By default all subsites within a site collection inherit the same administrator settings set for the site collection (top-level site). You can change the administrator settings for each of the subsites seperately from the top-level site.
We often get asked the question “what is a site collection” and “what is a subsite“.
Simply put: a site collection is a top-level website with one or more subsites.
It’s easy to open a SharePoint site in SharePoint Designer.
- Start SharePoint Designer
- Select File → Open site
In the Site name text box enter the URL of the site you want to open.
For our example we will open the main SharePoint site: http://litwaredemo/
Discussion Boards unite all of your SharePoint users to share information and ideas. All of your users can start discussions or reply to current ones.
To create a discussion board go to Site Actions >> Create. Under Communications, click Discussion Board.
Give your Discussion Board a title, description, and choose whether you would like to display it in the Quick Launch bar.
To create a new topic, click New on the Discussion toolbar.
Give a title to your discussion thread, attach a document if you like, and type a message to get the conversation going. Click OK.
If you want to reply to a message, click on the message of choice.
Then the discussion will open. You will be able to read what is currently in the body of the discussion and previously posted replies if there are any. Click the reply button located in the right corner to post a reply of your own.
Type your reply in the body of the message and Click OK. Now you get to play the fun part of waiting for a response or seeing if your response was even helpful.
Yes…here is another blog about creating another list. However, it is important to realize all the options out there with lists. Contact Lists are a great way to have a central location for contacts that everyone needs access to for day-to-day business. The best example of this is an employee phone list.
To create a Contact List, start by going to Site Actions >> Create.
Under Communications, select Contacts.
Enter the name, description, and whether you would like this contact list displayed in the Quick Launch bar. Click Create.
SharePoint will then step into the Contact list you created.
Click the new button to add a new contact.
Now you will see all the fields that you can add information to regarding your contacts. Notice that Last Name is the only required field. You can even attach files to contacts. One function often ignored is the Notes section. This will help you to remember things that should or should not say in front of this person. 
Announcements keep everyone in your company informed regarding updated information about various topics in SharePoint. The announcement web part is usually included in every template starting out and is one of the easiest web parts to maintain.
Once you have set up an Announcement web part of your site, you can start adding new announcements. To add a new announcement click Add New Announcement on the bottom of the Announcement web part.
Now you will be able to enter in specific information. Give your announcement a title and describe what the announcement is about in the body. The first feature to pay attention to is that you are able to attach files to your announcements. For example, if you created an agenda in a Word document for the meeting you could attach it to the announcement for everyone to download ahead of time. Secondly, you can set and expiration date. This will help you maintain that the most current announcements are visible at all times. No one cares about an announcement for a meeting last month.
If you are forgetful like me, you can also choose to be alerted about Announcements as well. To set up an alert, click on the title of the announcement you want to be alerted about. On the next screen, click Alert Me.
You will then be taken to the Alert criteria screen. For more information regarding setting up alerts, check out a previous blog I have written on the topic.
Overall, Announcements are a fast, simple method to keep your employees informed every time they log into SharePoint.
The Alert Me feature found in SharePoint is a great way to receive automated alerts regarding documents, lists, etc.
I will you walk you through setting up an alert in a document library. Go into a current Document Library you have. Choose a document that you want to be alerted on and click the dropdown on the right side of it. Select Alert Me.
You are now at the Alert Me criteria screen. The first action item is creating an Alert Title. This is what will show in the subject of the email notification.
Secondly, you need to decide who you want to send the alert to. You can choose yourself and others as well. If you are unsure of their Active Directory accounts, you can use the
<- Check Names or Look up Options
Next, you need to tell the Alert Me what criteria changes you want to be notified on. There are 4 options to select from so you immediately have different options that will vary depending on the situation.
Finally, you get to choose when you are alerted. I find this to be the most important aspect of the Alert Me function. This helps all of us with keeping our Outlook Inbox under control. You can be alerted immediately, daily, or weekly. If you choose weekly, you actually get to choose the day and time of when to be alerted!
Click OK and you are now on your way of keeping tabs on documents within SharePoint.
SharePoint lists all have a default view that is available to immediately display your data. However, you are able to customize how your list is displayed if you don’t care for what SharePoint has provided.
To create a Custom View, go through the following steps:
Open a list you have previously created.
Look at the top-right of your opened list and find View. Click the dropdown menu. Choose Create View.
Select the View format you desire or choose an existing one.
Each view has several features to customize how you want your list to be seen. I highly recommend playing around with each one to get a feel for how you would like to present you data.
When you are finished, Click OK to apply your view settings.
Datasheet view exposes list in a format that we are familiar with……Excel. You can easily label rows and columns just like a spreadsheet as well as enter in any information you need for your list.
To create a list in Datasheet view, do the following:
Click Site Actions >> Create.
Under Custom Lists, choose Custom List in Datasheet View.
As usual give your list a name, description, and choose whether you would like it displayed in the Quick Launch bar.
Click Create. SharePoint immediately takes you to your list to start entering some data. Start entering data just as you would on a spreadsheet.
If you need to add a column to this list, click the Settings dropdown and choose Create Column.
This will take you to the Create Column screen that was discussed in previous blogs. Simply fill in the appropriate information for your column and click OK.
If you would ever like to exit Datasheet View, go to the Actions dropdown and select Show in Standard View. This will bring you back to the common view used to create other lists.
This is just another way to get data entered into SharePoint. Choosing Standard View as opposed to Datasheet View is simply a matter of preference of the user. Both will accomplish the same goal.
Task lists help people keep track of items they need to accomplish. This will show you how to create a simple To-Do list within SharePoint.
Start by going to Site Actions >> Create
Under Tracking, click Tasks.
The next screen follows the usual SharePoint pattern. You will enter the name of the list you are creating, a description if desired, and whether or not you would like the list to appear in the Quick Launch bar. The important feature to notice here is if you would like to turn on email notification. If you choose Yes for the radio button, SharePoint will fire off an email to the person the task is assigned to.
Click Create. You will then be immediately taken to your new list. Click the New dropdown and select New Item. Here is where you can create a new task. There are a number of options to fill in. The main fields to be filled in are the Title of the task, a description and who the task should be assigned to. SharePoint goes a step further to added fields such as Priority, Status, % Complete, Start Date, and Due Date. Another great function is attachments can also be added to these tasks. Also be aware of the message that appears. The message states “The content of this item will be sent as an email message to the person or group assigned to the item.” So be sure you fill in all the appropriate fields to ensure the fastest results.
Click OK. Now SharePoint will email the user you assigned this task to. Another great function is that Outlook 2007 let’s you step directly back into SharePoint from the emailed task you receive. You can see all sorts of great information. You will see who assigned you the task, the name of the list, where the list is located in SharePoint, and all of the details of the task assigned to you.
This small but powerful function saves time in communication with fellow coworkers and gets action items accomplished quickly.
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