• Consumers will force enterprises to adopt Windows 8
• How baseballs are made :: Well, the boys of summer are in Spring Training!