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I have been using Windows 7 for quite some time now, and one thing that has been bothering me is the performance (euh, lack of performance) when using the Open with Windows Explorer option in SharePoint. Opening it, using it is sooooo slow.

But recently, I read this post of Amanda Perran. The lack of performance seems to be related to a setting in Internet Explorer: under Tools, Internet Options, Connections, LAN Settings, you need to uncheck Automatically detect settings. This magically increases the speed of your Explorer View, but what is even better: drastically decreases the load time of Office documents when opening them from SharePoint.

So this is something every user should know. Spread the word!

The people from CommonCraft have created a new video about SharePoint. If you want to learn what it is and what it can do for you in 3 minutes, this is the way to go:

I had a great time in my last SharePoint Power User training, and as always, I learned a lot from the questions raised during the course. What do you think about this one: is there a quick and easy way to filter a long SharePoint list, without using Search, without using the column headings or the datasheet view?

I bumped into this nice extension on Codeplex: the SharePoint InstantListFilter. It adds lookup columns at the top of every document library and list, and you can use them to filter the list by typing in them; the results are shown immediately on the screen (jquery).

My development skills are non existing, so I can not evaluate the solution technically, but it is really a lifesaving functionality when you are browsing through long SharePoint lists (especially when there is no metadata or views defined).

Of course, there are some limitations:

• it only filters in the displayed results
• it is a feature activated on site level

If you want to see it in action, have a look at the demo.

I experienced an issue with a content type linked to a PowerPoint template (.pot). When I tried to create a new document based on the content type, PowerPoint did not start, but instead I got the following error message: “The document could not be created. The required application may not be installed properly, or the template for this document library cannot be opened.”

After some research, I found an article that pointed to Microsoft Security Update KB951944 as the culprit for this error. And indeed, after removing it, my issue was fixed. At least for the moment, because removing a security update is probably not a good idea.

I guess the problems started after installing Office 2007 Service Pack 2, so I am afraid we will be seeing this issue a lot in the near future on customer portals. I’ll update this post if I find a “decent” solution.

When you are talking to a customer about the setup of their new SharePoint site or portal, very often they have trouble visualising the structure and look and feel of the interface they will get. Of course, it is rather easy cranking up a virtual machine and prototyping in SharePoint directly, but then you risk that they will focus on the colours and fonts instead of the functionality they will get (you know, the marketing guy saying: “that’s not the blue of our house style!”).

During the SharePoint Best Practices Conference last february, I attended a workshop by Ruven Gotz, and he talked about Balsamiq Mockups as a tool to help you run requirements workshops. I tried it out today, and it really is a great application that any Information Worker consultant should have in his/her toolset.

What I like about it: 

• it is an Adobe Air application, so cross platform (I am testing on my Mac, but will use it on a pc)
• very simple and intuitive
• it produces “style independent” mockups, so nobody will complain about colours or fonts, but focus on the functionalities

If you want to know more: 

• watch my small demo movie
• visit the web site and try it yourself
• download some SharePoint components you can use immediately for your mockups

Reasons enough to give it a try. And if this would not be enough, read some more about the company behind this product. In an era of profit, shareholders value, unlimited growth, they got their priorities right.