SharePoint files moved into root folder

Tech Trek – 2016 January

PROBLEM –
Users reporting that files are missing in their respective child folders, and eventually being moved into the root folder of the document library.

TROUBLESHOOTING –

1. Identify if the affected SP 2013 site/library is being accessed via SharePoint Workspace (formerly Groove) client and your content is not over these file restrictions.
2. Make sure that the following patch is applied for Workspace 2010 client
   SharePoint Workspace 2010 hotfix – February, 2012
   https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2597939
3. To temporarily address the automatic transfer into the root folder –
   Set Offline Client Availability to No under Advanced Settings for the affected Document Library.

RESOURCES –

• Synchronize SharePoint content with SharePoint workspace
• Manage lists and libraries with many items

MS Excel Add-Ins

Tech Trek – 2016.03.14

PROBLEM –
One or more MS Excel COM Add-Ins are not loaded correctly even after enabling items in Excel Options dialog.

RESOLUTION –

1. Check whether the add-in is listed under Disabled Items in File … Excel Options.

   

2. Otherwise, open registry editor and find the affected Add-Ins in the following registry key path. Change the LoadBehavior value data into 3 (Load at Startup).

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\

DISCLAIMER:
Make registry updates with care since changes can render your system into an unusable state. Make sure you have a system restore point, or necessary backup before doing changes.

Drag & Drop is not working for SP2013

Tech Trek – 2015.09.28

One of the nice features of SharePoint 2013 is the ability to perform drag & drop file uploads. This is a quicker option from Upload Multiple Documents (known as Upload files using Windows Explorer instead — now that’s a mouthful).

PROBLEM –
Drag & drop function is not working for certain users in any SharePoint 2013 site even though this operation works for others. Files will not being displayed, or uploaded after file drop operation was successfully completed.

RESOLUTION –
Here are the steps to perform to resolve this issue:

1. Make sure prerequisites are installed in the affected PC – see list below.
2. Check if SharePoint-related extensions are enabled under Manage add-ons in Internet Explorer.
   
3. Use an alternate web browser to check if file uploads can be successful.
4. If everything else is fails, check if the machine was previously upgraded from Office 2010 under Programs and Features of Control Panel. Perform an MS Office Repair if multiple versions exist.

SOFTWARE PREREQUISITES –

• Internet Explorer 10 or higher
• Internet Explorer 8 or 9 with MS Office 2013 installed
• Latest version of Firefox or Google Chrome web browser that supports HTML 5 standards

 

SharePoint Checkbox Yes and Empty (No) values

Tech Trek – 2014.07.02

PROBLEM —
SharePoint defaults into “No” (false) value when Checkbox column is not selected. A user requested that it will be easier to isolate “Yes” (true) value when having a Checkbox column. This got me into my thinking cap, so why not?

WORKAROUND —
You can create a Choice column instead with only one item e.g. Yes, in order, to display empty values when users doesn’t select a value. Make this an optional column and leave the default value as blank. You can choose whether to use a drop down style, or checkbox to display the control.

Nice and easy …

SharePoint Send an Email when Owner is Assigned

Tech Trek – 2014.06.28

One of the nice things about SharePoint Task list is the ability to send an email notification when an ownership is assigned. Check out Advanced Settings in List Settings page as shown in the following screenshot.

What if your SharePoint list doesn’t fit the Task template?

But WAIT (pun intended), don’t despair! Open up your friendly SharePoint Designer and let’s build a simple workflow to address this need.

There is a SharePoint Designer action called Wait for field change in current item that we can use for this scenario. Here’s a screenshot where I have a Person/Group column called Item Owner to collect the possible owner of a list item. You can use the Send Email action to notify the user after this event has been completed. Usually, it is best practice to create conditional checks and add a history log entry to denote workflow completion.

Once your custom workflow is published, you can set the Start options when a new item is created and associate the list. Voila! New entries will wait for the field to change and send an email after the Owner column is updated.

I’d recommend having a site owner that will manage the list and assign items immediately to their respective owner. You can provide site owner notification by using the built-in SharePoint alert when new entries are added. Mission Accomplished!