New Features in SharePoint 2010

SharePoint 2010 is now available at UoP (Tulip 2010/11). It has several new and improved features which can be found below.

Although SharePoint 2010 still uses Lists and Libraries, team sites and document libraries, the user interface has been changed considerably and now looks much cleaner and simpler. It is easier to use and is faster. SharePoint 2010 can now be used in browsers other than internet explorer, for example Firefox and Safari.

Ribbons menu

When you go into a particular area, for example, libraries, a ribbon menu appears at the top of the screen.  This brings SharePoint more in line with other Microsoft applications such as Office and will look familiar to users and make it easier to carry out functions in SharePoint.  In the Sharepoint ribbon example shown in the image below, there are two specific branches.  One called Documents, the other, Library.  If a user selected Documents, the ribbon would change to offer a set of options to allow editing or creating of a single or multiple documents.  Working with multiple documents is a new feature.  For example, if several documents had been checked out, they could all be selected in the documents view  and a mass check in could be performed.    If the Library tab was selected, it would present a set of options that allow the user to select and work with any documents within the libraries or change the library settings themselves.  The Ribbons allow users to perform functions quickly and easily, whereas in previous versions of SharePoint, performing the same functions would have taken longer as the user would have had to have clicked through to different menus and locations to get the same result.

Simplified navigation

The Left hand side menu is now simpler and less cluttered, making it easier to move around.  Users can also navigate around their SharePoint sites by using the vastly improved breadcrumb links, or the “navigate up” icon.  Using the Navigate Up function allows users to get back to their home page quickly and easily.

Site Actions

Now found on the top right hand corner of the screen, offering more menu options and making it easier to perform many functions, such as creating a new site.  Now all users need to do is to click on Site Actions, then select New Site.

Site Settings

Now better organised and simpler to use.

Easier Editing

Editing sites is now much simpler. For example, users can now apply themes and use the quick start menu options which can be found on the site home page.  Users can select themes from the Getting started web part list which can be found towards the bottom of the home page in their module sites. The Change Theme option can also be accessed from the Site Actions menu, under Site Settings. The Site Themes Gallery can be accessed from the “Look and Feel” sub-menu.

Tags

Tags can now be added to sites and pages, which will be displayed on users’ MySite.  The Tags and comments icons can be found at the top right hand corner of the screen.  Using tags to identify certain attributes makes it easier for other users to find items of relevance and has vastly improved the social and collaborative aspects of SharePoint.

For further information, visit the Tulip 2010 site.  This site also has dates of sessions offering an overview of Sharepoint 2010.