Customize 404 Page in SharePoint 2013

SharePoint 2013 Supports editing Custom HTTP 404 Error Pages in SharePoint 2013. In this post we will take a deep look how to create a new 404 page and set it as default for a site collection.

Default PageNotfound\404 page - By default, all the Publishing sites contain a default Error\404 page “PageNotFoundError.aspx” page which is added to the “Pages” library (See below).



This page can be edited simpy by opening the page editing it.

“Error Page” Content Type - To allow users to Create a new 404 Error page, Publishing Sites now contain a new Content Type “Error Page“.This Content type Inherits from “Page” Content type and has a typical layout of a Page Not found or 404 pages. To find this Content type Navigate to Site Settings -> Content Types -> Error Page.



Create a New PageNotFound or 404 Page – To Create a new 404 page admins can navigate to the “Pages” Library and under the “Files tab” select “New Document”.In the “New Document” drop-down menu select “Error Page” (see the screen below).







Once you have Created a new Error Page you can modify it by simply clicking the page in the pages library and editing it.




Once done Check In and Publish the page.

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TimeLine WebPart can display Taks from across Sites and Site Collections

Timeline WebPart is added to every Task list by default but you can also add it to any SharePoint page. Timeline webpart has many benefits some of them are -

1. Displays tasks as Timeline
2. Color the Represented Taks
3. Display Subtasks
4. Display taks from across Sites and Site Collections.


Every Timeline Webpart needs a Source to display the tasks in it. One of the good features of this webpart is that the Source of Timeline can be set to any Task list across sites and Site Collections.Once you add the webpart simply edit the webpart properties and expand “Timeline” section. For this example, I have added Web URL of a sibling Subsite where I have a Task list “Project Tasks”. As soon as I click “Verify URL” the Type and Source gets populated. You can also select the Souce List and View Name from the properties available.

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Upload Multiple documents in SharePoint 2013 using Windows Explorer

In SharePoint 2013 the "Upload Multiple" Options has been depreciated. Users can either upload multiple documents using Drag and Drop or using Windows Explorer view.

To Open Windows Explorer click on Upload Document button as shown in picture below

Next in the Add Documents popup click on "Upload Files using windows Explorer Instead"



If you get the following error add the SharePoint site as Trusted in your Browser and Make sure that the WebClient service is running.

To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click Run, type services.msc, and then press Enter.
   2. In the list of services, locate the WebClient service, and then make sure that its status in the Status column is set to Started.
   3. If its status is not set to Started, double-click WebClient, click Start, and then click OK.

Once WebClient service is running you can restart the browser and try opening the Windows Explorer. In Windows Explorer you can drag and drop multiple documents.

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How are NewsFeeds Created and Stored in Sharepoint 2013

In SharePoint Server 2013, the newsfeed (or just simply the feed) displays activity information to users. Users access the feeds from a user's My Site. In SharePoint Server 2013, a user's My Site has several feeds available from which to choose. These different feeds show different views of activity information by filtering or pivoting on activity metadata. The different feeds available to users from their My Sites include the following:

• Newsfeed   
• Everyone   
• Activities   
• Mentions   
• Likes   

How are Feeds Created - All Activities are written to the Distributed Cache.The microblog features and feeds rely on the Distributed Cache to store data for very fast retrieval across all entities. Feeds mainly Rely on the following two Caches from Distributed Cache service.

• "Feed Cache" that Stores recent activities and recent conversations for all entities
• "Last Modified Time Cache" which is used to determine the last modified time for all items in the Feed Cache.

 

The feed queries the Last Modified Time Cache to retrieve time stamp information and metadata of recent activities.This information is then used as input to query the Feed Cache to retrieve activity data.The requested Microblogging feed is then constructed by using the activity data retrieved from the Feed Cache.

How are Feeds Stored - Some activities are saved to the content databases. If the activity is a user activity or site activity, the activity is saved to the My Sites content database. If the activity is a site feed activity, the activity is saved in the team sites content database. Tags and document activities are not saved to content databases.

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Email List\Library Link to Users\Groups in SharePoint 2013

You can email a link to a list or library to your entire team or everyone in the company simply using a button in Share & Track group.The link opens the page that contains the whole list.

Quick Steps -

1. Navigate to the site that contains the library or list for which you want to send an email with the link.
2. Click the name of the list on the Quick Launch, or click Settings , and then click Site contents,
3. Click the name of the list. Note    A site can be significantly changed in appearance and navigation. If you cannot locate an option, such as a command, button, or link, contact your administrator.
   

In the ribbon, click the List tab, and then in the Share & Track group, click Email a link. Your default email program opens a new email message that has the link in the message area.

4. Enter the email address and subject line that you want to use, and then click Send.

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Audit Log Reports in SharePoint 2013

You can use the audit Log Reports to view data in the audit logs for a site collection.With Audit Logs you can determine who deleted which content, Recently used documets in list or library and more..

Prerequisites -

Auditing must be enabled to use audit log reports in SharePoint Server 2013.

Auditing Events Recorded -

The audit log captures the following information for the events that are selected to be audited.

• Site from which an event originated
• Item ID, type, name, and location
• User ID associated with the event
• Event type, date, time, and source
• Action taken on the item

Trimming the audit logs -

When you select an event to be audited for a site collection, such as delete and restore, it will be audited for every item in the site collection each time the event occurs. Auditing can potentially generate a large number of audit events, creating a large audit log. This could fill the hard drive, affecting performance and other aspects of a site collection.

To prevent the audit log from filling the hard drive and potentially degrading the performance of the site collection, we recommended that you enable audit log trimming for site collections with extensive auditing

Note : If you are using SharePoint Online in Office 365 for enterprises, auditing for Opening or downloading documents, viewing items in lists, or viewing item properties is not available because of storage and performance concerns.

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SharePoint 2013 Sharing Issue - Cannot Share the site

Sharing is great feature that lets users Share the Site\Library\File with people in their Company.Like an Invitation to join the site kind of. What if you have issues Sharing your site with users?

So here are Few Important things you need to know -

1. By default SharePoint Site Collection Admins only see the Options for Sharing the Sites.For Other User’s to be able to use this option, you must configure the outgoing SMTP server for a web application.

2. Only User’s with “Grant Permission” rights can Share the Sites themselves.Even though If they do not have any other access on the site.

3. User’s can add a new Request from all Access Denied Pages or they can “Request on behalf” of another user that lets you add a request for Access on a User’s behalf.

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