How to Configure a Discussion Board List in SharePoint 2013 for a Facebook Style

SharePoint 2013 adds many new features to Lists, and in this article, we'll take a look at how to use the Discussion Board list in SharePoint 2013. I think that Facebook is probably very familiar to most of you, and users can easily understand how it presents information. As you know, the Discussion Board is used for communication with many members. So, we need to have many features to support our following them. This walkthrough shows you how to configure a Discussion Board list in SharePoint 2013 to use a Facebook style.
First, let's talk about how to create a Discussion Board list.
Go to your site and click on the third picture (Add lists, libraries, and other apps):
 
Select the Discussion Board list type, enter a name for the list, and then click the Create button.
At this point, you will see the list in the left pane of page. Click on the list name to see it:
 

Here, you should click on the new discussion hyperlink button to create a new Thread:
 
In the new item form, you will see the Question checkbox. You should check this if you want to get answers from other members:


The new topic will be shown as shown below in the list:


Click on the Thread to view and reply to the post:


To rate this topic, go to the List tab on the Ribbon and select the List Settings icon:


Click on the Rating Settings hyperlink as pictured below:


Select your two options:

• Allow items in this list to be rated?
• Which voting/rating experience you would like to enable for this list?
  
  

Go back to the last topic at this point, and you will see a Like button much like on Facebook. When you click Like, the Unlike button will be shown with a smiley face and total number of likes:
 


Go to the list, and you will see the Number of Like and Rating columns.
Cheers!

Create Custom Discussion Board App in SharePoint 2013

Discussion boards provide forums for site participants to discuss topics with each other. Most site templates include the ability to create discussion boards.
In this blog we will see how to create Custom ​Discussion Board app in SharePoint 2013.
Step 1: To create SharePoint App for Discussion Board, user needs to create Discussion Board list. To create the list go to Site Settings -> Site Contents.
 ​


Step 2: from Site Contents click on add an app.



Step 3: from add an app click on App Details to create new app.


Step 4: Now click on ADD IT to create list based on Discussion Board Template.



Step 5: Here can see the Discussion Board list created.



Step 6: Now to create SharePoint Hosted App for Discussion Board, first open Visual Studio and click on New Project to create a new project.



Step 7: From Template -> Visual C# -> Office/SharePoint -> Apps, select Apps for SharePoint and give it a name DiscussionBoardApp and click Ok.



Step 8: Here in Which SharePoint Site do you want to use for debugging your app?, give your site's url where you want to debug this app and in How do you want to host your app for SharePoint?, select SharePoint-hosted and click Finish.



Step 9: Here right click the solution and from Add click on New Item.



Step 10: From Visual C# Items -> Office/SharePoint, Select Client Web Part (Host Web) and give It a name DiscussionBoard and click Add.



Step 11: Here select the option Create a new app web page for the client web part content, give page a name and click Finish.



Step 12: After creating a page create a JavaScript to work in app. To create a script go to Scripts -> Add -> New Item.



Step 13: From Visual C# Items -> Web -> JavaScript File and give It a name discussion.js and click Add.



Step 14: Here in DiscussionBoard.aspx, add reference of JavaScript, css and add the UI part.



Step 15: Here in Elements.xml file, create custom property. Here user can set the default value for property.



Step 16: In discussion.js file add your code for Discussion Board. It will have the logic of the app.



Step 17: In the AppManifest.xml file in the Permissions tab in the scope select Site Collection and in Permission select FullControl.



Step 18: After completing this, right click the solution and then click on Build to build the solution.



Step 19: Once solution is build, Deploy the solution by right clicking the solution and click on Deploy.



Step 20: After Deployment will be completed It will ask to Trust the app. Click on Trust It.



Step 21: Here in the Site Contents user can see the DiscussionBoardApp is deployed.



Step 22: Now from Settings gear icon, select Add a Page to create new page.



Step 23: Here give It a name Discussions and click Create to create a new page.



Step 24: From Edit Page, click on Insert then on App Part and then select DiscussionBoard App part which is created and click on Add.


Step 25: After Adding the App in a page It will look like the below one. Here all the discussions which are running will be shown and users can Reply to that discussion and can see all replies by clicking on View all replies link.





  

Something about SharePoint

Introduction

SharePoint is a miracle from Microsoft. It's an extensible platform consisting of tools you can build your own web applications and portals with. It’s a collaborative application, it's a Framework, it's a platform, and it's everything you can make with ASP.NET. It is possible to create a professional application in less than a minute using SharePoint. There is no need to design a database or write ASP.NET code. Fabulous, amazing, fantastic!

WSS vs. MOSS

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS) is a free edition of SharePoint with the core functionality available as a part of the Windows Server 2003 Operating System, while Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) is a full featured SharePoint edition for enterprise content management. MOSS has the same features of WSS, with more functionality like Excel Services, Forms Services, and Business Data Catalog (BDC).

Farm

Depending upon your needs, you can deploy SharePoint on a single-server, or scale out onto multiple servers. A SharePoint server farm is a set of one or more web servers and a database server known as a Configuration Database. The name of the configuration database is held in the Registry on the local server at:

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HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\
                   Web Server Extensions\12.0\Secure\ConfigDB.

Web Application

A SharePoint Web Application is an IIS website that has been configured to run a SharePoint site. When you create a new Web Application with SharePoint, it creates a new database named a Content Database.

Site and Site Collection

A SharePoint Site is a container for content. Every site must be provisioned (created) within an existing Web Application. However, it cannot be an independent entity within a Web Application, and it must be created inside the scope of a Site Collection. A SharePoint Site Collection is a container of SharePoint Sites, and requires a Top-Level Site.

Lists and Libraries

Everything stored in SharePoint is in some form of a list. They are similar to tables in a database; they can contain a variety of content, and also provide Views of information stored in them. Document Libraries are document storage, but they also store the document's metadata and version history. SharePoint stores Lists and Libraries content in the Content Database.

Site Column

A Site Column is a reusable column definition that can be used across multiple lists. Once you have created a site column, you can use it to create Lists or Libraries. You can update a Site Column in a single place, and it affects all the lists where the Site Column has been used.

Content Type

SharePoint Content Type is a flexible and reusable type definition in SharePoint that defines the item template in SharePoint Lists and Libraries. We can define columns of items or document types or document templates and even workflows in different sets of Content Types, then associate them to a list or library simultaneously.

Web Part and Web Part Page

Web Part technology is one of the most powerful aspects of SharePoint. Web Parts are the main user interface elements in SharePoint, and they are similar to ASP.NET controls. Web Part Pages are extensible HTML-based pages that are containers of Web Parts. Users are able to customize (change the shared view to all users) or personalize (changes are seen by only the user who made them) the pages. A Web Part page must be created within the context of a document library.

Workflow

The SharePoint Workflow is built on the Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) that is part of the .NET Framework 3.0, 3.5. SharePoint adds extra functionalities to WF to cover its needs like CreateTaskActivity, History List… that are human-oriented in nature like document review and document approval.

Programming

It’s a fact that SharePoint is a development platform and you can extend it the way you want with Web Part Framework, Event Handlers, Workflows, and Web Services. We can access the Content Database and the Configuration Database with the SharePoint API or SharePoint Web Services. The main classes of the SharePoint API exist in the Microsoft.SharePoint.dll assembly. Some of the class names in the SharePoint object model are based on old SharePoint terms like SPSite that means Site Collection, or SPWeb that means Site.

CAML

Collaborative Application Markup Language (CAML) is a language based on XML, and is used to query lists, and helps in creating and customizing sites. Example:

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<Query>
    <Where>
        <Eq>
            <FieldRef Name=”Customer” />
            <Value Type=”Lookup”>PBIT</Value>
        </Eq>
    </Where>
    <OrderBy>
        <FieldRef Name=”OrderName” />
    </OrderBy>
</Query>

Features

Features provide a mechanism for defining site elements and adding them to a target site or site collection through a process known as Feature Activation. We can define Page Templates, Event Handlers, Web Parts, and Workflows with Features. It consists of a folder created within the SharePoint special path, and it contains one or more XML files that contain CAML. Each feature directory contains a manifest file named feature.xml that defines the high-level attributes of the feature.

Security

A very robust aspect of SharePoint is Security. Security in SharePoint is based on the ASP.NET security model, and is hierarchical, and you can inherit an object's users and groups from its parent, or define it independently. Records in lists and documents in libraries could inherit from a parent list and a library, or they could have their own privileges and permissions.

Form Services

SharePoint Form Services is a set of services that we can use to host and view InfoPath forms on SharePoint, and we can access them via the web browser. In real world, it’s important for a customer to see actual forms they are comfortable with and they are seeing every day.

Excel Services

SharePoint Excel Services is a set of services that we can use to distribute Excel spreadsheets broadly, and we can access them via the web browser. The Excel client is perhaps the most used tool for data analysis and reporting. Whether the data originates in Excel or in some back-end system, users find a way to get it into Excel so that they can manipulate it, analyze it, and format the data and their findings for printing and sharing more broadly. We can use it for business intelligence (BI) dashboards. Also, it has the Excel Calculation Server (ECS) that we can use as a calculation engine everywhere.

BDC

The Business Data Catalog (BDC) is a connector that allows you to access data held in back-end line-of-business (LOB) applications, and we can surface that data in multiple places within our site collections. With BDC, we can use database tables and data in SharePoint lists, and integrate a SharePoint application with legacy applications.

Configure Lync options

Step 1: Set Lync Options

The Lync - Options window should be your first stop when getting started with Lync. It’s where you customize Lync for your use. Use it to set up audio and video devices and to change things, like your picture and phone numbers that display with your contact information, how and when you’re alerted to new instant messages, how messages display (with or without emoticons, for example), and your status settings.

1. Open Lync.
   
2. In the Lync main window, in the upper-right corner, click the Options icon.
   
3. In Lync - Options, use the options in the left pane to open the appropriate page. The following table can help you locate the Options page you need for the most common setup tasks. (Be aware, though, the table isn’t comprehensive. We recommend you skim the options on all Lync - Options pages when setting up).
   Important    If an option or page is unavailable, it’s likely been disabled for your workplace or account. Contact your workplace technical support for help.
   

To	In Lync - Options, click	For more information, see the Help button and/or Learn More link on the Options page and
Change your instant messaging (IM) font	General	Use Lync IM
Save conversations or stop saving them	Personal	Find a previous Lync conversation
Hide or show pictures in your Contacts list	Personal	Change how your contacts are displayed
Change how long Lync waits before changing your status to Away	Status	Change your presence status
Change your picture	My Picture	Change your picture
Add a new phone number to your contact information	Phones	Control access to your presence information (to learn which contacts see which numbers)
Set up your option for Lync Meeting audio	Phones	Set up Lync Meeting audio options
Turn on or off sound alerts for new instant messages and/or when your status is Busy or Do Not Disturb	Ringtones and Sounds	Change your Lync alerts
Set up an audio device	Audio Device	Set up, test, and troubleshoot Lync audio
Set up a camera	Video Device	FAQ about audio and video

Step 2: Set up your Contacts list

Add the people you communicate with most to your Contacts list, so you can communicate with them quickly and easily. To add a contact, in the Lync main window, type the person’s name in the search box, click the listing when it appears, and then click More Options > Add to Contacts List and a group to add the contact to.

Access your Email within Outlook (Final Part) C#

Introduction

This is an introduction to Microsoft Outlook and its accessible properties and methods you can access through C#. We will not be working with the entire set of properties and methods, just the properties that can be attributed to an email. We will be showing you how to access your Outlook email through C# and how to display that information on a screen.

In this final article of this series we finalize the remaining coding and access the remaining properties needed to populate our screen. We will also display a screen shot of the final solution with the data populated from the first email returned in the Outlook collection object.

Implementation

In this article we will be working with Microsoft Outlook and its accessible properties and methods. We will be inserting a reference to the Outlook Namespace and accessing the Inbox to see if we can locate an email. If we find an email we will then go ahead and display the first email we find, and even display the name of the first attachment in that email.

Sender Name

In order to return the Sender’s Name of an email we will need to cast the item within the MAPI Inbox folder to a MailItem. Once it has been correctly casted you can then access the Sender’s Name property.

C#

1	((Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MailItem)myInbox.Items[1]).SenderEmailAddress;

Email Creation date

In order to return the Creation Date of an email we will need to cast the item within the MAPI Inbox folder to a MailItem. Once it has been correctly casted you can then access the Creation Date property.

1	((Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MailItem)myInbox.Items[1]).CreationTime.ToString();

You have now added all of the necessary property calls and have returned all of the information required to populate the application screen we have created. For a visual representation of the final solution please refer to Fig. 5.

C#

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using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.ComponentModel; using System.Data; using System.Drawing; using System.Text; using System.Windows.Forms; using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook; namespace OutlookEmailAccess { public partial class Form1 : Form { public Form1() { InitializeComponent(); } private void btnAccessEmail_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application myApp = new Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.ApplicationClass(); Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.NameSpace mapiNameSpace = myApp.GetNamespace("MAPI"); Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MAPIFolder myInbox = mapiNameSpace.GetDefaultFolder(Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderInbox); if (myInbox.Items.Count > 0) { // Grab the Subject lblSubject.Text = ((Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MailItem)myInbox.Items[1]).Subject; //Grab the Attachment Name if (((Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MailItem)myInbox.Items[1]).Attachments.Count > 0)                 { lblAttachmentName.Text = ((Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MailItem)myInbox.Items[1]).Attachments[1].FileName; } else { lblAttachmentName.Text = "No Attachment"; } // Grab the Body txtBody.Text = ((Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MailItem)myInbox.Items[1]).Body; // Sender Name lblSenderName.Text = ((Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MailItem)myInbox.Items[1]).SenderName; // Sender Email lblSenderEmail.Text = ((Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MailItem)myInbox.Items[1]).SenderEmailAddress; // Creation date lblCreationdate.Text = ((Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MailItem)myInbox.Items[1]).CreationTime.ToString(); } else { MessageBox.Show("There are no emails in your Inbox."); } } } }

Compile and execute the above code. When the application starts you will be presented with a screen that will allow you to select a button to “Access Email” from your local installation of Outlook. The results of that access test will be displayed in the fields on the screen.