Sharegate's Blog

Sharegate at the SharePoint Summit in Toronto

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:42:32 -0400

Come meet the Sharegate team at the SharePoint Summit in Toronto from May 14^th to May 16^th, 2012. Our experts will be there to answer all your questions.

On May 14^th, a presentation about SharePoint Migration will be done by one of our Specialist. Benjamin will be covering the most important points in regards to preparation, migration and post-migration. Don't miss this chance to learn more about this subject.

Our team will also be participating in the IRON SharePoint challenge that will take place during the three days. Four teams will be competing in order to create the most innovative SharePoint solution. The winning team will leave with the honour of being named IRON SharePoint and various prizes. Stop by our booth to follow the team live!

Again, the event will be held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto from May 14^th to May 16^th, 2012. Can’t wait to meet you all!

Consider Site Columns and Content Types when migrating

Wed, 09 May 2012 17:00:00 -0400

One thing we learned during our many migrations from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 is not to repeat our mistakes. What do I mean by that? Well, SharePoint 2007 was new to many when it arrived and so was the concept of “Metadata”. I will give some options to consider when migrating because I feel a lot of SharePoint is yet unknown to many.

List Columns vs. Site Columns

Unfortunately, this is a question too often forgotten. There is a very big difference between a List or Library column and a Site column. Across my many adventures with SharePoint, I have often seen customers try to fit all their columns into the Document Library. When I asked them why, the answer was evident to them “because SharePoint allows for metadata to classify our documents instead of folders”. Based on that, many have blindly created columns without looking for other solutions. When customers created list or library columns, they were quick to realize that the columns were decentralized. This meant that they only existed in the list or library in which they were created. What a hassle, every time we created a new list or library which needed to use the same column (ex: Language, Office, Country, etc..) we had to recreate it. If the column needed updating, we had to go to each list or library to update it.

Consider the Site Columns.

In your Site Settings, you will find under “Galleries” a menu called Site columns. This contains reusable centralized columns. Reusable because every list or library in the site where the Site columns are stored and its’ sub sites can use them. What does that mean for you? It means that if you create a column to store as a choice all of the offices, then you can reuse this column everywhere in this site and its’ sub sites as well as update it from a central location. It is also one of the simplest ways to create a lookup column that will look up across sites. More information on that is available here.

When migrating from SharePoint 2007 to 2010 or any other version like Office 365, you should always look at the columns you are using and see if they could be changed into a Site Column instead.

Content Types

If you haven’t heard about content types before, I strongly recommend you read this short description on Microsoft own site. In my own words, a Content Type is a way of telling SharePoint that you want to organize, classify or identify a type of document in SharePoint. A very common example is “Contracts” and “Invoices”. One scenario is to create two document libraries, one called Contracts the other Invoices. This works fine until someone hears about this and wants it repeated in his or her site, and so does his neighbor. In the end, you find yourself in front of over 200 libraries managed individually but with the same columns and settings. One day, a decision is made to add a column to all contracts to improve search in SharePoint and you find yourself going through each library to apply the changes.

Consider Content Types.

SharePoint allows you to create a reusable definition of settings and give it a name; this is called a Content Type. Typical settings will include columns, retention policies, audit policies, Document Information Panel, workflows, etc. This content type and all its’ settings can then be applied to as many lists or libraries within the same Site Collection. This enables you to create a content type called “Contracts” and one called “Invoices” and apply them both to the same library. Why would I apply them both to the same library? Depending on the requirements, two content types in the same library will allow me to have different metadata based on the content I am looking at. But also apply views or workflows on all of it together.

Consider my Contracts and Invoices. I won’t have the same metadata for both, contracts will need the contract # whereas invoices will need the product or service rendered. However, both will need the client’s name.

In this scenario, I can apply both content types in my library to define these documents clearly into categories with the right metadata. I can also apply a simple view that will group by Client Name and allow me to see all Contracts and Invoices for a given Client. This is only a simple example.

Here is an example of a Content Type you use every day, the one associated to every Task List by default:

Be sure, when you migrate to your SharePoint content to always ask yourself these questions. Are there any columns that I could turn into Site Columns, for reusability? Are there any types of document that I would like to manage as a Content Type in SharePoint? Reuse all of the columns associated to it and its’ settings.

Take advantage of SharePoint’s features before just migrating content over. In the next article we will talk more about the Content Type Hub and considerations you should take when migrating.

Sharegate in Quebec City, Canada!

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:00:00 -0400

Sharegate is very proud to have been part of the SharePoint Summit in Quebec City from April 16^th to April 18^th.

It was in a very casual-chic environment that our team of experts shared their knowledge and answered questions about SharePoint migration.

Thank you all for attending the event and for those of you who couldn’t be there, you will definitely have the opportunity to meet our team at the SharePoint Summit in Toronto or in different SharePoint events this year:

TORONTO - May 14-16, 2012

BOSTON - July 22-25, 2012

NEW YORK CITY - July 28^th, 2012

CHICAGO - September 25-27, 2012

LAS VEGAS - November 12-15, 2012

Copy Page Layouts and Publishing Pages

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:00:00 -0400

Great news! Sharegate now allows you to manage your SharePoint Publishing Infrastructure and Enterprise Wikis. How? Sharegate will migrate Publishing Page layouts you’ve created in a site collection to another farm, web application or site collection and associate it to the content type of your choice. Sharegate will also go as far as copy your publishing pages or wiki pages associated to a page layout and migrate them to a desired location.

Why do you need Sharegate to do this? Publishing Page Layouts are associated to Content Types in a site collection, which makes it very hard to copy to another location without accessing the code of the page each time. Publishing pages on the other hand have a direct link to the page layout they are using, this means that even if you copied your file to a new location, it might still be using the old page layout url.

Sharegate takes care of that for you in 3 steps:
1. Select the source files you want to copy
2. Choose a destination to copy them
3. Copy them intelligently while remapping certain properties

Selected EnterpriseWiki.aspx page layout to copy to Production

Migrating intelligently by checking-in as a major version, approved and assigning a content type

Introduction to Public Folders to SharePoint

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 17:00:00 -0400

The new tool – called Copy Exchange Public Folders to SharePoint – our second tool released in less than 4 weeks and a lot of people were waiting for it. Not because there was no alternatives out there, but simply because they wanted it in Sharegate, for its intuitive interface specifically designed for power users.

For those who are already familiar with Sharegate, the new tool works exactly like the other tools and fully benefits from the functionalities already in place: drag-and-drop, metadata templates, field mappings, content type mappings, field validation, user mappings, etc. The migration process is the same as the other tools, but instead of having a SharePoint or a local folder as the source, it’s the Exchange Public Folders.

Exchange Public Folders are used to share information with people through Outlook. It’s a share drive that can be accessed from Outlook. People can share documents, emails, events, tasks, notes, contacts, etc. This way of sharing information has come to an end for many organizations and migrating the content to SharePoint is inevitable.

Without installing anything on the Exchange server, Sharegate can copy the entire public folders to SharePoint. Everything in the Public Folders can be migrated all at once or each content type in Exchange can be migrated individually (events, contacts, events, etc.). Original document authors, timestamps and complete metadata can be preserved at all times.

If events are selected, Sharegate will only display events in the Public Folders and users will be able to migrate them to a list (usually a calendar list). Same for contacts and other content types. If emails are migrated to a SharePoint library, they are migrated as MSG files. If emails are migrated to a SharePoint list, they are migrated as list items with metadata and email attachments as list attachments. As you can see, the tool is extremely flexible and supports many twisted scenarios.

Copy Exchange Public Folders to SharePoint included in Sharegate 2.10 is once again another no-brainer migration tool that will get a lot of attention for its quality and simplicity. It sits on the Sharegate foundation and fully benefits from the existing functionalities that have made the products’ reputation. Stay in touch. This is just the start.

Simon De Baene – Product Director

Sharegate, proud winner of the Andy Dale SharePoint Awards!

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 17:00:00 -0400

We are very proud to announce that Sharegate has been selected as the ''Best SharePoint Application'' at the Andy Dale SharePoint Awards 2012. Winners of this contest are selected based at 50% on the number of votes from the public and the other 50% by the evaluation of the product done by SharePoint experts.

As stated on the SharePoint Village Website:

''New kid on the block Sharegate continues to get excellent reviews for its Content Migration software
– Winning both the vote and the judges top scores''.

On behalf of the entire team, I would like to thank you all for voting for our software and congratulations to the Sharegate development team for creating such an amazing product!

Sharegate 2.10 - New tool to Migrate Exchange Public Folders

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 17:00:00 -0400

I have to say that this release is probably the most impressive one. I’m still amaze on how our development team can deliever that many features with such a high level of quality in only 4 weeks. This April 2012 release is not just adding a brand new tool to the product, but also adds killer features to the existing tools. I’m confident that Sharegate 2.10 will make you smile. Enjoy!

Copy Exchange Public Folders to SharePoint

A brand new tool is now available with the Sharegate product. This tool allows content migration from Exchange Public Folders to SharePoint.

For those who don’t know what’s the Exchange Public Folders, just see it as a way to share documents with other people in your organization using Outlook. With Sharegate, it’s now possible to easily move that content to SharePoint.

The tool description is available here.

Migrate Page Layouts and Master Pages
This is a killer feature for SharePoint developers. It’s now possible to migrate page layouts and master pages from a SharePoint site to another. The associate content type on a page layout can be preserved or specified based on the available content types at the destination.

Adjust links inside metadata
This is another killer feature that corrects the URL links during the content migration. Source links are adjusted in order to fit with the destination environment.

Page Layout reference for publishing pages
Preserving the page layout reference is fully supported when migrating a page to another location. It’s even possible to specify the page layout to apply using the property template options.
This feature was requested by many people who wanted to move their pages between the development and production environments.

Flatten folder hierarchy
A new option was added in the property template. A simple checkbox tells Sharegate to completely eliminate the folders during the migration. A folder hierarchy with files will result to a flat list of files in a single location.

Visualize the checked out files
It’s now possible to visualize the checked out files inside the Sharegate file explorer. The checked out icon is displayed when the file is checked out by someone else.

A fresh UI look
A lot of UI improvements were introduced in this release. There’s so many improvements that I can’t even list all of them. Just enjoy our powerful interface and send us your feedback.

SharePoint Bulk Metadata Editor 101

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:00:00 -0400

Let’s use the Bulk Metadata Editor!

1. Choose the site where your list or library is

2. Choose your list or library:

3. Select the documents you want to bulk edit and hit the bulk edit button

4. Sharegate wants you to create a Property Template to tell what to do for each items it comes across. Click on 'CREATE A CUSTOM TEMPLATE'.

Here's the template edit form; choose 'Set a custom value' for the column 'Type of Document' to turn the selected documents into Contract. Click on 'Save & Start'.

DONE!

SharePoint List Items Migration 101

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:00:00 -0400

Let's migrate SharePoint List Items to another server!

1. Select the site from which you want to copy items

** A good trick is to just go to our site with the browser and just copy paste it here**

Then select the list you wish to copy items from:

2. Now Sharegate wants to know where you want to copy these items.

And which list:

3. Select the items you wish to copy and press COPY

4. Choose a Template to copy your items (I used Full Copy)

SUCCESS!

SharePoint Documents Migration 101

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 07:30:00 -0400

Let's migrate SharePoint documents to a new location!

1. First we need to tell Sharegate where we want to copy from. So let’s type in the the site URL or select it from the drop-down menu.

** A good trick is to just go to our site with the browser and just copy paste it here**

2. Now let’s choose the document library where our documents are. Then click on Next at the bottom or on the arrow at the top right.

3. Next Sharegate will ask you where you want the documents to go. Let’s type in the the site url or select it from the drop-down menu.

4. Choose the library you want your documents to go to and click on Next or the Arrow.

5. Select the documents you want to move then click on Copy or Drag and drop to the right window. Note that you can change the SharePoint View according to your needs.

6. Choose the template you want to use to copy your documents. I chose Full Copy because it takes everything and maps my document properties if the same properties exist in the new library.

What does that mean? If theirs a column called “Title” in the old document library and a column called “Title” also in the new document library, Sharegate will map it automatically so my documents will preserve the metadata information.

DONE!

Notice that my Modified Dates are the same as they used to be? Amazing!

Sharegate at the SharePoint Summit 2012 in Quebec and Toronto

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:00:00 -0400

Come meet us at the SharePoint Summit in Québec and Toronto on April 16-18th and May 14-16th!

Come see the product, try it out and ask us questions. See why so many people across the globe are downloading Sharegate and giving such great feedback. A lot has changed with Sharegate since it first started.

Our friendly NO-BRAINER product has allowed companies migrate their content intelligently by mapping properties and content types as they migrated. Integrity of their data was kept because we allowed them to keep Authors and Timestamps like the last date modified as they moved items and documents over.

We can’t wait to share with you some of our new tools like the Bulk Metadata Editor in person at the conferences!

Meanwhile if you want to keep in touch, subscribe to our newsletter here. See you there!

File system to SharePoint Migration 101

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:00:00 -0400

Let's copy local files to SharePoint!

1. Let us choose where we want to send the files. Let’s select our SharePoint site from the drop down menu, if it’s not there no problem we’ll type it in.

**Psst, a good trick is to just go to our site with the browser and just copy paste it here**

2. To which document library are these documents going to go? Let’s navigate to it!

3. Now we choose our documents from the left and drag them to the right, or click on Copy

4. This screen is asking you how to copy your documents. Most of the time I click on Full Copy.

DONE!

Notice the modified date was kept? Amazing!

SharePoint Migration - Remap multiple SharePoint columns to a single column (many-to-one)

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:00:00 -0500

Today, I want to present a feature that was released with Sharegate 2.9. A unique and powerful feature that allows you to merge multiple SharePoint columns together without losing the metadata. Let me show you what I mean.

1) Basic scenario – Automatic mappings with identical columns

List A
Column 1 (Text field)
Column 2 (Lookup field)

List B
Column 1 (Text field)
Column 2 (Lookup field)

Mappings:
Column 1 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 1 in ‘List B’
Column 2 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 2 in ‘List B’

Nothing is too fancy here. Source and destination columns have the same name. Sharegate will map the columns automatically. No manual mappings are required. You’ll end up having your metadata assign correctly from the source columns to the destination columns.

2) Typical scenario – Manual mappings with different column names and types

List A
Column 1 (Text field)
Column 2 (Lookup field)

List B
Column 3 (Text field)
Column 4 (Managed metadata field)

Mappings:
Column 1 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 3 in ‘List B’
Column 2 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 4 in ‘List B’ (even if they have a different field type)

This scenario requires a little more work. In Sharegate, the user remaps the columns using the drag-and-drop feature in the property mapper. Again, you’ll end up having your metadata assign from the source columns to the destination columns and you’ll have your Lookup column converted to a Managed Metadata column at the same time.

3) Advanced scenario – Multiple columns to a single column (new in Sharegate 2.9)

List A
Column 1 (Lookup field)
Column 2 (Choice field)
Column 3 (Managed metadata field)

List B
Column 1 (Managed Metadata field)

Mappings:
Column 1 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 1 in ‘List B’
Column 2 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 1 in ‘List B’
Column 3 in ‘List A’ mapped to Column 1 in ‘List B’

As you can see, we merge the three columns into a single one. In Sharegate, the user remaps the columns the same way he was doing before. Since Sharegate 2.9, any destination column that supports the ‘multi-values’ (Lookup, Choice, People, Managed Metadata) option will allow more than one column to be mapped to it. That’s it.

Why would I use a feature like that?

You’re stuck with lists having dozen of lookup and choice columns, and now you want to use a Managed Metadata column instead. Or you have two Lookup columns that should always have been one. It’s your opportunity to make it right with Sharegate.

Please read carefully

If you merge multiple columns into a single one, you have to make sure that the destination column contains all the corresponding values. To keep the integrity of your lists/libraries/term sets, Sharegate will not create automatically the values for you. It means that if you merge three Lookup columns into a single Managed metadata column, you have to make sure that the ‘term set’ is already filled with terms having the same name as the Lookup values. If not, Sharegate will prompt an error saying that the values don’t exist.

This feature is available for the following tools:

Copy files to SharePoint
Copy SharePoint documents
Copy SharePoint items
Bulk Metadata Editor

Sharegate 2.9 - A brand new tool and an epic new feature

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 17:00:00 -0500

Sharegate 2.9 is the first release this year and it comes with a brand new tool. This release is right on time for the SPTechCon conference in San Francisco. I hope you’ll enjoy the new features. Get ready because we’ll be releasing a lot of new tools in the next months.

New tool: Bulk metadata editor

We are proud to release an entire new tool to bulk edit SharePoint metadata with all the amazing features provided by Sharegate. In just a few clicks, a user can assign new metadata values to thousands of documents without having to manually edit every document properties individually in SharePoint. It also allows users to massively assign new content types to documents or list items.

Bulk tagging is also a typical scenario for a user who wants to quickly start using the taxonomy capabilities in SharePoint 2010. With Sharegate, a user can massively apply managed metadata tags to SharePoint documents and list items.

This new tool replaces the Datasheet view in the SharePoint ribbon, but with a lot more features. It supports SharePoint 2003, 2007, 2010, BPOS and Office 365.

Converting multiple columns into one column

This is an epic feature.

Using a simple drag-and-drop, you can convert multiple columns into one. For example, if you have 3 lookup columns in SharePoint 2007 and you want to merge all these columns into a single managed metadata column in SharePoint 2010, you can easily do it with Sharegate.

This new feature is available in the property mapper. Destination columns with the ‘multiple values’ option will allow you to set multiple columns from the source. It also works in the new Bulk metadata editor tool.

Approval status is now supported (Moderation)

We now allow users to preserve or specify the approval status while migrating SharePoint documents or list items. It’s also possible to massively approve or reject content using the new Bulk metadata editor tool.

Mapping indicators in the property template

We've improved the user interface in the property template. Users can now visualize in a instant if the destination properties are correctly mapped to the source properties.

In this example, we can see that 'Title' is mapped correctly, but 'Related employee', 'Signed date' and 'RelatedTags' are not. It means that these columns won't be filled since they don't refer to anything.

Improvements and fixes:

Added support for HTML, Link and Image field types
Fixed values for managed metadata columns not applied in some environments
Better connectivity with Office 365
Increased UI performance
Added a few error messages
Fixed the error while searching user when Active Directory is unreachable
Fixed error while parsing some dates in SharePoint 2003
Fixed connectivity with old BPOS in Office 365
Fixed TCP errors when connecting to Sharegate extension
Added site licensing for rapid deployment

Sharegate at SPTechCon in San Francisco

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:00:00 -0500

This year, the SPTechCon conference will be held in San Francisco from February 26th to the 29th and of course, Sharegate will be there! If you are attending the conference, stop by the booth #703 and come meet Simon De Baene, our Product Director.

Simon will there to answer all your questions... and to introduce a new tool! If you don't have the opportunity to be there, check out our Web site early next week or sign up to our newsletter to discover what it's all about.

Sharegate has changed since its beginning; lots of new features were added and there's some much more to come! We're very thrilled about all the new stuff that will be added in the next few months to complete the current tools.

So far, feedback from customers is amazing. They don't understand how a simple product like Sharegate can be that powerful. Just to give you an idea, Sharegate is being used by almost 1000 organizations in all countries. So don't miss this opportunity to learn more about Sharegate and book some time in San Francisco to meet with our Sharegate expert.

See you there!

Guylaine Brisebois

Marketing Director, Sharegate

To sign up to our newsletter, visit our Web site

Weekly tip #7 - Fallback value for unresolved users when retaining created/modified properties during a SharePoint migration

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:00:00 -0500

Introduction

This weekly tip refers to an advanced feature in Sharegate. Actually, my goal is to make it clear for all users. I will show you how Sharegate manages unresolved users (users that no longer exist) when migrating files, folders and items to SharePoint or between SharePoint sites.

Context

First, it's important to understand that Sharegate is designed for SharePoint power users, not just for administrators and developers. I don't want to explain every detail, but I will present the big picture. Let's start.

The first time you connect to SharePoint, a new entry is created inside SharePoint in a special list called User Information List. From that moment, Sharepoint is able to track you. For example, creating a document in SharePoint means that you are the author and it refers to your SharePoint user.

If you decide to migrate your files, items and folders from SharePoint 2007 to a brand new SharePoint 2010, the new User Information List will be empty since nobody has connected the site yet. If you want to preserve the created and modified metadata (author and editor) while migrating your content, Sharegate will automatically fill the User Information List and link your content to it. So what's the problem? If the user account is disabled in Active Directory (fired employee, retirement, etc.), Sharegate won't be able to add it to the User Information List. Why? Because the resolution mechanism in SharePoint completely ignores disabled users in Active Directory. This means that you will end up losing the authors/editors on some content and the user doing the migration will be assigned instead.

Option 1 - Re-enable the user in Active Directory

If maintaining the author and editor is critical even if the user is no longer in your company, you could re-enable the user in Active Directory during the SharePoint migration process. This would allow Sharegate to resolve it correctly. I know it's not a perfect solution, but it works. Sharegate does not require a server installation, so it has very limited access to the SharePoint environment.

Option 2 - Configure the unresolved user behavior

In Sharegate, it's possible to configure the fallback value when Sharegate is facing a user that can't be resolved at the destination. So instead of ending up having the user doing the migration everywhere, you can choose which user can be assigned by default.

In the User and group mappings window, you must assign the default user account beside the 'Unresolved users and groups' mapping. Here's the interface:

Conclusion

I've just presented 2 options on how to manage users that no longer exist when migrating from one SharePoint to another. There's probably other solutions out there, but keep in mind that Sharegate have a very limited access to the SharePoint server and make the best out of it. If you want to deal perfectly with this scenario, you'll end up having to run a server-side software that requires special privileges or even direct access to the SQL Server which can lead to other bad side effects.

Simon

Weekly tip #6 - Replace unsupported characters when migrating files and folders to SharePoint (ex: & {} " / ? < >)

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:00 -0500

Introduction

I've tried to post a weekly tip in January, but I was too busy visiting Asia. I'm sorry. I'm back now.

This week, I'll show how it's possible to automatically get rid of the characters that are unsupported by SharePoint while migrating your files and folders. It refers to a feature that was released a long time ago, but is unknown by most of the users.

Context

You should know that Windows supports a bunch of special characters that are unsupported inside SharePoint. That's not a problem until you decide to get rid of your file shares and move to SharePoint. There's probably a couple of tools that can help you rename the files and folders correctly, but it adds an extra step and cost. Why not doing it all at once while migrating to SharePoint with Sharegate?

Here's a few examples of files and folders containing unsupported characters that would be rejected by SharePoint:

Step 1 - Go to the Options window

Click on the File menu in the Ribbon.

Click the Options button.

Step 2 - Specify the replacements for all unsupported characters

This section allows you to map unsupported characters with supported characters. The default value is the underscore. It's that simple.

Step 3 - Bulk import your files and folders to SharePoint

Simply migrate your file shares to SharePoint and enjoy the result!

Before:

After:

Conclusion

Automatically replacing illegal characters is inevitable if you want to enjoy a peaceful migration to SharePoint. Sharegate fully supports it and also allows you to configure how to replace the illegal characters. Replacing the characters with the underscore is the default behavior. Just don't be surprised if your files and folders are named differently when your SharePoint migration is over.

Simon

Sharegate 2.8 - File system and SharePoint Custom Permissions are now preserved when migrating files, folders and items

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:09:00 -0500

Sharegate 2.8 is now available for download. Sharegate now offers the ability to preserve the permissions when copying files, folders and items.

WHAT'S NEW IN THIS RELEASE?

Preserve custom permissions on files, folders and items

It's now possible to preserve the custom permissions while migrating your content with our powerful SharePoint migration tools. You can massively migrate your files and folders from your file system to SharePoint while preserving the custom permissions. You can also migrate files, folders and items from a SharePoint site to another without losing the custom permissions.

User and group mappings

Sharegate is brilliant enough to map the source users with the destination users automatically, but sometimes it's crucial to manually map some users. It's now possible to it using an easy drag & drop functionality. We've also included a mapping for unresolved users. It allows you to specify the user that must be used in case a user no longer exists on the destination site (ex: a user is disabled in Active Directory).

Permission level mappings

File shares to SharePoint: you can map the file system permission levels (Read, Write, Modify, Full Control, etc.) with the SharePoint permission levels.

SharePoint to SharePoint: you can map the permission levels from one SharePoint site with the permission levels of another SharePoint site.

Connection to Office 365 using ADFS authentication

It's now possible to connect to Office 365 with your Windows credentials through the ADFS authentication.

Fixed the view threshold limitations

We've managed to fix the loading error due to the threshold settings. You no longer need to change your threshold settings, Sharegate is now powerful enough to deal with it automatically.

Weekly tip #5 - Set default metadata values used if source values are missing during a SharePoint migration

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:00:00 -0500

Introduction

I've decided to post a second weekly tip today. Since I've missed two weeks, I felt bad and I wanted to catch up. This second tip shows how to specify default metadata used when a source value is missing. This feature was introduced in Sharegate 2.7 and I want to make sure you all know about it.

Case

Let say you have optional metadata in SharePoint 2007 and that you want to move the content to SharePoint 2010 with required metadata. What's the potential problem with this scenario? You'll end up with holes in your SharePoint 2010 metadata (and also checked-out files due to missing required fields) since the source metadata was just optional in SharePoint 2007. Using the property templates in Sharegate, it's possible to set default metadata used ONLY when the source metadata is missing.

I'll demonstrate this scenario with a basic example. I will migrate documents with the title column set as optional to a library with the title column set as required. I'll make sure that a couple of title values are empty at the source.

Source documents in SharePoint 2007

I have a SharePoint library with contracts and we can see that some titles are missing (red square in the following image).

Step 1 - Configure a property template

When you create a property template, you must set the 'Default value' option and Sharegate will let you specify a value only used if the source value is empty (or unspecified) during the migration process.

When the 'Default value' option is selected, Sharegate allows you to specify a value. Remember, the value is only used when the source value is empty (or unspecified) during the migration.

Step 2 - Run the migration process and enjoy!

As you can see in the following image, the title is filled for all documents at the destination even if there was missing titles at the source. The default value was applied for all empty titles. It's that simple.

Conclusion

In this weekly tip, I've shown you how to set default metadata used when the source metadata is missing while migrating SharePoint documents from 2007 to 2010. It's a simple option in the property template and it allows you to set required fields on your destination library even if you know that you source metadata is incomplete. Without this powerful feature, you would have to temporary remove the required validation during the migration and you would still have incomplete metadata in your brand new library. If you don't remove the required validation, you just gonna end up having a bunch of checked-out documents that have missing required fields.

Simon

Weekly tip #4 - Preserve Office document properties during File Shares Migration to SharePoint

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:00:00 -0500

Introduction

Again, I’m late to post my weekly tip. My team and I are just too busy building the simplest migration product. This week, I’ll show you how to preserve Office document properties when moving your files to SharePoint.

Case

This weekly tip is dedicated to those who are migrating file shares to SharePoint and want to preserve the metadata stored inside their Office documents. As we all know, Office document properties has been a good alternative to SharePoint metadata for a long time and it’s critical to maintain it while migrating to SharePoint since it usually stores valuable information to your organization.

Office document properties

I can see my Office documents in Windows Explorer. I want to migrate these files to SharePoint without losing the metadata stored inside the Office documents.

Inside Word, I can visualize the Office document properties: Signed Date, Related to, Name and Tags.

Step 1 - Map properties

I start the Copy files to SharePoint tool and choose the destination library. Then, I click the 'Map properties' button in the Ribbon menu.

Step 2 - Add properties from file

In the property mappings window, I click the 'Add properties from file' button. It allows me to select a file (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Visio) and extract its Office properties from it.

I can also click the 'Add property' button to manually enter a property name, but it's faster to use the extractor.

Sharegate extracts the properties from the Office document and adds them all to the available properties in the mapper.

Step 3 - Map the properties using the drag & drop functionality

It's dead simple. I drag & drop the available properties and I assign them to the corresponding SharePoint columns listed at the right.

**The mapped properties can have different types. Sharegate is powerful enough to make the conversion during the migration. In this example, the 'Tags' field is stored as a text field inside the Office document, but inside SharePoint it's a managed metadata field type.

Step 4 - Create a property template

I create a property template and I keep the original values for all columns.

Step 5 - Enjoy

I can see that my files were copied and the metadata stored inside my Office documents was preserved in my SharePoint metadata.

Conclusion

In this weekly tip, I've shown you how to preserve the Office document properties during a file shares migration to SharePoint. This feature is fully integrated in the property mapper and doesn't require any advanced skills. It allows you to quickly fill your SharePoint metadata while migrating your file shares.

Simon

Weekly tip #3 - Convert content types while migrating SharePoint documents and folders

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:09:00 -0500

Introduction

Sorry, I'm a little bit late for this third weekly tip. We just released Sharegate 2.7 and we now fully support converting content types while migrating files, items and folders. I will show you how in this article.

Case

This week, I will show you how to convert folder and document content types while migrating to SharePoint 2010. Why would I convert my content types? Why not? For an unknown reason, you decided to change the content type names and you added a few fields.

In this article, I will be using the Copy SharePoint documents tool. This Sharegate tool allows users to easily copy documents with the metadata, the version history and the author.

SharePoint 2007 (source)

Original content type name: Employment contract

SharePoint 2010 (destination)

New content type name: Employment
New field: RelatedTags (Managed Metadata Column)

Step 1 - Remap SharePoint content types with the content type mapper

The content type mapper shows the source content types and we must assign the destination content types to each one (it automatically maps when the name is the same).

In our case, I drag & drop the "Employment" content type and assign it to the "Employment contract" content type. I then save it.

The same process can be done with the "Folder" content types. In our case, I drag & drop the "Contract Folder" content type and assign it to "Folder" content type. This means that my original standard folders will be transformed to contract folders while migrating to SharePoint 2010.

Step 2 - Remap SharePoint fields with the property mapper.

The property mapper shows the destination fields and we must assign the source fields to each one (it automatically maps when the name is the same).

In our case, I drag & drop the "Employee" and "Date" fields and assign then to the "Related employee" and "Signed date" fields respectively. I then save it.

Step 3 - Copy your documents and folders

That's it. I'm ready to copy my documents and folders. I simply configure a property template and start a copy.

Conclusion

In this weekly tip, I've shown how to convert content types while migrating from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010. The same process could also be used to convert the document content types within the same site or library for reorganization purposes. The new content type mapper introduced with Sharegate 2.7 is dead simple and enables amazing migration scenarios.

Simon

Sharegate 2.7 - Remap content types and silent mode migration

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:09:00 -0500

Today, we are happy to announce that Sharegate 2.7 was successfully released. A release day is always an exciting moment but this one is even better since we are releasing a feature that many users requested over the past weeks. I hope you'll enjoy it!

WHAT'S NEW IN THIS RELEASE?

Remap content types

This new feature is exactly the same as the property mapper, but specifically for content types. It allows users to remap their content types. This is really useful when the source and destination content types are different, or if you want to force a content type to be converted to another one. This content type mapper mixed with the property mapper enables advanced scenarios for reorganizing your content during a migration.

Silent mode migration

This feature has been requested by many users over the past weeks. Until now, Sharegate was prompting for a user input each time a warning or an error occurred during the migration process. This was practical for migrating just a few documents or items, but it was a pain if a user wanted to run a uninterrupted migration process and do something else. There's now 2 modes:

1) In interactive mode, user is prompted each time a warning or an error occurred during an operation.

2) In silent mode, user is never prompted when a warning or an error occurred. A summary report is displayed at the end of the operation.

Session logs

Logging is now fully integrated during the copy process. This feature allows users to visualize the logs of any copy session. A new button was added to the Ribbon menu in the home section.

Properties outside content types

Lists and libraries in SharePoint use content types to encapsulate different categories of information. Properties are usually part of one or many content types, but sometimes they are not part of any content types. Sharegate now fully supports these properties. We've added a section in the property template named 'Other properties' in the left panel. By default, these properties are ignored (option 'Ignore').

Default value when source value is missing

This feature is just powerful. It's a new option in the property template that allows users to specify a field value that will only be used if the source value is missing. For example, you could specify a default title for your documents that will only be used when the source title is missing. This way, you get rid of many errors due to required field that are empty at the source.

Ignore option for a column in the property template

As you know, a property template allows users to configure each column for all content types. The option 'Ignore' is now available. This tells that you want to completely ignore the column and that you want to let SharePoint process the column. Sharegate will save your metadata to SharePoint except for the ignored columns.

Calendar recurrence column

It's now possible to maintain the recurrence value when migrating a calendar.

Have fun!

Simon

Weekly Tip #2 - Remap metadata fields when migrating SharePoint documents

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:09:00 -0400

Introduction

Last week, I've posted about converting a Lookup column to a Managed Metadata column while migrating from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010. In the course of this last post, I quickly talked about the property mapper, but didn't really explain it in detail. This week, I want to make sure you are all familiarized with the property mapper.

I must admit that it's a simple weekly tip, but it worths talking about it. I'll have more complex tips in upcoming weeks since Sharegate 2.7 will be released in a few days and is simply amazing.

Case

Let's take a typical example that most of our customers are experiencing when they are migrating to SharePoint 2010. Most of the time, they make important changes in their information architecture such as changing the column names on their lists and libraries. This makes the migration a little more difficult since the column names no longer match between the source and destination. Sometimes, it's even worse: the column types are no longer the same.

This scenario is well supported by Sharegate. Let me show you how.

In this article I'll be using the Copy SharePoint items tool to migrate contacts from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010. The contact list in SharePoint 2007 was created in French and the contact list in SharePoint 2010 was created in English. Both lists serve the same purpose but they have different column names (French and English).

Step #1 - Connect to both lists with Sharegate

First, I start the Copy SharePoint items tool. Using the wizard, I first choose the contact list in SharePoint 2007 and then I choose the contact list in SharePoint 2010. I'm now ready to copy my contacts.

Step #2 - Change property mappings in the Ribbon

Before I start a copy operation, I click on 'Change property mappings' in the Ribbon menu.

Step #3 - Property mappings window

This window shows the columns available in the source contact list (left side). It also shows the assigned columns for every column available at the destination (right side). I just need to assign the source columns to every destination columns available by using the drag and drop feature. It's that simple.

One last thing. It's important to understand that Sharegate isn't limited by field types. You can map any field type with any other field type.

Step #4 - Map all the columns and save it

Once all the source fields are mapped to my destination fields, I just save it. The mappings are persisted and they will stay even if I restart Sharegate.

Business cases

- Changes in your information architecture: you decided to change the column names for clarity
- Migrating content between server using a different locale (English, French, Spanish, etc.)
- You want to preserve the list item IDs of the source list: since the IDs are managed by SharePoint and can't be preserved, you can map the ID column with another column that you have control over.

Conclusion

Remapping properties is inevitable when you are moving content around SharePoint. In a certain way, it allows you to improve your information architecture before migrating your content and re-integrate your old content easily. You can also remap different field types. It means that you can map a column type with any other type and Sharegate will understand exactly what to do. For example, you could map a Lookup column with a Managed Metadata column to start using the SharePoint 2010 Taxonomy.

The property mapper in Sharegate is unique in the way we've implemented it: it's just really simple.

Simon

Weekly Tip #1 - Convert Standard Lookup Values to Managed Metadata Terms

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:09:00 -0400

Introduction

This article is one of many that will be posted every week. It presents different scenarios supported by Sharegate. For this first article, I will show you how to convert Lookup values to Managed Metadata Terms while copying your content from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010.

Case

Let's say that you have a list in SharePoint 2007 with a Lookup column. You also have the same list in SharePoint 2010 with a Managed Metadata column instead. When copying your content from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010, you want to convert the different Lookup values to their corresponding Terms within the TermStore.

In this article we'll be using the Copy SharePoint items tool, but it works the same way with the Copy SharePoint documents tool.

Source list (2007)

Destination list (2010):

You'll notice that I've intentionally ignored the 'Value 4' in the TermStore, so I can demonstrate a conversion error (see later in this article).

Step #1 - Change the property mappings

In SharePoint 2007, the Lookup column name is 'Lookup'. In SharePoint 2010, the Managed Metadata column name is 'ManagedMetadata'. Before copying the items, both columns must be mapped together using the property mappings window and that's really powerful since Sharegate doesn't really care if the column types are different. In our case, we map a Lookup column with a Managed Metadata column. They have different names and types.

Step #2 - Create a property template and start the migration

We must drag & drop the items to copy from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010. Then, we must create a property template that will be applied to the selected item. We can see that the column 'ManagedMetadata' is mapped to the column named 'Lookup'. This is due to the property mappings we did in the previous step. For this column, we must set the default option 'Keep original value'.

We save the template and click on it (or click on Save & Copy from the template itself)

Result:

The selected item from SharePoint 2007 is copied to SharePoint 2010. We can see that the terms were set correctly in the Managed Metadata column. It's that simple.

But what if a lookup value has no corresponding term in the TermStore?

If you have an item at the source that used the lookup value 'Value 4' but there is no corresponding Term in the TermStore, Sharegate will throw an error and will let you adjust the value during the copy operation.

Conclusion

This subtle behavior enables powerful scenarios when migrating from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010. In this example, we convert a Lookup column, but it could also be a Choice column or any other column type. This feature allows you to change your information architecture drastically without having to hack anything to fit your migrated content. They are many behaviors like this one that we'll explore in the next weeks. You'll quickly realize how powerful Sharegate is.

SPC11 Contest Winner

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:09:00 -0400

We are proud to announce the winner for the SharePoint Conference 2011 contest. It was a great success. Thanks to all the participants!

The winner is Christopher Givens (Architecting Connected Systems).

SPC11 Superhero Contest

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:09:00 -0400

Stop by the Sharegate booth #751. Funny contest. Pose as a superhero.

Sharegate on the beach...

Sharegate 2.6 - Preserve Office document properties while migrating to SharePoint

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:09:00 -0400

Sharegate 2.6 is now available for download. Just in time for the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2011.

WHAT’S NEW IN THIS RELEASE?

Preserving Office document properties during file migration

Sharegate now fully supports Office properties when using the tool Copy files to SharePoint. For a long time, many organizations have been using Office properties to store valuable information inside their documents and it must absolutely be preserved when migrating to SharePoint.

Supported Office products:
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Visio

Map columns with different types

This feature is very impressive and it removes an important limitation in the product. It allows the mapping between two columns having different types. For example, you can map a lookup column with a managed metadata column if you want to convert your lookup values to terms while migrating from SharePoint 2007 to 2010.

Specify a unique key for list items

It’s now possible to specify the columns defining how an item is unique inside a list. Why? It allows Sharegate to detect if an item already exists during the copy process. It enables the overwrite mechanism to work correctly for list items. Defining explicitly a unique key is only available for lists, not for libraries since the file name is always the unique key.

Submit Error Report

As you all know, SharePoint can be very unpredictable because there is so many ways to configure it. Sharegate works just fine, but nothing is perfect in this world and quick support to our customers is really important for us so we’ve added a feature allowing users to submit instantly errors when they occurred. Your success with our product is a priority for us.

General improvements

- Added helpful warnings
- Fixed timeout error when copying larges to SharePoint (thank you Neville)
- Fixed error message when connecting to SharePoint with invalid credentials
- Improved performance

Empower SharePoint 2010 Managed Metadata with Sharegate

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:09:00 -0400

Managed Metadata is a hierarchical collection of centrally managed terms that you can define, and then use as attributes for items in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010.

Why should you use Managed Metadata?

In the last couple of weeks, we’ve been working to build an E-Learning platform under SharePoint for one of our customers. The goal was to have a central point of access to all training media (share drives, old SharePoint 2007 sites, LMS system, etc.) in a structure way with a powerful search engine that would help users find the trainings they’re looking for.

Here are some reasons why we’ve decided to use the term store:
- Hierarchical collection of terms
- Centrally managed
- Reusable from one site to another
- Bilingual terms (French / English in our case)
- Really easy to configure / activate
- Automatic index of term fields in the search engine (no manual configuration needed)
- Optimized search result with refinement panel on terms

Once our new training site was up and running in SharePoint 2010, we’ve created a list called Training. There was a few differences between the SharePoint 2007 and 2010 version of the list. Most of them were the new managed metadata fields that needed to be filled.

How to apply mass tagging while copying list items to SharePoint 2010?

Here’s an example on how to apply mass tagging using the Sharegate “Copy SharePoint items” tool. In this example, we want to copy a contact list from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010. The challenge is to convert the "company" standard column to a SharePoint 2010 managed metadata column.

1. Create a view in the SharePoint 2007 list so you can visualize and sort the "company" column (which will be a managed metadata field on the SharePoint 2010 list).

2. Select the SharePoint 2007 as the source list.

3. Select the SharePoint 2010 as the destination list.

4. In the SharePoint 2007 explorer, select the view created previously. Sort the left explorer using the company column.

5. Select all the items for a specific company and press the copy button.

6. Create a new property template and set the “company” field to the value you want by selecting it in the Term Store. Click Save.

7. Edit the column mappings and match your old columns with the new ones.

8. Start the copy.

9. Do the same action for every company.

*Note: you can also select the “Prompt for each” option to set the value manually for each item.

10. All the items are now in the new SharePoint 2010 list and the version history, attachments and system properties (author, created date, modified date, etc.) were also transferred.

It’s that easy! We now have a SharePoint 2010 list with the benefits of the Managed Metadata.

Hierarchical navigation

Refinement panel

I hope that you will consider this new feature in Sharegate 2010. It just rocks.

The same procedure could be used for mass tagging with the Sharegate “Copy SharePoint Documents” tool if you move documents between SharePoint sites or the “Copy files to SharePoint” tool if you move files from a file system (or network drives) to SharePoint.

Thank you!

Sebastien Leduc
SharePoint Architect
GSoft Group Inc.

Sharegate 2.5 - Claims-based ADFS authentication and SharePoint 2003 support

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:09:00 -0400

Sharegate 2.5 is now available for download. This release is entirely based on the feedback received from our users. Thank you!

WHAT’S NEW IN THIS RELEASE?

SharePoint 2003 support

Since we received many requests for this feature, our copy tools now fully support SharePoint 2003 (WSS 2.0). It means that you can move your documents and items from SharePoint 2003 to SharePoint 2007 or 2010. You can also move your content from one location to another in SharePoint 2003.

Support ADFS authentication (SAML)

Sharegate now supports connections to SharePoint sites that use claims-based authentication with a SAML provider connected to a Microsoft ADFS v2 server. If your organization has a SharePoint site with users accessing from multiple trusted Active Directory domains, all your users will now be able to use Sharegate to copy or move their documents and items.

“Real” move operation (beta)

A “real” move operation was missing in Sharegate and it was a design decision since moving something with metadata, version history and system properties is a little bit tricky and can result in loss of data if you don’t know what you are doing. A lot of users requested this feature, so we decided to implement it. This feature is still in beta, so feel free to send us feedback.

Apply to all versions option in the property template

This feature is awesome. When you create a property template, you can configure all your properties (keep original value, specify value, prompt for each), but sometimes you just want to apply the selected option for the latest version, not the entire history. We added a checkbox so you can choose to apply the option for all the versions or not.

Copy hidden fields

Hidden fields are now supported during a copy/move operation. In a property template, you can expand the hidden fields section to visualize and apply the same options as the other fields.

Sharegate 2.4 - Fast ways to move SharePoint folders, documents and items

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:09:00 -0400

Sharegate is back again with another great release. Our focus for Sharegate 2.4 was the productivity and you’ll definitely save time with our new features.

WHAT’S NEW IN THIS RELEASE?

Home screen

We added a home page that provides a quick access to the Sharegate tools and the recent sessions. The home page was built with productivity in mind. Give it a try.

Quickly restart recent sessions

You no longer need to configure the wizard from scratch to start a copy on frequently used lists or libraries. Sharegate lets you restart a recent session in a single click. The session history is available from the home screen and the file menu. This new feature is really productive.

From the home screen:

From the ribbon menu:

Default property templates

Again, productivity was the ultimate goal in this release. We added default property templates allowing users to start a copy without having to a create property templates for basic scenarios:

- Copy with history
- Copy without history
- Copy and prompt for metadata

The default property templates are displayed in orange on top of the list.

Business data column support

The business data column type enables users to add data from business applications to their lists using the Business Data Catalog. This is a powerful SharePoint feature, but moving documents or items with external data column is not an easy task.
Sharegate now fully supports the business data column type.

Windows shortcuts

Windows users use keyboard and mouse shortcuts. This is why we added support for basic shortcuts:
- CTRL + C (copy)
- CTRL + V (paste)
- CTRL + W (close the tab)
- F5 (refresh the explorer)
- Middle click (close the tab)

When using the tool that copy files to SharePoint, you can use the copy/paste shortcuts from Window Explorer to Sharegate.

Improved Ribbon menu

We improved the ribbon menu by adding contextual actions in the ribbon. This makes the user interface easier to understand.

Sharegate 2.3 – Improved property template for copying documents

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:09:00 -0400

We are proud to release Sharegate 2.3 with amazing improvements with the property template feature.

WHAT'S NEW IN THIS RELEASE?

Property template for multiple content types

It’s now possible to specify the properties for multiple content types in a single property template. This way, you can move items or documents referring to many content types in the same copy operation.

In the previous version, you had to create a property template for every content type. It was painful if you had to migrate a SharePoint library or list configured with many content types.

Replace illegal characters when migrating files to SharePoint

For those who are migrating files to SharePoint, you no longer have to worry about the illegal characters in SharePoint that cause errors during the migration. In the options, you can specify a replacement for every illegal character.

Check In comment

Users are now prompt to enter a check in comment when they are saving items or documents to SharePoint.

Keep or specify folder metadata

We now fully support folder metadata. This feature allows you to move folders between SharePoint sites without losing the metadata.

Import or export property template

Property template allows you to pre-define and reuse metadata values apply to items or files during a copy. It’s now possible to share a property template with your colleagues. You can import or export multiple templates at the same time.

Display SharePoint view

You can now filter the files or items with the views available in SharePoint. It gives you more flexibility over the files or items displayed in the explorer.

Property mappings persistence

In the previous version, we added a feature to change the property mappings allowing users to map source/destination properties with different name. The property mappings are now persisted, so you don’t need to configure the mappings every time you copy content between the same lists or libraries.

File or item properties window

We received feedback from users with low screen resolution having difficulties to see the properties from the Sharegate explorer when they select a file or item. It’s now possible to open a window displaying all the properties.

Sharegate 2.2 – Copy version history and more

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:59:00 -0400

After a month of hard work, we just released Sharegate 2.2 with powerful features based on great feedback received from our users.

WHAT'S NEW IN THIS RELEASE?

Property mappings

It’s now possible to change the property mappings between your source and destination. Let’s say you have a column called « Name » that you want to copy to a different list having a column called « Fullname ». We added an intuitive interface that allows you to map your properties in a drag & drop fashion. It’s simple, powerful and it works just fine. Be careful, you can only map properties of the same type.

Keep version history

We added an option in the property template that allows you to keep version history when copying your documents and items.

Keep authors and timestamps

We added another option that allows you to preserve the created and modified information when copying your documents and items. To use this feature with SharePoint 2007, you must install the Sharegate Extension on your server.

Drag & drop your files, documents and items

We improved the user experience by adding the drag and drop support. You can also use it directly from Windows Explorer.

Managed metadata tagging

We now support the managed metadata column type available in SharePoint 2010. This Sharegate feature allows you to bulk tag your documents and items while copying to SharePoint 2010.

Person or Group support

We now fully support the Person or Group column type. We also added a search window that helps you find the users and groups available in your SharePoint site.

Forms Based Authentication (FBA) support

We now fully support Forms Based Authentication. Your credentials can be entered in the advanced section when you connect to your site.

General Improvements

- Optimized load times when selecting lists and libraries
- Added a link to quickly open the location for the selected list or library
- Added a button to save the current template and immediately start copying
- Greatly improved support for international character sets

Sharegate 2.1 - New features

Wed, 04 May 2011 00:51:00 -0400

We just released Sharegate 2.1 only two weeks after 2.0 with very interesting new features that this blog post will explain precisely.

WHAT'S NEW IN THIS RELEASE?

1- We now fully support Office 365 beta. You can now move all your files from your computer, your network drives or your existing SharePoint sites to Office 365 without losing your metadata. Great! Don't you think?

2- We added a new tool to copy list items around SharePoint. There was already a tool to copy documents between libraries and now there's a new one to copy items between lists. Let's say you start a new team site and you want to reuse contacts from another team site. In a few seconds, you can quickly copy your 200 contacts without having to call your IT guys. It just works.

3- We added a new innovative way to provide the metadata values. Prompt for a value during the copy allows the user to specify property values for each item during the copy. This way, you can preset values for some of the properties and Sharegate will prompt for the remaining ones during the copy. It's the easiest and fastest way to do it.

Before the copy:

During the copy:

4- Folders are now fully support. It's possible copy or move a complex folder hierarchy in SharePoint. You just need to select the folders and press copy. You can also copy folders between your SharePoint libraries or lists.

5- Sharegate list items explorer shows the SharePoint default view columns. Next release will allow the user to choose the view to display.

Bulk copy files and folders with metadata

Mon, 02 May 2011 23:04:00 -0400

What are your alternatives if you want to copy some files from your computer to a SharePoint library? SharePoint offers two, which is the Multiple Upload function and the Windows Explorer view.

The Explorer View offers a way to transfer your files from your computer to a SharePoint library as if you were transferring files from one folder to another. This function is extremely slow and doesn’t allow you to predefine a set of metadata on the files you are moving. If your content type in SharePoint have a required field, all your documents will be checked out under your name and you’ll need to edit every document one by one to set the missing properties. For massive files upload, it’s not rare to see a “not responding” window.

The Multiple Upload function is by far the one that I prefer. You can upload your files by selecting them from your computer and you see their status as they are uploaded. Unfortunately, you can’t copy more than 100 files at the same time and you can’t copy a folder as a single item. If you want to copy files in a folder structure, you need to recreate your folder structure in SharePoint and copy your folders content one by one. There’s no way that I know of to easily manage properties on those documents when they are uploaded.

Thanks to Sharegate, you now have a third option. With Sharegate, you can simply browse your computer and copy files or folders to a SharePoint library. As you are copying your files, you can also define a Property Template that will automatically set all your metadata to your files. You will also be able to copy more than 10 000 files at the same time without having any problems. See the My Computer to SharePoint tool for more information.

Select files and folders from your computer

Define properties for your documents

All your documents are in SharePoint now with their metadata

Migrating Reporting Services reports to SharePoint

Mon, 02 May 2011 00:51:00 -0400

I had a call last week from an old client who wanted to transfer all their reports from SSRS (Reporting Services) to SharePoint. Basically, the goal was to take the reports from 4 different web server and insert them in SharePoint. By doing this, they were going to get all the benefits from the SharePoint security and have a place more user friendly for their employees to consult report.

Here are the steps that I took to make this :

1- I installed a new SSRS instance with the SharePoint Integration Mode (see : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb326356.aspx)
2- I installed a new SharePoint Foundation (2010) server to deploy all my reports
3- I created 3 document library inside SharePoint, one for each major application that uses reports
4- I activated the Reporting Service Integration feature inside SharePoint
5- I added the 3 content types (Report Server Model, Report Server Report, Report Server DataSource) and deleted the default Document Content Type

That's it, I had everything setup to start the migration of my reports inside SharePoint. Actually, I thought I had everything... How could I move those 200 reports inside my new SharePoint site without doing the whole thing manually?

First of all, I was able to find all the reports on my client Team Foundation Server. They were managing version history with it. Ok, so I have all my reports in a Folder based structure. What can I do with this?

I've tried to open my list with the Windows Explorer view but, after "calculating" for 5 minutes, it started the upload and then crash. What a mess... With the multiple upload feature, I was not able to import more than 100 reports at once. Not that bad... But what about the meta data on those reports? I wanted to put some categories / Application name / module name / etc. properties. By using one of the methods above, I would have to modify every report manually to set those properties? I like spending hours with SharePoint, but not doing properties edition!!!

I finally decide to use Sharegate to move all my reports to their new location. With few clicks, I was able to create 3 property templates (one for each list) and transfer all my reports from my desktop (a getlatest from the TFS server) to my 3 libraries inside SharePoint. As simple as that! This tool save me a lot of time (and my client a lot of money). Thanks to Sharegate!

Reports from my desktop on the left and my destination list on the right

Defining a property template to copy my reports

All my documents are now in my destination