Monthly Archives: June 2008

Search Server Express features coming to MOSS soon!

Posted by on June 29, 2008 No comments

If you have been waiting for the nice search enhancements from Search Server Express 2008 to appear in MOSS, it seems that waiting is almost over: according to Arpan Shah’s blog, the features should be available for MOSS in a “rollup hotfix” early July.

Adding a new language to Microsoft LCDS

Posted by on June 20, 2008 No comments

Someone asked me if it would be possible to add a new language to the available language packs of the Microsoft Learning Content Development System. Well, as the system supports already multiple languages, that should not be that difficult. This is what I did (use at your own risk!):

  • Navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Learning\LCDSc\application\viewer. This folder contains a subfolder, one for every available language.
  • Copy the folder that corresponds most to the language you want to create. Or if no correspondence, copy any folder and give it a three letter language code.
  • Inside your new folder, go to the folder named shared. Inside that folder, there is a folder with the same language code, rename that to your new code.
  • Inside that folder, there is a file version.xml. Edit the file in Notepad and make the necessary changes.
  • Open the viewer folder inside that folder.
  • The file viewerstrings.js contains the different language strings for the viewer. Edit the file in Notepad and translate.
  • The Help and appart folder contain the help screens. Translate these if necessary.
  • Go back to C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Learning\LCDSc\application and edit the supportedLanguages.xml file with notepad. Copy one of the lines to add a new line for your language.

Done! The new language should appear when creating a new course!

Why “SharePoint for Dummies” is not enough for your end users…

Posted by on June 20, 2008 No comments

Very often, I talk to IT-people about providing end user training for their SharePoint implementation. Recently, on two separate occations, two IT managers made the same remark: “Just give them the “SharePoint for Dummies” book and they will be fine.”

I really hate it when people talk about “dumb” end users. But this set aside, I want to make clear why this is not really a good solution for end user training for SharePoint:

  • A SharePoint end user training should always be a custom training: the SharePoint feature palette is so vast that while books discuss most of the features, companies only use their 20% of the functionalities. So why bother giving information about the ones you do not use?
  • There is more to it than just SharePoint functionality: very often, the implementation of SharePoint brings changes in work methods, procedures, information sharing… Those are specific for your organisation.
  • You need to sell your SharePoint solution to your internal audience. People are resistent to the change in their work habits, even if it is an improvement. Giving a book is not a very good sales pitch.

Microsoft released some interesting material to accomplish this: the SharePoint Training Kit, the SharePoint Internal Buzz kit. Very good material, but don’t make the same mistake: don’t throw this at your end user “as is”. Customize, customize…

Show me your tags

Posted by on June 15, 2008 No comments

… and I will tell you who you are.