Tag Archives: Chatter for SharePoint

On Deck: Chatter for SharePoint 1.6

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Hi Everyone – sorry it’s been awhile between posts. March was a busy month which culminated in a new job working for Automotive Resources International (ARI). Don’t worry – I’ll still be bringing you new blog posts and updates to the solutions here – especially Chatter for SharePoint.

Planning and development of version 1.6 is well underway. While the final list of new features and fixes is still to be determined, I can share what is on the drawing board.

  • File upload to SalesForce
    You’ve asked for it (I pushed back, lol) but I finally relented. Included in version 1.6 will be the ability to upload files to SalesForce Chatter from the web part.
  • Share to Group Improvements
    Looking to improve the Share to Group functionality so it is closer to the native Chatter experience
  • Photo Sync
    This one is a big MAYBE. Thinking about adding a timer-job to (optionally) sync user photos from the User Profile Service to SalesForce Chatter.
  • Multiple Language Support
    This one is also in the MAYBE category. I started the work back in 1.4 but it never got finished due to other priorities. I know a lot of you have asked for it – I am trying to fit it in.

Probably will be a lot more added to that list before 1.6 is finalized. Not seeing a feature you need? Better let me know soon so I can consider it for inclusion in 1.6. Keep that feedback coming! Thanks.

On Deck: Chatter for SharePoint 1.5

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Good evening (or whatever time of day it is where you are) and welcome back to SharePoint Snapple. Another week – another new version of Chatter for SharePoint is getting ready to be released. You guys keep asking for features and I’m happy to deliver. Here is what we have coming up in 1.5:

  • Added ‘Load more posts’ option to the bottom of feed to fetch next X number of feed-items into the web part
  • Added support for callback URLs to provide a better and faster authentication experience (your web applications need to be SSL for this to work; the forms authentication method is still present for non-SSL sites)
  • The group dropdown is now trimmed to show only groups to which you are a member
  • Fixed issue with hash tags and searching
  • Hash tags are now searchable within the web part. Just click on a hash tag within a feed item to search for all instances of the tag
  • New ‘Following’ filter to show all feed items from users and groups you are following
  • New ‘Bookmarked’ filter to show all feed items you have bookmarked
  • Added support for bookmarking items from within the web part
  • Updated mouseover event for bookmark/delete functionality to be on the item rather than the right-corner
  • Fixed Alpha filter error on Chrome
  • HTTP timeout values adjusted to 30 seconds
  • New and updated debug information in the logs

Some screenshots:

Above: Navigation showing the new ‘Following’ and ‘Bookmarked’ filters

Above: Bookmarked items and the add bookmark control (on mouseover)

Above: Searching for hash tags within the web part

Still a few more things to fit in before I close up development on 1.5. Expect to see it on the blog in the next 2 weeks. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Chatter for SharePoint Version 1.4 Released!

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Hi everyone. The new version of Chatter for SharePoint is now available on the blog. You can download the files for your version of SharePoint from this link.

New and updated features in this version include:

  • Added ability to delete posts and comments from the feed web part
  • Added poll support
  • Added new feed navigation
  • Added new feed filters
  • Added file attachment doctype icons
  • Added ‘Share from Anywhere’ control
  • Fixed issue where under certain conditions the web part would cause a loop while trying to write the license key to the web.config file
  • Fixed issue where under certain conditions users would see an Access Denied message when the solution opened a modal window
  • Many internal code improvements; new css; new and updated images

Please download the latest version of the documentation for descriptions on the new features.

Chatter for SharePoint 1.4 – More New Features

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Good evening everyone. I wanted to share with you the latest new features and some additional screenshots of the Chatter for SharePoint solution. Version 1.4 is shaping up to be one of the most significant updates to-date. I was just about finished with the scheduled updates for this version when an idea came to me in the shower (seriously. I have a lot of my ‘eureka’ moments in the shower for some reason).

As useful as the web part is – it’s still just a web part on a page. If you’re not on the page with the web part, you can’t use it. Since the purpose of this solution is to provide integration points from SharePoint to Chatter, I’ve come up with a new one: a way for the feed to be accessible from any page without any additional configuration. I’ve achieved this with the addition of a custom web part page and a custom action in the user-control:

Users can now click on the user-control at the top of the page and choose ‘Chatter Feed’ to instantly collaborate on Chatter:

A new modal window will appear with the Chatter Feed web part. This integration will allow for even greater collaboration as it doesn’t require users to be on a given page to view or post to their feeds.

In addition to the new Chatter Feed action, I’ve also added a new feed filter to the navigation: ‘To Me’. This filter will show feed items that are targeted to you.

Also squashed a number of bugs, including one big one where under certain conditions users would get an Access Denied message when opening the modal windows from the ribbon if they did not have read permissions on the root site.

I am hoping to have the new version ready by the end of the week – if time permits.

Thanks for all of the feedback!

Coming Soon! Chatter for SharePoint 1.4

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Hi everyone. Wanted to share some details and screenshots of the upcoming release of Chatter for SharePoint. The release date is still to be finalized – depends on what else I think I can reasonably finish in the next week or so.

In addition to performance tweaks and fixes, version 1.4 has some exciting new capabilities including:

  • Ability to delete your posts and comments (admins can delete any post or comment)
  • Poll support (users can vote, edit their responses and view poll results)
  • New feed navigation (ability to select company, personal or group feeds right from the web part)
  • File attachments now represented by product icons (Word, Excel, etc)

Let’s take a look:

As you hover over the right-corner of a post or comment, a delete icon will appear if you have permission to delete the item. After confirming you want the item deleted it will be immediately removed from the feed.

Users can now respond to polls created on Chatter right from the web part. You can vote or change your vote and view or refresh the poll results. Note – polls still must be created from SalesForce Chatter for now.

The web part has a completely new and intuitive navigation system. Clicking the feed control now displays a context-menu which allows you to select the feed to view or to refresh the current feed. When selecting Groups for the first time, the web part will load and cache all of the selectable groups and present them as a drop-down within the menu:

Finally – we have a number of ‘fit-and-finish’ improvements to the UI, including doctype attachment icons that leverage the SharePoint DOCICONS cache:

As you can see – a lot of new and useful functionality is in the works. I’m also considering a PowerShell script or GUI Setup to further simplify the installation. Also in the pipeline, but not in the 1.4 release, is support for language localization (RESX), @mentions and post-targeting.

So look for the new version shortly here on the blog and keep those suggestions coming in. I appreciate the support – and for those that haven’t bought the web part yet – what are you waiting for? Seriously – if your must-have feature isn’t in the solution yet, I can fix that. J

Disclaimer: Screenshots above are from the 2010 version and are still in progress. Final features and appearance subject to change, yadda yadda.

Chatter for SharePoint 2007 Released!

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Hi Everyone – I am very pleased to announce that the new 2007-compatible version of Chatter for SharePoint is now available! You can download the latest version here. To my knowledge, this is the only solution that integrates SalesForce Chatter with SharePoint 2007.

All three versions of the solution are functionally identical – except where differences in the platform need to be handled. For example, since SharePoint 2007 does not have the Ribbon, the Share options are located in context-menus.

Some screenshots:


Above: Chatter for SharePoint 2007 web part.


Above: Share Page context menu.


Above: Share Item context menu.


Above: Federated Search Integration

The 2007 version works on all x86 versions of SharePoint 2007 (WSS 3.0, Standard and Enterprise). Check the documentation for other system requirements and prerequisites.

A new version of the 2010 and 2013 solutions are also available which include some cosmetic updates and fixes.

Version 1.3.0.0 changes include:

  • Initial support for SharePoint 2007
  • Fixed issue where under certain conditions the authorization token would not be written to the user’s profile
  • Fixed gradient background when running on Internet Explorer 10
  • Added support for Chatter API version 26
  • Minor cosmetic tweaks
  • Some internal code improvements

The 2007 version is licensed in the same manner as the other versions – by farm. Same price too, just $49 USD. I’m very happy to offer solutions for these platforms. Please check them out and be sure to send me any comments or suggestions. Thanks!

Coming Soon: Chatter for SharePoint 2007

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I’ve received a number of inquiries on support for WSS 3.0 and SharePoint 2007. Initially I did not plan to support this platform – but I’ve now decided to take a look at what would be involved to get Chatter for SharePoint working on this version. I’m happy to say it wasn’t half as bad as I feared – sort of. While the web part itself was easily ported to 2007, the other features like the Ribbon Integration and Federated Search need some tweaking.

So – expect to see a WSS 3.0/SharePoint 2007 (x86 only) compatible version of the solution soon. Final features and pricing TBD. In the meantime – here’s a screenshot of the web part running on WSS 3.0:

More details coming soon. Thanks for the feedback and comments.

Chatter for SharePoint 2013 Released!

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Hi Everyone – I am very pleased to announce that the new 2013-compatible version of Chatter for SharePoint is now available! You can download the latest version here.

The 2010/2013 versions are functionally identical – except where differences in the platform need to be handled. The 2013 version has an updated look that honors the native SharePoint 2013 branding:

It is my intention to manage the 2010 and 2013 version in lock-step, until such time where it is not practical or 2013 gains more traction. A new version of the 2010 solution is also available which includes some cosmetic updates and fixes.

Version 1.2.0.0 changes include:

  • Initial support for SharePoint 2013
  • Fixed issue where URLs to feed items in search results were linking to feeds rather than the actual item
  • Fixed issue where URLs from Links list types were returning the display-item URL rather than the URL of the actual link
  • Fixed issue where the Group breadcrumb would not reload the current feed when clicked
  • Added support for sharing 2013 Task list items
  • Added support for sharing 2013 Picture library items

The 2013 version is licensed in the same manner as the 2010 version – by farm. Same price too, just $49 USD. I’m very happy to offer solutions for both of these platforms – and to be the first to offer a 2013-compatible version. Please check them out and be sure to send me any comments or suggestions. Thanks!

Replace the SharePoint 2010 Newsfeed with SalesForce Chatter

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Hi Everyone – Just a quick ‘How-To’ article on replacing the SharePoint 2010 ‘My Newsfeed’ with SalesForce Chatter using Chatter for SharePoint. Why would you want to do this? Well (in my opinion) the newsfeed feature feels incomplete. You can’t have true threaded discussions in the feed – it is more a rollup of activities within SharePoint – and the frequency of the updates depends on how your timer jobs are configured. If you are using Chatter as your social platform and SharePoint for collaboration, the My Newsfeed page would be a great place to put the Chatter for SharePoint web part.

This change is really easy to do since the My Newsfeed page is just a web part page. Using your SharePoint Administrator account (one that has site collection admin rights to the My Site host), you can edit the newsfeed page, close (don’t delete) the ‘What’s New’ web part and add the Chatter for SharePoint web part to the top zone. If you haven’t already configured the web part previously you will need to do so now (or copy the app settings into your My Site web.config file). Once you have it configured, your users will be able to see the latest updates on Chatter any time they visit the My Newsfeed link:

Above: The modified My Newsfeed page. Note that the web part title bar is hidden (set to none in the web part properties).

Hope you found this tip useful. Thanks for using Chatter for SharePoint!