[Transcript] Q&A with the SharePoint MVP Experts Chat September 29, 2010

Here is the transcript of SharePoint MVP expert chat.

Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity.

Introduction:

Chat experts : Becky Bertram, Clayton Cobb, Dan Attis, Jason Medero, Saifullah Shafiq, Jeremy Thake, Mike Oryszak, Mike Smith, Paul Stork, Randy Drisgill, Sean Wallbridge, Shane Young, Wictor Wilén, Rob Foster, Ivan Sanders.

Related Web Site : Microsoft SharePoint

Melissa Travers MSFT (Moderator): Hi everyone- welcome to the SharePoint MVP Expert Chat. I am your host this evening. My name is Melissa Travers and I am the MVP Lead for the SharePoint MVPs in the US. Your questions, comments and feedback are welcome. We will begin shortly…before doing so; I would like to begin by posting our chat rules and instructions for guests.

Melissa Travers MSFT (Moderator): 1. This chat will last for one hour. During this hour, our Experts will respond to as many questions as they can. Please understand that there are some questions we cannot respond to due to lack of information or because the information is not yet public
2. We encourage you to submit questions for our Experts. To do so, type your questions in the send box, check the “ask the experts” check box and click SEND. Questions sent directly to the Guest Chat room will not be answered by the Experts, but we encourage other community members to assist.

3. We ask that you stay on topic for the duration of the chat. This helps the Guests and Experts follow the conversation more easily. We invite you to ask off topic questions after this chat is over, but not during.
4. Please only submit your question once. Submitting your question more than once is against the Chat Code of Conduct.
5. Please abide by the Chat Code of Conduct.

Melissa Travers MSFT (Moderator): Now it’s time to meet the SharePoint MVPs who have joined us for this evening’s chat. Let’s have our Experts introduce themselves now and then we’ll get started…

Becky Bertram [MVP] (Expert): Hi there. My name is Becky Bertram and I am a self-employed SharePoint architect and developer living in St. Louis, Missouri. I've been building Microsoft Web Content Management solutions for the last decade. I'm currently authoring an upcoming Wrox Six-in-One book on SharePoint 2010 and I'll be speaking at the upcoming SharePoint Saturday Chicago. You can view my blog at http://blog.beckybertram.com

Clayton Cobb (Expert): Clayton Cobb is a SharePoint Architect and InfoPath MVP who specializes in building codeless solutions that utilize out-of-the-box capabilities combined with the tools that are built to enhance SharePoint, such as the Office suite and SharePoint Designer. Clayton works for Planet Technologies, a 100% Microsoft-focused consulting firm, and runs the Western Region based out of Denver. Clayton's blog is http://claytoncobb.wordpress.com, and he is the Tech Editor for the upcoming SharePoint Designer 2010 Unleashed.

Dan Attis (Expert): My name is Dan Attis. I am a SharePoint consultant for B&R Business Solutions and have been a SharePoint MVP for 3 years. I have really been looking forward to today’s chat, should prove to include some great conversations. My blog is located at http://www.wssguy.com and I can be found on Twitter via @jdattis.

Jason Medero (Expert): Hello everyone….. My name is Jason Medero and I am a systems architect with a concentration in SharePoint Products and Technologies. I have been working with SharePoint since 2003 and have been a SharePoint MVP for 6 years now. My expertise within SharePoint is on the architecture and infrastructure side of things with extensive experience with upgrades and migrations. Feel free to contact me with any help or questions at jmedero@gmail.com

Jeremy Thake (Expert): G'day, I am Jeremy Thake, based in Perth, Western Australia (yes it's midnight here). I am a SharePoint Solution Architect working for CSG and have been an MVP since July. My blog is located at http://wss.made4the.net/ , http://www.twitter.com/jthake and I also founded the http://SharePointDevWiki.com in Dec '08 focused on development.

Mike Oryszak (Expert): Hello, my name is Mike Oryszak. I'm a SharePoint Server MVP and Principal Consultant with Intellinet in the Information Worker Solution practice. I have been delivering solutions with SharePoint since 2002. I'm a frequent contributor on the MSDN SharePoint Forums (http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Profile/en-US/?user=Mike%20Oryszak&referrer=http%3a%2f%2fsocial.msdn.microsoft.com%2fForums%2fen-US%2fcategory%2fsharepoint%2f%3fprof%3drequired&rh=6FjNneJPwWK81T3u22PgRD2YtHC24y7%2fl3PYFs2L22M%3d&sp=forums) and I can also be found on twitter at http://twitter.com/next_connect. My blog is at http://nextconnect.blogspot.com.

Mike Smith (Expert): Hi! I'm a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) and an MVP specializing in SharePoint, .Net, SQL Server and related technologies. Computer professional (computer nut), trainer and writer since 1980 and currently a Senior Instructor for MAX Technical Training (Cincinnati area). I train and write for SharePoint administrators, developers and site owners.

Paul Stork MVP (Expert): Hi, my name is Paul Stork, and I've been an MVP for three years. I'm Chief SharePoint Architect for ShareSquared, Inc. working out of Cleveland, OH. I straddle the fence between IT-Pro and Developer working on SharePoint architecture, custom development, and branding. You can find my Blog at http://dontpapanic.com/blog and I'm @PStork on Twitter.

Randy Drisgill MVP (Expert): My name is Randy Drisgill, I work for SharePoint911 as the Branding and Design Lead and I've been a SharePoint Server MVP for about a year and a half. I'm focused primarily on the user interface aspects of SharePoint. You can find me on Twitter as @Drisgill and at my blog - http://blog.drisgill.com.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert): Hi. My name is Saifullah Shafiq. I am a SharePoint consultant, author, and blogger. My web site is http://walisystems.com. My book's web site is http://sharepoint2007tips.com. You can read my blog at http://vspug.com/ssa. My facebook profile is available at http://facebook.com/saifullah.shafiq and my twitter id is @sshafiq. Feel free to connect with me!

Sean Wallbridge (Expert): Hi Folks, I'm Sean Wallbridge, a SharePoint Server MVP based out of Victoria, BC. I own a company called itgroove and we focus on Microsoft Solutions for the SMB, with a strong emphasis on SharePoint solutions. You can catch me online at http://blog.brainlitter.com and I occasionally (begrudgingly) add to the noise of twitter @itgroove. Nice to meet you.

Shane Young MVP (Expert): Hi my name is Shane Young and I have been a SharePoint MVP for 5 glorious years. I, unlike most of these other guys, am an IT Pro. That makes me way cooler than the rest of these jokers. I am the owner of http://www.sharepoint911.com and I just completed my 900 page SharePoint 2010 administrator’s book. http://tinyurl.com/2010adminbook and you can hit me up on Twitter @shanescows or shane@sharepoint911.com.

Wictor Wilén (Expert): Hi Wictor Wilén here. I’m a SharePoint Architect at Connecta in Sweden with more than 12 years experience in the web content management and portal industry. I am an active SharePoint community participant, writer, tutor, frequent speaker and author of the book SharePoint 2010 Web Parts in Action. I’m actively blogging at http://www.wictorwilen.se

Rob Foster (Expert): Hello, I'm late joining, but my name is Rob Foster and I am a lead SharePoint architect in Nashville, TN. I am also an author and co-host of the SharePoint Pod Show http://www.sharepointpodshow.com

Ivan Sanders MVP (Expert): Hi I’m a SharePoint Architect from SoCal and I am very fortunate to be a part of this group of folks and I hope everyone will get a chance to check out SoCal Code Camp http://www.socalcodecamp.com/ 10/23 - 10/24 its free and I will be presenting on InfoPath 2010 and Visual Studio 2010...

Start of chat:

Randy Drisgill MVP (Expert):

Clayton Cobb (Expert):

Q: [1] sp2007 - using announcement list to hold subject/body of email used in SPD WF email. Hyperlinks in the Body look right in browser, but when sent in email, the links in the email are relative URL's. The domain portion is dropped. Anyway to prevent that?

A: Bri, when creating the hyperlink inside the body of the announcement, are you using the hyperlink tool in the rich text editor or just manually typing the URL? You may want to type it instead of using the wizard to select it.

Q: [2] sp2010 - What is the best way to remove unwanted styles from the "Format Text>Styles>Styles", "Format Text>Markup>Markup Styles", "Table Design>Table Styles>Styles" dropdowns when I edit a page? I can add new styles or override the existing styles in CSS,

A: I have only played around briefly with removing items, I'm not sure if this is supported officially, but I was able to remove items from the rich text editor from SharePoint Designer 2010 by editing: /style library/en-us/Themable/Core Styles/controls.css

For instance if I remove:

H1.ms-rteElement-H1

{

-ms-name:"Heading 1";

}

.ms-rteElement-H1

{

font-size:2em;

font-weight:normal;

}

Then the Heading 1 option is removed from the Markup Styles

Sean Wallbridge (Expert):

Q: [3] sp2010 - How do I customize alert emails? I'm trying to remove fields, which should be possible by adding fieldnames to the appropriate section in the xml file.

I've tried the stsadm -o updatealerttemplates command, but it doesn't seem to work.

A: Hi Nick. Have you looked through the "alerts in SharePoint Foundation" section on MDSN? http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb897925.aspx. You may also want to browse the schema information here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb802961(office.14).aspx. That said, you may want to consider creating a workflow instead, to perform your alerts. This gives you full control over who an alert would go to, what conditions need to be met for the alert to be sent (alerts have limited 'scenarios' for when an alert is sent) and any other actions you might want/need to perform. If you aren't familiar with SharePoint Designer 2010, be sure to grab it at http://www.microsoft.com/spd and take a look at your options there.

Sean Wallbridge (Expert):

Q: [4] hi... is there a way to configure user profile synchronization on a stand-alone setup...

A: Hi there. If this is a production install/environment, you should be avoiding doing a standalone installation. I'm fairly certain I read somewhere that User Profile Sync was either unsupported in standalone (or difficulties lay ahead) so you may want to avoid it altogether. I would suggest instead that you install your SQL Server first (or SQL Server 2008 R2 Express if this is for evaluation/testing) and then create a "complete" farm. This way you get the clearest path to success (proper Farm) and have something you can support fully. Also, reference Spencer Harbar's "Rational Guide to Implementing SharePoint Server 2010 User Profile Synchronization" - you can find it here: http://www.harbar.net/articles/sp2010ups.aspx

Jason Medero (Expert):

Q: [5] I just used stsadm -o enumsites on a web app and got a list of site collections. One of the sites is listed 3-4 times. Not sure why that is? any thoughts?

A: Hi Lynn, Does the one site collection have the same URL listed when you run enumsites?

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [5] I just used stsadm -o enumsites on a web app and got a list of site collections. One of the sites is listed 3-4 times. Not sure why that is? any thoughts?

A: http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/Pages/Feedback.aspx seems to be an appropriate spot for that type of feedback.

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [7] sp2010 - How much javascript does sharepoint allow? A little seems to be fine, but not jQuery...

A: jQuery works fine, make sure you have deployed the appropriate libraries and referenced them correctly in your code.

Sean Wallbridge (Expert):

Q: [8] sp2007 - using Url Rewrite 2.0 (on IIS 7.0) to rewrite an Url to an image url (i.e internet/moss/sitecollectionimages/myimage.jpg - this image was existing in my site) it can not rewrite to this image. But If I rewrite to pages/default.aspx It can do it. Why do I not rewrite to image url in MOSS?

A: Hi hquang. I'm not an authority on URL rewrites, but I do know that the general guidance is that doing so is not recommended nor supported. Have a look at this link here as it discussed in more detail. http://blogs.microlinkllc.com/tresing/archive/2010/04/16/url-rewrite-+-sharepoint-=-no-support.aspx

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [9] Is there any way to avoid the "Double hop" issue connecting Reporting Services or other SQL databases to SharePoint without installing Kerberos?

A: No. In order to accomplish double hop you will have to move to Kerberos. It is fun but once you get it worked out it runs great.

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [10] Is there a way to suggest/request SP 2010 features, and to see which features MSFT might be adding to new versions (e.g., Dell's Ideastorm)?

A: http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/Pages/Feedback.aspx

Q: [11] I'm using a separate WebApp for MySites. Both websites are using Claim and FBA as Authentication method. My problem is... When users already authenticated on Website using FBA are trying to connect on their Profile, they are prompted again... Is there anyt

A: Are they two separate web applications? Your FBA token for web app A isn't valid for web app B so it has to reauthenticate you.

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [12] Is it possible to migrate the SSP User Profiles from 2007 to 2010? If yes, what's the degree of difficulty?

A: It is possible. I am not a huge fan. Do you have custom info in the profile database? If it is just the info you imported from AD start over in 2010 an reimport. The user profile sync service is a giant pain in the butt and adding upgrade to it only makes it more fun.

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [13] how to deploy multiple versions sharepoint 2007 workflow with visual studio 2008 without losing existing workflow history.

A: Each workflow version created in Visual Studio will end up being a new managed code assembly in the GAC. You will need to make sure to choose the same workflow history list when you instantiate the new version.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [14] What are search scopes and how many types of scopes can we create in SP 2010?

A: A search scope provides a way to group items logically within the index based on common elements. There are two types: Authored and Contextual.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [15] Could someone define taxonomy for me? I hear this buzz word so often but don't know what it means.

A: Taxonomy is technique of classifying information.

Mike Oryszak (Expert):

Q: [16] If I have a list and create multiple DVWP forms for each different content type, how to I set the content type automatically?

A: Are you looking to switch between multiple DVWPs or are you looking to filter one down by Content Type? You should be able to filter down the nodeset by Content Type by using jQuery.

Jeremy Thake (Expert):

Q: [17] Hello. We have built our own custom 2007 deployment solutions (API calls from batch files) to ensure the sequence of items previously in a manifest.xml is guaranteed - some content needs to be created before the rest... Have you come across this?

A: I would recommend grouping Artefacts in Features within a Solution Package. So for instance, if you had Site Columns (<Fields> and Content Types (<ContentTypes) that a List is dependent on that you group them in separate Features and activate in order. In SP2010, you actually can set depencies on Features.

Jason Medero (Expert):

Q: [18] Jason. Yes. the url is the same for each site, and so are all the other columns of info.

A: Have you tried to navigate to these other sites? And are they working sites with the same URL? My guess is that you can't actually browse to the sites and you may have an orphaned site. If this is the case you can use Stsadm -o databaserepair parameter to see if you have any orphaned objects for a specific content databases. You will want to run that command on the content database where this problematic site collection lives. From there you can clean up the objects by using the command and additional parameters to the command.

Hope this helps.

Clayton Cobb (Expert):

Q: [19] Is there any way to create InfoPath Add, edit, display forms for Libraries? Not DIPs, but entry forms? Customizing in SharePoint Designer 2010 seems much harder now.

A: No, this is not available for document library forms in 2010. What do you consider to be harder with SPD2010? It is much more flexible and robust. What were you doing before that no longer works?

Becky Bertram [MVP] (Expert):

Q: [20] @Saifullah Thanks! so my next question would be what is folsonomy?

A: Folksonomy is when end users tag items with tags that make sense to them. Taxonomy = top down (i.e. administrators or someone determines terms ahead of time) while Folksonomy = bottom up (i.e. end users get to determine which tags and keywords are helpful for themselves.)

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [20] @Saifullah Thanks! so my next question would be what is folsonomy?

A: Folksonomy! Users can now tag information with keywords. This allows users to create classifications and this user contributed metadata is known as folksonomy.

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [21] Is there a way to create BCS Actions that fire javascript instead of linking to a URL?

A: The only way I know of to do that would be to create a custom page that will autoload the javascript, then point to the URL of the page. But I don't have a VM with BCS loaded at the moment to double check on custom actions. I thought javascript was one of the three potential custom action possibilities.

Woody Windischman (Expert):

Q: [22] After implementing Harbar's Rational Guide, resets cause the services to fail to start. We haven't been successful in restarting the services since. Any way to get around this issue, or a best-practice for restarting the server to know about?

A: Although there are a few possible causes, you should install the cumulative update package, as this will address the most common ones.

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [23] I need 10 different URLs to point to the same WebApp, AAM is limited to 5, thoughts on a work around?

A: Adding a web URL to DNS and binding it to the IIS site as a host header entry will get you to a SharePoint site without adding an AAM. However, when you connect the URL in the address bar will change to the default zone address. Would that be sufficient?

Becky Bertram [MVP] (Expert):

Q: [24] I am trying to build a Custom Web Service that retreives data from a SPList, when i deploy the web service do to a non sharepoint server i get could not load Microsoft.SharePoint.Library.dll any ideas how to get this to work

A: Is your Web Service itself installed on the SharePoint server and you're accessing your Web Service from some other server? Or are you trying to add your Web Service to another server? Anytime you use the server object model, your code needs to be running on a server that has SharePoint installed.

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [25] I'd like to replicate Prod farm to a lab with same domain name and host name. Can I just image (using tool to backup the whole server like P2V) the Prod server and port over? I know I can't do that if the domain name and host names are different.

A: I am guessing you are going to have more headaches with that then it will be worth. The servers are part of your prod domain so they will get mad when you try to bring them up on the domain. But you will have to or your service accounts would not work. I would build dev/test clean.

Rob Foster (Expert):

Q: [26] What are the classes I need to know to create my own custom workflow (Sequential)?

A: Hey June, please refer to the MSDN documentation here to determine what the best class is to use: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee534966.aspx

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [27] Ok another question, What are document sets? Collection of documents? What is their significance?

A: Document sets enable documents to be grouped into a version capable or distributable group. Distributable group can be packaged and distributed in its entirety.

Wictor Wilén (Expert):

Q: [27] Ok another question, What are document sets? Collection of documents? What is their significance?

A: Document Sets are a collection of documents that can share metadata and most importantly (IMHO) are versioned together (even though the documents inside the doc set also are versioned)

Jeremy Thake (Expert):

Q: [28] I've read that Lookups on a library or list should be limited to no more than 8. Is that 8 lookup column that return one item of data only, or 8 lookup columns that can return related data from the same lookup list?

A: There are some recommended limits with SharePoint 2010 around Lookup Columns on a list. This is really because SharePoint is not designed to be a complex relational data model. The link on Technet describes these limits in more detail: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262787.aspx. In summary the thresholds kick in at 8 per view. There is also some guidance around the number of Lookup Columns in total on a list which is 16, although there are blog posts out there that vary this number down to 13.

Jason Medero (Expert):

Q: [29] Jason. Yes, the one that gets repeated is the main url of our sharepoint site. i.e. http://site.company.com so we know it works.

A: Gotcha so it looks like you may have some orphaned objects in your content database. I would check out this command found here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263282%28office.12%29.aspx

Good luck!

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [30] Besides resorting to a commercial entity, is there a good guide/reference to speed-optimizing a Sharepoint 2010 install for increased end-user usability? (in addition to optimizing the CSS and HTML, what about web.config edits, Central Admin tweaks, etc?)

A: I don't know if there is a good guide yet to optimize perf on 2010. I also don't know of a 3rd party tool to help with it. What type of issues are you having? What perf do you want to increase?

Becky Bertram [MVP] (Expert):

Q: [31] @Becky Bertram Q24. I am trying to deploy my webservice on a server that is not Sharepoint. The web service is used to retrieve list items. basically we are trying to integrate SP and Lotus Notes but LN doesn't like the WSDL created by lists.asmx

A: That won't work. If you want to access the SharePoint server from a remote location you need to use the Client Object Model or access SharePoint using the SharePoint Web Services.

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [32] @Shane... My lab has a separate domain (but with the same domain name)...

A: The machine and user SIDs would not match so it would still be broke. Sorry.

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [33] Will it possible to port the server images over?

A: You are going to be better of to rebuild. Sorry.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [34] What are content types?

A: Content types encapsulate settings and metadata for a particular type of content in a template that can be reused and is independent of any particular list or library.

Clayton Cobb (Expert):

Q: [35] Clayton: I have done both and same result either way. If the url is something outside of my domain ( ex: www.cnn.com ) the URL remains whole. Only truncates if URL is on my domain. This seems to be happening with CEWP as well.

A: Yes, SharePoint does that automatically. I'm not aware of a way to keep it from doing that. It's actually a good thing usually, but for your method, it causes issues as you know. I'm going to try something in my test environment here.

Clayton Cobb (Expert)

Q: [35] Clayton: I have done both and same result either way. If the url is something outside of my doemain ( ex: www.cnn.com ) the URL remains whole. Only truncates if URL is on my domain. This seems to be happening wiht CEWP as well.

A: Bri, I just ran a test in my environment, and the URL came through just fine in the body of my SPD email when it existed in the body of the announcement. However, my test environment is 2010. Is yours 2007?

Randy Drisgill MVP (Expert):

Q: [37] @Randy That suggests that it may be possible by editing one of the css files in the 14 hive. Which one though? I'm pretty sure I've tried the obvious candidates. (We don't use Designer)

A: I'm thinking that editing one of these might be what you want: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\1033\STYLES\Controls.css or C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\PublishingLayouts\en-us\Controls.css

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [38] @Paul Each URL would need to be maintained...

A: The only way I can think to have 10 differnet URLs for a SharePoint site, where all the URLs are maintained would be to extend the web applicaiton to a new zone for the second set of 5 base URLs as AAMs

Becky Bertram [MVP] (Expert):

Q: [39] @BeckyBertram Q24 : sorry this is for sp 2007, does that change anything?

A: In SharePoint 2007 you don't have the client object model, so you need to use the SharePoint Web Services.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [40] Is pre-upgrade checker tool useful?

A: It scans your current environment for problems that could prevent the upgrade process. You can use the output for gathering information about your farm.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [41] Is document management and collaboration same thing?

A: No, document management might be part of collaboration but it is not required. Collaboration is the process of two or more people working on the same document. Document can be managed manually by a single person or automatically through a workflow process.

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [42] Is there any good guide yet for installing and configuring all the various Service Applications in SP 2010 Enterprise? This has been a painful process if you don't do all the right things in the right order.

A: Not that I have seen. Technet has some decent info. The good news is the order actually doesn't matter to much. Are you having a specific issue we can help with?

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [43] @Shane Young: Well, general page load time is an issue for many users (machines are older, but not very old) and typically require ~30+ seconds to load. Our theme is not large, but many SharePoint Javascript files seem to load multiple times

A: Sounds like your custom branding is doing something crazy... Create a web app with an out of the box team site and see what performance is for that. Are all of the users local?

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [44] Are any recommendation out there for migrating custom workflow from MOSS 2007 to SP2010?

A: If the workflow is built in SharePoint Designer 2007, then the only way would be to upgrade the SharePoint site in place. If the workflow is written in VS 2008 you should be able to open the project in 2010 and update any necessary API calls.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [45] Thanks. Another question: What is difference between document and record? Sorry I am still learning SharePoint.

A: Document can be declared as record which means document has reached a stage where it has a legal requirement. SharePoint allows management of records so that companies can meet compliance requirements.

Sean Wallbridge (Expert):

Q: [46] @Sean The information from the first link is new to me, but at a preliminary scan doesn't seem particularly helpful. The second link is one that I've pored over before. The workflows and actions for alerts are fine at the moment, we just want to customise the content of the emails so they don't include some fields.

A: Hi Nick. Mmm I personally haven't had the need to remove fields from an alert so I can't speak from experience, but here's two more links to throw you at (WSS/MOSS, but should still prove relevant in this scenario), with hope it helps: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sharepointdeveloperdocs/archive/2007/12/07/customizing-alert-notifications-and-alert-templates-in-windows-sharepoint-services-3-0.aspx and http://blogs.msdn.com/b/anolan/archive/2008/01/07/is-it-possible-to-modify-sharepoint-email-notifications.aspx. I have referred to these in the past

Rob Foster (Expert):

Q: [48] I'm using a separate WebApp for MySites. Both websites are using Claim and FBA as Authentication method. My problem is... When users already authenticated on Website using FBA are trying to connect on their Profile, they are prompted again... Is there anything.

A: Unless you use claims on both, context switching between claims and FBA will always prompt you.

Becky Bertram [MVP] (Expert):

Q: [49] @BeckyBertram Q24 " In SharePoint 2007 you don't have the client object model, so you need to use the SharePoint Web Services." I agree, so I am creating a custom WS. However the issue i am having is deploying it. Just to clarify your response, I must have

A: You cannot use the server-side object model (i.e. anything that uses a SharePoint assembly) on a box that does not have SharePoint installed.

Mike Oryszak (Expert):

Q: [49] @BeckyBertram Q24 " In SharePoint 2007 you don't have the client object model, so you need to use the SharePoint Web Services." I agree, so I am creating a custom WS. However the issue i am having is deploying it. Just to clarify your response, I must have

A: Separate web apps will mean separate authentication. This isn't normally a big deal with Windows Auth, but when using FBA it will request login when the user jumps to the other web app.

Mike Oryszak (Expert):

Q: [49] @BeckyBertram Q24 " In SharePoint 2007 you don't have the client object model, so you need to use the SharePoint Web Services." I agree, so I am creating a custom WS. However the issue i am having is deploying it. Just to clarify your response, I must have

A: You cannot reference SharePoint Objects in your custom web service if you deploy the web service to a computer not in the farm.

Jason Medero (Expert):

Q: [50] My Company is planning on setting up SharePoint Enterprise in 2 locations both in the U.S. Both with about 300 users per location. There is a decent connection between the 2 locations. We were thinking about having a Physical database server in both locations and then a Virtual host running the application and web frontend both on Separate VM's. Is it possible for the Application / Web server in each location to use the local database server (in that location) or is there only 1 "primary" database server with the secondary one being a failover?

A: You can use multiple database servers for your SharePoint farms. The general guidance is that the database server must be in the same location as the WFE and App servers. Does that answer your question?

Jason Medero (Expert):

Q: [50] My Company is planning on setting up SharePoint Enterprise in 2 locations both in the U.S. Both with about 300 users per location. There is a decent connection between the 2 locations. We were thinking about having a Physical database server in both locations and then a Virtual host running the application and web frontend both on Separate VM's. Is it possible for the Application / Web server in each location to use the local database server (in that location) or is there only 1 "primary" database server with the secondary one being a failover?

A: Also with the setup that you mentioned you are looking at two different farm. One in each location

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [51] @Shane, regarding installing Service Apps, using the Secure Store, setting up Performance Point (code block errors), User Profile Service updating prevents people from changing their e-mail address

A: The userprofile is normal behavior. I would just have to see your other errors for PPS and Secure Store. They are both very straight forward to create and I don't think the creation is your issue.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [52] How to add a custom property in user profile store using PowerShell? Any direction please.

A: you can create new user profile properties. Using UI, it's easy. Go to User Profile Service Application page in Central Admin. Within the Manage Profile Service page, click Manage User properties and the click New Property. With powershell I don't remember the exact command. This article shows how to edit it. http://get-spscripts.com/2010/07/modify-single-value-user-profile.html

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [53] Is there a way to set the welcome page within a different site collection without having a custom redirection page? I want to avoid a multiple redirections, rather point it directly to another welcome page within a different site collection.

A: Simply setting the WelcomePage property of the PublishingWeb to the absolute url should suffice.

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [53] Is there a way to set the welcome page within a different site collection without having a custom redirection page? I want to avoid a multiple redirections, rather point it directly to another welcome page within a different site collection.

A: @Opee Is this a publishing site?

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [54] @Shane - Local and remote; we noticed this w/ the standard theme (in Beta), too... do you know what the general page (OOTB) page size should be? (Thanks!)

A: @Randy is the branding guy

Randy Drisgill MVP (Expert):

Q: [54] @Shane - Local and remote; we noticed this w/ the standard theme (in Beta), too... do you know what the general page (OOTB) page size should be? (Thanks!)

A: Shane asked me to chime in. The OOTB page size is large (due to lots of Javascript). Though the server caches a lot of this. I haven't seen an updated post for 2010 but some of these tips may help you:

http://www.sharepointnutsandbolts.com/2009/06/my-checklist-for-optimizing-sharepoint.html

Clayton Cobb (Expert):

Q: [56] Any plans on MSFT's part to introduce updated MOSS 2007's Top 40 Templates ported for SharePoint 2010 use? (e.g., helpdesk etc)

A: Microsoft announced that they will not be doing the Fab40 templates for 2010.

Woody Windischman (Expert):

Q: [57] If you have Internet Content and Intranet Content, I assume separate Search Applications would be best to ensure isolation?

A: Assuming that the Internet and Intranet content are easily separable (such as in different web applications), then yes, a separate search application will guarantee that there are no common results. If they are intermingled, you need to rely on the fact that search is security trimmed to make sure Internet users don't see the Intranet content.

Jeremy Thake (Expert):

Q: [58] moss2007 - using url rewrite 2.0 (IIS 7.0) to rewrite an url to an image url (i.e internet/moss/sitecollectionimages/myimages.jpg) in MOSS, it does not rewrite but if I rewrite to pages/default.aspx it can do it. Why can I not rewrite url to image url in MOSS?

A: In general it is best to avoid rewrites because SharePoint has HttpHandlers that intercept the url on first request to do things such as grab /_layouts/settings.aspx at any level. You have to be extremely careful when writing your own Rewrite Rules. There is a great post on how to do this though in IIS7.5 by Robin here http://community.zevenseas.com/Blogs/Robin/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=0ef532c7%2D89cb%2D4e57%2Db0ae%2Ddf0c5f5c4448&ID=132&Web=3d83ae3f%2D6f2f%2D4d3b%2D854f%2Dc2250e1f7cd1

Mike Oryszak (Expert):

Q: [59] @MikeOryszak Q49 The computer is on the farm.

A: In the original question, #24, you said that it was being deployed to a non-SharePoint server.

Rob Foster (Expert):

Q: [60] Is "Aptimize" still the recommend solution provider for optimizing for speed in SharePoint 2010?

A: It's an option, yes. We covered some other options in Episode 50 of the SharePoint Pod Show that we used to optimize things for my company. Here's a link to the show: http://www.sharepointpodshow.com/archive/2010/09/09/sharepoint-performance-tuning-episode-50.aspx

Paul Stork MVP (Expert)

Q: [61] I'd like to replicate Prod farm to a lab environment (different domain but with same domain name and host name). Can I just image (using tool to backup the whole server like P2V) the Prod server and port over? I know I can't do that if the domain name and

A: You can create a full image using SharePoint Backup and then restore it to you lab environment. Imaging the machine won't get all the content in the database.

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [63] @Dan: Yes, this is a publishing site.

A: I am assuming you have read this:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.sharepoint.publishing.publishingweb.defaultpage.aspx

Rob Foster (Expert):

Q: [64] What editor do you all recommend to develop XSLT? (I'm a newbie to it, but need to customize CQWP displays)

A: I use Visual Studio or Notepad (if needed).

Jason Medero (Expert):

Q: [65] @Jason So they can both be on the same farm (same content in both locations) but with different "primary" database servers, and the database servers doing some sort of replication/mirroring? Are there any guides / white papers on this?

A: There is currently no great solutions for geo-replication across SharePoint farms. In plain English currently you cannot replicate content from one location to another that is running SharePoint. There are some 3rd parties which provide half baked solutions but usually there are more problems that come along with attempting to do this than its worth. My advice to you is to either have two separate SharePoint farms at each location or have one centralized SharePoint farm that can be accessed from both locations. As long as your connection between locations is solid enough I would go with the centralized approach.

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [66] @Paul Stork Q44 - Thanks for your resp. Our WFs were build using SPD, do you know of any third-party software that can accomplish this?

A: SharePoint Designer Workflows are not transportable. I am aware of no 3rd party tool that would allow this either. In place upgrade is about the only way.

Rob Foster (Expert):

Q: [67] @Rob - Thanks for the suggestion! Is there anything that helps w/ code validation on the fly? (Maybe VS?)

A: Yeah, Visual Studio will help you validate AND debug the code on the fly. There are a lot of 3rd party tools available, but they simply put a prettier interface on top of the capabilities offered by Visual Studio. If you own Visual Studio, you've got more than enough.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [68] How do we manage SSL in SharePoint 2010?

A: SharePoint Server 2010 does not manage SSL but it must be configured to use SSL. To implement SSL, you must manage each web application individually on every web server in the farm.

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [69] @Dan: Thanks for the response. It didn't accept absolute URL, I think the first site its hitting, is not publishing site. The site I want to redirect to, is a publishing site though.

A: @Opee I think that first site must be publishing as well. See Gary Lapointes post here as well for more info. http://stsadm.blogspot.com/2008/01/set-welcome-page-for-web.html

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [70] @Paul on Q61, I only will image the WFE and indexer servers and will restore the DB to another server... will it work?

A: Yes, that should work.

Rob Foster (Expert):

Q: [71] @Rob - Thanks!

A: You're welcome!

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [72] Thoughts on having each Web App use a different IP address? Thinking for SSL options later...

A: That would be fine but you would have to manually to set it in IIS. If I have multiple SSL web apps I like to use wildcard cets to save my self the pain.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [73] What are extra features of user profile service in sharepoint 2010?

A: User profile service is a shared service in SP 2010. It allows the management of various features and capabilities related to information about users in the farm. It is used to manage user profile properties, audiences, profile synchronization and My Site settings. For more information, please visit this link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee721050.aspx

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [74] I am running into an issue when I create a new publishing sub-site. Here are my steps... 1. Go to Site Actions > Create Site, 2. Fill out the information to create a new site, 3. The sub site starts to get provisioned, but I get an error "Folders are not allowed for this list template. I get the following error message in the ULS log file "Event log message was: 'Failed to create the 'Documents' library.'. Exception was: 'Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException: Folders are not allowed for this list template. at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPList.set_EnableFolderCreation(Boolean value) at Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.Internal.AreaProvisioner.CreateDocumentsDocumentLibrary(SPList approvalTaskList)". Has anyone ever seen this error message before?

A: Have you modified any of the out of the box files in the SharePoint root folder?

Mike Oryszak (Expert):

Q: [75] Hi. Is there a best practices document on which services should be running on dedicated application servers for SharePoint 2010 and what all should run on the WFEs?

A: Here is the TechNet Deployment Information: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee667264.aspx.  Each environment can be configured in a different way to meet the needs of the specific implementation. In most cases Indexing should be on one or more dedicated servers, if the BI tools are used, they typically need their own servers.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [76] Can we add our own properties to the user profile?

A: I just answered a similar question a few mins ago. Yes, you can create new user profile properties. Go to User Profile Service Application page in Central Admin. Within the Manage Profile Service page, click Manage User properties and the click New Property.

Woody Windischman (Expert):

Q: [77] @MikeOryszak Q59 : Let me start again. I have a SharePoint server A that has data that i need in Lotus Notes. I have created a Web Service that will get the list items and do some manipulation to it. I need to deploy my custom Web Service to a server th

A: When you build your custom web service, make sure that you aren't including any references to the server-side object model in your project (that's where the .dll reference error you originally mentioned is coming from). You will only be able to use the SharePoint web services unless you deploy your web service on a SharePoint server (i.e. in layouts, or your web application's bin folder). In addition, on a separate box, unless you have implemented Kerberos, you my run into double-hop authentication issues unless your web service has a hard-coded impersonation account.

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [78] I have ECTS (External Collaboration Toolkit for SharePoint) to manage external users management) in 2007 environment. How ECTS fit in 2010? Do I have to use different solution since I don't see any new version for ECTS for SP2010? How to port the current e

A: Is this the package from SharePoint Solutions? I saw a 2010 version available on their web site last week. You would need to check with them about how to port that environment from 2007 to 2010.

Ivan Sanders MVP (Expert):

Q: [79] Any expert out there used Netscaler to load balance SharePoint 2010 WFEs? If so, have you used the NetScaler AppExpert Application Templates?

A: I have used the AppExpert templates with SP2007 but not with SP2010, the templates make it very easy to configure the Netscaler devices

Melissa Travers MSFT (Moderator):

Q: [80] What are the steps to becoming an MVP?

A: To find out more about the MVP Award Program, please go to the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional site http://mvp.support.microsoft.com; You can also submit nominations for award from that site. Thank you!

Sean Wallbridge (Expert):

Q: [81] I am going to migrate the SQL server from 64bits SQL 2005 to SQL 2008 R2. Do I have to worry about the custom developed code compatibilities with SQL 2008 R2? These code are working fine with 32 bits WFE with 64 bit SQL...I know I will have to test the cod

A: Hi Bo, this should not be a problem. As always test, but you should be alright. If you can be more specific about your code, others may have more input for you. But generally, if you are backing up and restoring/migration your databases from one version to the other, you should be alright.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [82] Can we disable social tagging in sites?

A: Yes. Reference: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee721064.aspx

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [83] @Paul Q78..No. ECTS is developed by MS and is in CodePlex now.. not from SharePoint solutions..

A: Different product. For that one you'll either need to get the code from CodePlex and do your own update or wait for an updated CodePlex Project.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [84] I cannot find MySite in the newly installed SharePoint 2010 server. Please help.

A: You can configure settings for My Sites in the My Site Host location for each user profile service application. The following link has in-depth information: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee624362.aspx

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [85] How can we find out what's coming in the next major SharePoint update? Specifically, is new functionality (e.g., user functionality) on the way? Refinements to existing functionality?

A: Unfortunately it is still very early in the cycle to know. Msft is soliciting feedback from customers as well as making plenty of bug fixes. In so far as exact features, that information will likely be posted as soon as it becomes publicly available. In short, still too early to know.

Sean Wallbridge (Expert):

Q: [86] @Sean I've been trying the exact method to customize mentioned in second of those two links (in fact I think it was my primary source) with stsadm. Should it work?

A: It worked for me. Can you be more specific about where/how it is failing for you?

Clayton Cobb (Expert):

Q: [87] @Clayton, on the SP Designer entry forms, when I create a new "Add" form, enter an item and click Save, it just sits there. Never returns to the all items view. I've had this happen several times on different lists forms. When I move fields to a different line, they just disappear, I have to copy and paste instead.

A: Kate, I haven't experienced any of that. Can you explain the steps you're using to create the form and associate it? It shouldn't entail much, but I want to make sure. Also, are you not using 2010 Enterprise? If you are, have you tried customizing the list forms with InfoPath?

Wictor Wilén (Expert):

Q: [88] How can we convert SP2010 VHD files provided by Microsoft to VMware? I dont have windows 2008 and hyper-v. I have vmware. I hear that we can convert SP2010 VHD files to vmware but I dont know how to do it. I actually saw a blog post sometime ago on this topic but I have lost that link. Could someone point me to a relevant link on this topic?

A: StarWind software has a free VHD to VMDK converter that I use to for that. Check out: http://www.starwindsoftware.com/converter

Randy Drisgill MVP (Expert):

Q: [89] I would like to modify the master page for a teamsite in SharePoint 2010 - move the logo around and change the colors, etc. Then created a template out of it. What is the best way to do that?

A: Probably the best way to tackle this is to work in a local VM or dev environment and use SharePoint Designer 2010 to make a copy of v4.master and make changes as needed. Then when you are happy with the results you can add the new master page and CSS to a solution package WSP and deploy it to the server. Another option for saving customizations to a Team sites would be to make the new master page and apply it and then save the site as a site template. Note, this doesn't work as nicely with publishing sites though.

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [90] I will migrate SQL to 2008 R2 to different host name AND instance name, MSDN said it's not supported for different instance name .. but some blogs said it is fine.. What is your experience? I plan to use SQL alias too..

A: There are certain features in SharePoint that don't work with SQL instance names. The normal workaround for that is to define SQL aliases for the SQL instances and use the alias in SharePoint.

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [91] @DanAttis, I have some custom list definitions. Would this cause the problem. Also, I noticed this issue occurs when I try to activate the Publishing feature.

A: Absolutely. you likely have the AlllowFolders (not sure of the exact name right now) element of the list definition set to False in one of them. That would cause that exception. Also, make sure your list defs work independently of the Site Definition you created before adding them to it.

Ivan Sanders MVP (Expert):

Q: [92] Thank you Ivan. Are there any known issues or Gottchas with using the App Expert templates for the netscaler? Is it a good idea to use it for SharePoint optimization?

A: I haven't seen any.. Its a great place to start with optimization but don’t forget to optimize SQL most of the performance issues I see are SQL related, like using NAS instead of SAN… The guidance by Bill Baer and Russ Houberg is invaluable and should be treated as the gospel with regard to SQL performance …

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [93] @Dan - Thanks!

A: you are welcome.

Shane Young MVP (Expert):

Q: [94] I don't have SQL alias configured. I am migrating the SQL to different server. Can I use SQL alias to point to the new server using the old sql server's host name (which is a DNS entry) while old SQL is still up? As far as I know, SQL alias won't conflict

A: Setting up a SQL alias should work fine.

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [94] I don't have SQL alias configured. I am migrating the SQL to different server. Can I use SQL alias to point to the new server using the old sql server's host name (which is a DNS entry) while old SQL is still up? As far as I know, SQL alias won't conflict

A: I don't think that will work since there will be a conflict with the old SQL server. However, you can backup and restore the databases to the new SQL server, create an alias, and then re-configure SharePoint to point at the new alias of the new server.

Clayton Cobb (Expert):

Q: [95] Anyone found any work around for including a Managed Metadata or BCS field in an InfoPath form?

A: Kate, unfortunately, we cannot use managed metadata fields in InfoPath - it was a big blow to the product team, because they knew it was important, but it wasn't doable in this iteration. You can consume BCS fields by using the External Item Picker or by creating an external list and creating a data connection to the external list. I do the latter all the time so that my forms can interact with my back-end data sources through BCS.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [96] I attended an event last week where they were talking about the sandboxed solutions. They mentioned that sandboxed solution can be blocked. I am curious. Can someone provide more information on this topic?

A: Technet has a very detailed page on this topic. Yes, that is true you may want to block a solution, for example, if it poses a security risk. See this link for more information: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff535782.aspx

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [97] Does Microsoft have any official page that lists SharePoint demos?

A: Try this one: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262880.aspx

Sean Wallbridge (Expert)

Q: [97] Does Microsoft have any official page that lists SharePoint demos?

A: Hi Stevie. There are many demo's for the many aspects for SharePoint. www.sharepoint.com is the first place to start and is itself a SharePoint site. This page on that site has a number of demos/videos you can check out (http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/Pages/Videos.aspx?VideoID=23). As well, there are countless videos on www.YouTube.com and being added all the time. www.wssdemo.com is another reference that serves as a good place to find various templates, add-ons and kits that exist that you can try yourself. You can also download a copy of a complete SharePoint environment as a virtual machine from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=751fa0d1-356c-4002-9c60-d539896c66ce&displaylang=en

Wictor Wilén (Expert):

Q: [98] What is a Content Type Hub? Is it common to setup from get go?

A: A Content Type Hub is a "hub" where you can deploy and configure Content Types and then let other Site Collections subscribe to those Content Types. Compared to previous SP versions you had to deploy, update, configure etc the Content Types in each Site Collection. So the CTH is a great addition in SharePoint 2010.

Jason Medero (Expert):

Q: [99] Where is the user profile crawl log stored? And where can I configure how long the log should be retained?(2007 version)

A: In SharePoint 2007 all of the profile data is stored in the SSP database. All profile information that is crawled is in the crawl index and to the best of my knowledge there is not a configurable log in 2007.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [100] Can we enable anon. access for a site collection? I don't know how to do it. Please help.

A: Yes. Browse to the site collection. Select Site Actions > Site Settings. In Uses and Permissions grouping, select Site Permission. On the management ribbon, click Anonymous Access. Select the scope. Remember anonymous users have limited access to the site collection content.

Sean Wallbridge (Expert):

Q: [101] @Sean It just doesn't seem to have any effect. I modify the alerttemplates.xml and alerttemplates_sms.xml, apply them to my site using the stsadm -o updatealerttemplates command, reset iis, create an alert on the page, modify the page, and then get an email with the modified page content that doesn't have any of the changes that I made to the templates.

A: Any chance you are working in a migrated/upgraded environment that still has a /12 path and you missed the change to /14 for the new version? (i.e. that old path will still be there, not cleaned up after an in place upgrade, but will be ignored). Otherwise, I'd expect you'd be seeing some errors about your syntax, etc.

Clayton Cobb (Expert):

Q: [102] @Clayton, if I insert a row in a table to add a visual "separator" (like a colored cell) to separate groups of fields (columns), then I click a field and drag it down to the new row, it just disappears from the screen. Can't use InfoPath for library forms.

A: Kate, so you are still just talking about doc lib forms. Why do you need so much customization to doc lib forms when the document is the main piece of data? What is your scenario? We may be able to think of a better approach. The visual separator you described is something I do a lot, too, but I don't ever have cause to do it with doc lib property pages, so I haven't tried that exact thing yet in 2010.

Dan Attis (Expert):

Q: [103] @DanAttis Thanks, this should be me a good place to start looking. I will check my list defs as well as the OOTB Documents list def.

A: You are welcome, good luck!

Randy Drisgill MVP (Expert):

Q: [104] @Randy - is there a howto on SharePoint designer as fars as how to make those kind of changes to the master page? Is creating or modifying a master page complicated and requires developer knowledge?

A: I'd say its more difficult that standard web design, but not as difficult as full on c# development. The key is to understand how master pages work in ASP.net and then how they work in SharePoint. I have an MSDN article that talks about the entire process for 2007: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee354191.aspx The 2010 version has been written and submitted to Microsoft and is waiting to be published. Also, I have a book coming out shortly on the topic: http://amzn.to/bHau4J

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [105] Will my antivirus for asp sites work with SharePoint?

A: You must install a SharePoint server 2010-aware antivirus program that runs at the web service level to intercept and scan files. Ordinary antivirus apps do not scan items in SP databases.

Wictor Wilén (Expert):

Q: [106] What is the best tool for Moss to manage user permission? Any suggestions on any tool for migration to 2010?

A: There are 3rd party apps but the SharePoint Administration Toolkit 4.0 released for MOSS 2007 contains a permissions reporting solution that many of my customers have found very useful. Read more here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sharepoint/archive/2009/08/27/announcing-the-fourth-release-of-the-microsoft-sharepoint-administration-toolkit.aspx

Ivan Sanders MVP (Expert):

Q: [107] @Ivan - thank you. Do you have a link for that guidance by Bill Baer and Russ Houberg?

A: Wow that was fun...

Bill baer

Database Maintenance for Microsoft® SharePoint® Products and Technologies http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=111531&clcid=0x409 ;

Bill baer on MSDN Blogs http://blogs.technet.com/b/wbaer/ 

Russ Houberg

Architecting for Scale SP2010 http://www.houberg.net/sessioncontent/Architecting_for_Scale_in_SharePoint_2010.pptx

Scaling SharePoint 2007: Storage Architecture http://www.knowledgelake.com/resources/Documents/Whitepapers/Scaling%20SharePoint%202007%20-%20Storage%20Architecture.pdf

Woody Windischman (Expert):

Q: [108] Any harm in letting my Internet Search Application and Intranet Search Application share the same App Pool, as long as I have separate Content Access Accounts for each Search SA?

A: That should be fine. Keeping the application pools separate is more important for preventing one rogue process from causing issues with others. The content access account is what determines the site resources the application can read.

Clayton Cobb (Expert)

Q: [109] IP2007 - loadbalanced environemnt - I call the userprofileservice.asmx to get the current user info - works great in standalone test env. - prod throws error "LogID:5566". only happens in browser mode not when using IP client. any suggestions? Running on win server 2008

A: Bri, this is a known issue, because with a browser form, the server itself makes the call for the user. When the WFEs are load balanced, then the server has to make the call back through the load balancer. What you want to do is make the WFEs browse themselves instead of browsing back through the load balancer. To do this, you add a host file entry to each WFE that points to its own IP. That way, all browser form calls to SharePoint web services will be made to the current machine that invoked the form.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [110] I saw a capacity planning document on SharePoint 2010. Is there a similar document on InfoPath 2010? I don't seem to find the link on the net.

A: Go to this link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=fd1eac86-ad47-4865-9378-80040d08ac55&displaylang=en  and download "InfoPath2010CapacityPlanningDoc.docx" (size 211 kb). Don't be confused by the heading on the download page which says "SharePoint Server 2010 performance and capacity test results and recommendations".

Paul Stork MVP (Expert):

Q: [111] If I want a sub-site to not inherit a different Master Page when I click "apply to all sub-sites", do I have to give it its own site collection? Is there an alternative?

A: After you have applied the Master Page to the entire hierarchy then you will need to go to that specific sub site and reset the master page to the specific one you want. As long as you don't re-click the check box in the top level site it will retain the master page.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [112] What is RBS? I am astonished at the number of buzz words that have been introduced with SP 2010. First it was MMS now RBS!

A: RBS stands for Remote Blob Storage. You can use SharePoint with RBS to optimize database storage resources. RBS is a library API set that is incorporated as an add-on feature pack for MS SQL Server.

Mike Oryszak (Expert):

Q: [113] Is there any way to filter the results of an RSS feed on a list in SharePoint 2007 OOTB?

A: You can modify the xsl to filter down the results as needed.

Woody Windischman (Expert):

Q: [114] @ Clayton, picky users who want color and other customizations is why I need custom Lib forms.

A: Drag and dropping columns for data views in SPD 2010 is a bit touchy. If you drop to the wrong spot, the column does just vanish without any error. You might get better response by setting your text cursor where you want the column to appear, then click the column on the task pane, and select the insert mode you want from the action menu at the top of the task pane.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert)

Q: [115] Thanks @Saifullah. Is RBS supported in SQL server 2005?

A: No, RBS is not supported for Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

Sean Wallbridge (Expert):

Q: [116] @Sean No, it's a clean 2010 install. I wondered if stsadm only worked wrt 2007, but yeah... No messages, everything looks like it should have worked.

A: hmm, I haven't customized any alerts in 2010 to date but it is true, STSADM is being deprecated somewhat. that said, this article relating to removing fields is on SP2010 and still references using STSADM - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2404173

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [117] What is governance in SharePoint?

A: Governance is the set of policies, roles, responsibilities, and processes that guide, direct, and control how an organization's business divisions and IT team cooperate to achieve business goals.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [118] I have multiple excel files in folders in document libraries that all contain a single table that I would like to compile into a master table. How would I go about doing this in such a way that adding new sub-tables does not cause a lot headaches for user

A: Will users open Excel files in SharePoint? Because if Excel has one table or multiple tables, how does it affect SharePoint? Are you trying to use Excel services? because that's where I see how SharePoint is involved.

Mike Oryszak (Expert):

Q: [119] If I have two SSP, which SSP the "My Site" will get the user profile properties from? Some configurations for "My Site" SSP? Should I schedule two SSP profile imports in different time schedule,does it matter?

A: When you create the SSP you map web applications to the SSP. If you have multiple SSPs, it will pull the profile properties from the SSP associated with the web they are using.

Saifullah Shafiq MVP (Expert):

Q: [122] Do we still have time to ask? Are there any restrictions on the assembly that runs in sandboxed solution. I mean to say what are the things that the component cannot do when deployed in sandbox.

A: The most common things that an assembly that will run in a sandbox cannot do are as following: 1) Connect to resources that are not located on the local server 2) Access a db 3) change the threading model 4) call unmanaged code 5) write to disk 6) access resources in a different site collection.

Darrin Bishop MVP (Expert):

Q: [122] Do we still have time to ask? Are there any restrictions on the assembly that runs in sandboxed solution. I mean to say what are the things that the component cannot do when deployed in sandbox.

A: The sandbox does not allow access outside of the site collection or the current user's rights. You cannot easily get out of the sandbox without a full trust proxy.

Darrin Bishop MVP (Expert):

Q: [122] Do we still have time to ask? Are there any restrictions on the assembly that runs in sandboxed solution. I mean to say what are the things that the component cannot do when deployed in sandbox.

A: The sandbox has limitations such as not being able to work with any file on the filesystem or any functionality that could affect other users in other site collections. You cannot access anything outside the site collection or current user's rights. The benefit is that it does run in the sandbox and will not take down the farm and it is easier for a site collection to add functionality the site collection.

Woody Windischman (Expert):

Q: [124] @Randy - I realize you've headed off by now, but changing the files in both of those locations and resetting IIS had no effect on the styles available for use. Back to the drawing board I think.

A: There is a way to control the styles listed in the rich editor for publishing by defining your own "htmleditorstyles.css" to override the defaults. Just ensure that you load that file in your layout. Here is some info for 2007, but it is essentially similar for 2010. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-designer-help/create-html-editor-styles-HA010174140.aspx

Darrin Bishop MVP (Expert):

Q: [125] @Sean: I'm an engineer, not an IT professional, so I'm trying to avoid using Visual Studio if I don't have to. Outside of SharePoint this is easy, but I guess my question basically is, "Can I set up relationships between excel files in SharePoint document

A: It sounds like you are working with large amounts of data in Excel. We think that this is probably better handled in Excel and not SharePoint. There will be an Excel chat that will be posted to day where they might be able to help you with a no code solution.

Darrin Bishop MVP (Expert):

Q: [126] @Ivan - thanks again!! However, except for the first link - the rest are no good.

A: I just checked the links that Ivan provided and I was able to get to the documents and the sites. You might try to Bing Russ and Bill's name.

Melissa Travers MSFT (Moderator): Well that concludes our chat for today. You can find out more information about our next SharePoint chat on October 27th on the MVP Award Program blog http://blogs.msdn.com/mvpawardprogram ; where you can also find original articles written by the MVPs. As well as the MSDN Events page on the Chats tab with an Add to Calendar reminder http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/default.aspx ;. We are also having a special joint chat on Windows 7 and Office 2010 on Oct 14th which will be posted later today on the same site. Hope you can join us for that or pass the word on to anyone interested. To find out more about the MVP Award Program, please go to the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional site http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Melissa Travers MSFT (Moderator): A big thank you to our MVPs for sharing their time and expertise with us today. And thank you to all our guests for joining us and asking so many great questions. Have a good day everyone!