Design Tips for SharePoint 2013 Apps on Tablets

The discussion on the tips for designing for the SharePoint 2013 Apps on tablets should essentially begin with the concept of minimal viable product. The idea is to enhance the user experience with Office 365 and Microsoft Office. Enterprises seem to be on the lookout for continuously updating the products to gain a strong competitive advantage and engaging in viable business in Office 365.

With the increase in the number of mobile devices and tablet users, it has become necessary for the SP 2013 apps to stay accessible as well as work effectively on these devices. Here is a list of tips on designing excellent SP apps for the tablets.

Always Go For Responsive Design
Whenever it comes to designing SP 2013 applications for tablets, a responsive design is a prerequisite. Now, for those working on a publishing site or planning to render it with a great look and feel, a responsive web design is must. Now, for those not using a custom master page as a basis for compatibility with other apps, a responsive design might not appear to be that suitable.

Maintain the Minimum Possible Width
Although the base resolutions vary depending on the landscape mode, majority of them have a width of 980 pixels. While the meta tags, JavaScript and CSS allow for control over the zoom behaviors and view port to a significant extent, it is always better to ensure that the columns in the tabular layout look impressive. This would also keep the initial investment to be made by the enterprise pretty low.

Make Efficient Use of CSS
The detailed pages for the varying entities in the form of matters and clients comprise a table at the top along with a set of tabs at the bottom, displaying related data. It is the entity as well as the data that work together in determining the number of columns in the header. On the other hand, for the clients, the columns denoting the phone numbers, address and notes are hidden especially, in cases where there is no data.

Now, these tables pose challenge because of the fact that both the width of the browser as well as the one that is required to display particular data within the table vary. The solution lies in using the base of 980 pixels, which renders a lower bound. Also, with a vertical alignment at the top, padding is explicit while word-break is natural.

Derive Benefits Out of the 'Focus on Content' Button
The 'Focus on Content' button appears at the upper right hand corner of the page. This is quite a beneficial feature and using it optimally can actually lead to an effective designing of SP 2013 applications for tabs.

Not Putting any Options in the Quick Launch Section
The pre-dominant belief is that while using a tablet, focus should always be laid on the content. However, it is better not to put any important option in the 'Quick Launch' section for this section can not be viewed by the tablet users and hence, the app will be of little significance for them.

Avoid Adopting the Minimal Download Strategy
The minimal download strategy is fine for those in any app web. However, this feature calls for some serious compatibility issues in certain browsers. The minimal download strategy can be disabled using the CSOM.

Prefer a Dynamic Sizing of Dialogs
While much of the discussions so far have been done with, height is also a matter of concern when it comes to using a dialog framework. It is always essential to go for dynamic alignment and setting the options depending on the natural height of the page.

With the above-mentioned tips and strategies, one can certainly develop suitable SharePoint 2013 apps for tablets. And while looking for SharePoint services India, make sure you are reaching out to companies who have solid credentials and have proven expertise in application development in SharePoint and have equally strong domain expertise as well.

We provide Sharepoint migration services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our SharePoint site branding experts, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Migrating from MOSS 2007 to SharePoint 2013- Don’t Miss Out on these 10 Tips

The much popular and preferred web application development platform, SharePoint, comes up in newer versions at frequent intervals. Business entrepreneurs need to update themselves with the upgraded technology to ensure deriving the maximum benefits out of the applications, devices and platforms. SharePoint is undoubtedly one among the most beneficial technological advancements that affects business operations and increases the overall level of efficiency to a great extent.

Migrating from MOSS 2007 to SharePoint 2013 is interesting as well as challenging. The process involving SharePoint site migration is also complex at the same time though the complexity depends upon the kind of customization available. Many of the SharePoint environments are often integrated with the external systems by means of the Business Connectivity Services or the custom connectors. The complex environments often pose challenges to the process of migration and it is here that few factors need to be taken into consideration. Here is a list of tips on executing a successful migration from MOSS 2007 to SharePoint 2013.

1. Following a 2-Step Approach

Migration of content from the SharePoint 2007 to 2013 version is a two- way process in cases where no 3rd party tools are used. The first step is to upgrade MOSS to a temporary 2010 version by means of database attach and the second is to move the content to the 2013 version in very much the same process. Third Party tools like that of the AvePoint can also be made use of. Cleaning up the content prior to the migration is equally essential.

2. Migrating the Code

Migration of the code is an important step that has to be done manually as, the code is a primary component in migration. The prevalent code has to be evaluated and analyzed in details before building the overall solution or migrating the code. It is necessary to analyze a lot many things to find out if they work with newest version of SharePoint. These include the code- based customizations, third- party tools, add- ins, web parts and so on.

3. Determine the Functionality of the Customization

The process revolving around the migration, as already said, is quite complex, which calls for the fact that certain customizations might not work out in the desired manner. Now, for customizations that are necessary but turn out to be incompatible, the cost as well as the efforts that need to be put into it have to be considered. Ensure remediating the customization in every possible way, for instance, reusing the core source to avoid reinventing the wheel and thereby, reducing the cost and effort.

4. Make the Customization Ready for All Versions

Whenever the remediation is done, the customization becomes applicable for not just the 2013 version but also the 2010 version of SharePoint. One must ensure that the customization is actually ready for all versions.

5. Consider the Permission and Authentication Model

When it comes to the Migration, special emphasis needs to be put into the new security model for building the entire solution with greater efficiency. It is advisable for anyone to do the permission migration and code migration separately. This helps in isolating and identifying the particular permission related issues that are likely to occur.

6. End User Training and Adoption

Moving users from MOSS 2007 to SharePoint 2010 requires training the users to enable them discover the difficult aspects of using SP 2013. The entire IT department of a business enterprise must become familiar enough with the usage of the newest mode of this web application development platform. Effective training paves the way for familiarity of the system and this in turn, leads to a better use of the development platform.

7. Finding Out Sites Customized with SharePoint Designer

It is necessary to determine as to what had been done with the sites that were customized with the SharePoint Designer. The URLs as well as the site owners with the few 'one off' sessions need to be identified to find out what actually had been done with them.

8. Installing or Upgrading to the SQL Server

Apart from upgrading to the Windows Server 2012, installing a new SQL server 2012 or upgrading to the SQL server 2008 is rather necessary. It is equally necessary to determine as to whether the SQL Server 2005 box had been dedicated to the SP or if there were other databases installed in it in clusters.

9. Considering the Power Users

Any business enterprise going for a migration must have some power users, who are particularly adept in handling this advanced web application development platform. There will be several requests for the automation of paper- based processes. Experts will facilitate deriving the maximum ROI on the business process automation.

10. Upgrading to the Microsoft Office 2010

The point is apparently but is often missed out by many. To provide a perfect user experience following the migration, upgrading to the Microsoft Office 2010 is essential to help in the training for the upgrade.

The above- mentioned tips allow for not just a successful migration but also making it useful for the business enterprises.

We provide SharePoint bespoke development services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our SharePoint programmers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

SharePoint Apps will change the way you work

“SharePoint Apps” refers to add-ons or pieces of software which enhances the features of an application developed using SharePoint. These ‘apps’ can be written using a number of languages like PHP, HTML, Javascript etc. Another basic thing about apps is that they can be hosted in either the SharePoint environment or outside, in the cloud. Outside part can be at two different places – either Microsoft Azure or any other cloud service provider.

As done by mobile apps, SharePoint apps also increased the options of things that developers can do. That in turn has translated into providing a large number of smart options for a developer building an application using SharePoint. Suppose earlier a developer wanted to have a feature to enable viewing of SharePoint application using tablets or smartphones, he/she would have had to develop it on his own and that might have taken a really long time. But now all the developer has to do is use an app called Shareplus. This app is available for iOS and Andrioid based tablets and enables a user to browse, edit documents directly from SharePoint via the tablet directly.

Similarly there are many such apps or applications which provide the developer with the option to make applications smarter. Apps like OurCRM, DocAve, MyView etc are quite popular. For your reference OurCRM is a CRM that runs on MS SharePoint – it basically allows organizations to edit the customer relationship management software as per their need.

DocAve is a data and document management platform for SharePoint.

MyView the winner of Best SharePoint App 2013 award (at the European SharePoint Community Awards), enables users to focus on productivity and important ongoing projects by collating and synchronizing SharePoint and Microsoft Outlook tasks and calendar items, presented through online, mobile, or desktop based Microsoft Exchange applications.

Similarly there are many such ‘apps’, based on the need one can search for those and use the one best suited. A simple Google search can fetch you the app that you might be looking for, for example I was looking for “Top iPad apps for accessing SharePoint” and I found this Techrepublic link which lists out details of best apps for iPads - http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tablets-in-the-enterprise/top-ipad-apps-for-accessing-sharepoint/.

My interest primarily in SharePoint Apps has been in applications related to Marketing and Social aspects of a business. These days Social media constitutes a major part of marketing and this area has to be handled effectively to ensure active participation of people in your products, which in turn would lead to increased revenue. The top 5 social media SharePoint apps, as per me, are the following:

• Social Squared : Social Squared is an app which gives organizations the choice of providing a large forum environment to its members for them to discuss projects or other topics. This provides as a nice space for sharing and brainstorming of ideas.
• eLocker Solutions : eLocker Solutions is the perfect social SharePoint solution for teachers and students. It allows them to interact without worrying about security within the SharePoint environment. It can be customized for a specific school or district and allows teachers to assign projects, track progress and interact with students.
• SharePoint twitter web part : The Twitter Web Part allows users to tweet right from their SharePoint environment as well as display the latest Twitter posts and search based on hashtags. This is a great option for companies who want to control everything (including social media) from their SharePoint environment.
• Blog Rollup webpart : The Blog Rollup Web Part allows organizations to display a blog roll of the most recent blog posts created within the SharePoint environment. This is a very useful tool, which is perfect for seeing at a glance the most recently published posts.
• SP Community : SP Community utilizes SharePoint’s existing social features and transforms them into a complete user experience that organizations and businesses can take advantage of. It offers groups, user home pages and profile pages, discussion boards and much more.

You can hire developers from top sharepoint development companies in India who can help you in your project within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide sharepoint application development services. If you would like to discuss with our certified sharepoint programmers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.