SharePoint 2010
Beginners Guide to Managing Documents on
SharePoint
Table of Contents
What is SharePoint? .............................................................................................................................. 2
What is a document library? .................................................................................................................. 2
Find your way around a Site .................................................................................................................. 3
How to upload documents ..................................................................................................................... 4
How to create new documents .............................................................................................................. 5
How to edit a document ......................................................................................................................... 6
About the Check In and Check out Process.......................................................................................... 7
Force a check out by selecting Check Out from the drop down arrow next to the file name......... 7
To discard a check out ................................................................................................................... 7
About SharePoint Versioning ................................................................................................................ 8
Viewing Version History ................................................................................................................. 8
How to recover Deleted Documents ...................................................................................................... 8
Organising Documents .......................................................................................................................... 9
Ad-hoc Sorting and filtering ............................................................................................................ 9
Views ............................................................................................................................................ 10
How to send a link to a document by email ......................................................................................... 11
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SHAREPOINT 2010
What is SharePoint?
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SharePoint is a web-based platform that supports the collaboration and sharing of information
within teams and throughout the organization.
•
One common use of SharePoint is to create sites that are used for team collaboration, called
Team Sites.
•
SharePoint sites consist of Document Libraries, Lists, Calendars, Wiki Pages and Webparts used
to create, store and share different types of information.
What is a document library?
•
A SharePoint site provides you with one or more document libraries that can be used to create,
collaborate and share documents with other users in Lloyd’s.
•
Every time you make a change to a document it will create a new version which is used to keep
an audit record of all the changes.
•
You can use tags (also known as metadata) to organise and categorise your documents.
•
You can use Content Types (types of documents) with Word or Excel templates.
•
You can use SharePoint search to look for words or phrases within documents or that match
certain tags from any SharePoint site.
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SHAREPOINT 2010
Find your way around a Site
•
All Lloyd’s SharePoint sites have the same look and feel to allowing you to find your way round
a site very easily.
•
To go to your Document Libraries, click on the name of the Library within the Quick Launch bar
•
In the Document Library you will notice a black bar along the top of the site. This is called the
Ribbon.
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The Ribbon gives you access to more functionality and is organised into functions around
Documents or functions around the whole library
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SHAREPOINT 2010
How to upload documents
SharePoint allows you to upload documents from your computer into
your Document Library. To upload documents to the Library:
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From within a Library, Click on the Documents tab on the ribbon
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Click on the Upload Document command button or use the drop
down arrow and select the Upload Multiple Documents
command
•
Depending on the setup of your library you may be asked to specify some additional information
about your document. This could include the Type of Document (Content Type) or other info.
Please note:
a
If the file you are uploading has the same name as the one which currently exists in the
Document Library then make sure the option “Add as a new version to existing files” is selected
within the Upload Document dialog box. This will
ensure that the file you are about to upload becomes
the next version of the file which is already in
SharePoint
b
If you add documents using the multiple file method, they will remain checked out until you
check in each individual document
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SHAREPOINT 2010
How to create new documents
SharePoint allows you to create new documents directly within a Document Library. This gives you
the benefit that the document is stored only in one place and can be based from a template.
•
•
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From within a Library, Click the Documents tab on the ribbon.
Click New Document
This will launch Word (or other Office applications) with the template or a blank document
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SHAREPOINT 2010
How to edit a document
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Click on the name of the document
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A dialog box appears asking you to choose between Read Only or Check-Out. Select “Check
Out and Edit” and then Ok. (Read Only can be used just to view the document).
•
Word or Excel will now launch with the document ready for editing. The document is now
checked out exclusively to you and can’t be edited by anyone else
•
When you are working on your document you should click the Save button at regular intervals to
ensure your changes are saved back to SharePoint (it will not create a new version during these
Saves).
•
Once you have finished editing the file click the Save button and then Close. This will prompt
you to check the document back into SharePoint so other people can see your changes.
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SHAREPOINT 2010
About the Check In and Check out Process
When you check out a file from a SharePoint document library you
obtain a permanent lock on that file. In other words, no one can edit
the file or view your changes until you check it back in.
By default a document library has check-out set to “enforced”,
meaning every user is forced to check-out/check-in the file. This
setting can be changed if you don’t need it.
Force a check out by selecting Check Out from the drop down arrow next to the file
name
You can also check out a file without opening it (maybe you plan to work on the file later and don’t
want other users to edit it in the meantime).
•
From within the document library, click the drop down arrow to the right of the
file name and select Check Out
(If you no longer wish to keep the file checked out click the drop down arrow to the right of the
file name and select Discard Check out)
•
Once checked out, a green “Checked Out” arrow will appear on the file icon.
(If anyone needs to see who has the file checked out, they can simply hover their
mouse over the icon)
•
When you are ready to open the file for editing, click the drop down arrow next to the file and
choose the Edit in Microsoft …option
To discard a check out
On occasion, you may find that a colleague has a file checked out and you need to access and edit
the file urgently. A Power User has sufficient permissions to Discard the check out and make the file
available to other people.
•
Locate the file that has been checked out by another user
•
Click the drop down arrow next to the file and select
Discard Check Out
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Click Ok to confirm that you would like to Discard the Check
Out
•
The file is checked in and can now be accessed and edited
by other users
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SHAREPOINT 2010
About SharePoint Versioning
With SharePoint versioning you can store, track, and restore documents in a library whenever they
change. Versioning allows to keep an accurate audit record on important documents for every
change that is made and who has changed it. By default Lloyd’s SharePoint libraries are configured
to store the last 10 versions of a document.
Viewing Version History
In order to see the progress of a document you may need to view one of the
previous versions. Displaying the version history will include each version
and version number along with the date and time it was modified, by whom it
was modified, and any comments.
•
Click the drop down arrow next to the document and select Version
History. A dialog box appears with more detailed information about the
document versions
•
To view the previous version of a document, identify the version you
require and click the date and time of that version (NOT the drop down
arrow next to the document)
•
Before the file is opened, a warning box will appear. Click Ok
•
The document will open in Read Only allowing you to view the previous version
How to recover Deleted Documents
Whenever you delete a document on SharePoint it goes into a Recycle Bin from which you can
recover these documents within a period of time.
To recover your documents:
• Click the Recycle bin icon from the navigation
• Find your document in the list
• Select the document and click Restore
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SHAREPOINT 2010
Organising Documents
Documents within a library can be filtered, sorted and grouped to make finding documents easier.
Ad-hoc Sorting and filtering
To ‘ad-hoc’ filter or sort a library, you can use the column headings
•
•
•
•
Click the column heading to use
To sort, click ascending or descending
To filter, click the value to filter
The screen will refresh to display the sorted / filtered documents & the column heading will
indicate your action.
Note that this change is only temporary. When you revisit the library at a later point, the sorting /
filtering will not be available. Also, other staff cannot share or see these actions.
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SHAREPOINT 2010
Views
The library may contain pre-defined views. A view may filter, sort, group (or a combination of these)
documents and may display different columns.
When you open a library, the default view will always be displayed.
You can select the pre-defined views from the title bar of the library
•
•
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Click the library view title to display the list of available views
Click the view to display
Once clicked, the screen will refresh using the view you have selected.
If you have Power User permissions, you can create additional views shared with other staff.
For more information, please see the SharePoint User Guides
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SHAREPOINT 2010
How to send a link to a document by email
When you store documents in SharePoint it prevents the need to send document as attachments to
internal users (which can lead to duplicate copies). Instead you can send a link to the document
instead.
•
Click the Document Properties menu beside the Document Name
•
Select Email a Link. This will open a new email with the link attached.
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