SharePoint 2007 - Simple Task Dashboard

example of creating a simple Task Dashboard. This is a pretty basic example of using all OOTB (out of the box) features and combining them to quickly build a solution.

Scenario:

• We want to provide a way for users to easily see a summary of the current project tasks.
• We want them to be able to see the following information:
  • Open Tasks Assigned to Them
  • Overdue Tasks
  • Tasks Due This Week
  • Task Calendar
  • Tasks Assigned to Others

Solution:

To build this solution we will be using several different tools available in SharePoint, all included in the list below:

• Task List
• Task List Views
  • We will create views for each of the different ways we want to see the data displayed on our dashboard.
• Web Part Page
• List View Web Parts
• Custom Navigation

The first thing we will do is create our task lists and then configure all the views that we need. To create the list, go to View All Site Content, Create and then select the Task list.

Next, we will need to configure our custom views. To do this, we can select the view drop down and select to create new views.

Now, we just need to give our view a name and set the specific criteria.

Below is a table that describes the configuration for the different views we are creating for this example:

View	Description	Image
Open Tasks Assigned to Them	Show all open tasks that are assigned to me.
Overdue Tasks	Show all open tasks that the due date is less than today.
Tasks Due This Week	Show all tasks that are due in the next 7 days.
Task Calendar	Show the tasks in a calendar format that shows the start and end date as the duration.
Tasks Assigned to Others	Show all the tasks grouped by the person they were assigned to and the status.

Now that we have the views created, we will create the web part page. We are creating this web part page to give us some more real estate to display the data. We could in theory add the web parts to the home page; however we want to be careful not to get our home page too cluttered. Since we don't want to clutter the home page, the web part page is a good alternative. Once we have the page created, we will simply add it is a tab to our home site so users can easily access it. To create the web part page go to view all site content and then create (same steps that we used to create the task list). This time on the selection page we will choose to create a web part page.

On the creation page you will need to give the page a name, select a layout and also select the library that will be used to store the list. Every web part page you create must be stored in a document library. If you are going to create many pages, or if you think having the page in an existing library would be confusing, you could create a library dedicated to storing only web part pages.

Now that we have the page created, we can simply add our web parts to the page and select the view that we want to be displayed in each of the web parts. We can also modify the Title Bar properties to change the page title, image and add a caption.

Here are the steps that would need to be repeated for each web part you add to the page:

1. Add the Web Part
2. Modify the Properties to change the View and the Web Part Title

Here is a screenshot of the finished Dashboard page.

And here is the page in edit view to show how the web parts have been arranged on the page.

As a final last step, we are going to add a link to this page to the global navigation for the site. To access the settings, go to the site settings page and then select the navigation link. We are working with a site that has publishing enabled, so our link is for navigation. If you don't have publishing enabled you will want to use the Top Link Bar link.

Once this step has been completed, you will be able to easily access the Task Dashboard using the global navigation.

KPI in Sharepoint 2007

We all know about the importance of goal in business. Business works on set goals, so it is very important to track where they are, matching the goal, ahead of goal or behind the goal. To answer this question, SharePoint has come up with feature called KPI (Key Performance Indicator).

Key Performance Indicator as name suggests, it gives an idea about where we are performing related to goal. They are found in Report center site, so if you are in WSS working environment, do not think of using this feature because you are not going to get this. This is moss feature.

So let’s get started and understand how it works.

KPI is a special type of list, so while creating a list; we need to select this special list as KPI list, not a normal custom list. When you create a KPI list, then click new, you will see the difference. This is the difference.

Here is a sample of creating KPI list and how the data is entered in it. So first we will create a normal list which will hold the data that will be used in KPI list. Create a list as shown below.

Now observe here that we have sales goal against January of each year. Keep this thing as of now in your mind.

Let us go back to KPI list, Create KPI list and name it as you like.

Once you are done with creation, just click on new and observe the change, here you can see four options.



As you can see, first options says you can create KPI using list options, second option says that you can create KPI using excel workbook, third says that you can create KPI using Sql server 2005 analysis services and the last options says that you can create KPI using manual entry.

We are going to see three out of these four. We will not cover analysis service KPI. We will cover rest of it.

So let us get started and try to create KPI from List option. So click on the first option, once you click on it, it will take you to a page where you can enter the List url from which we want to fetch the data, select the list that we created earlier and click on number of list items in view. Scroll below and enter 8 and 6 respectively like shown below.



Let me explain you what all settings we just did. We have counted the number of items in the list. If total number of items in the list meets criteria of 8 or above, KPI gives green symbol. If total number of items in the list is 6 or 7 then it gives us yellow triangle. If total number of items is below 6 than it gives red square symbol.

So let us go back and see how many items we have in list, we have five items entered in it.



Now let’s go ahead and add more two rows in the list.



Now go back to KPI list and refresh the page and see symbol changes to the yellow triangle that meets to our criteria.



Now go back and add one more item to it to complete our goal of 8 items in the list and that will turn our KPI symbol to green circle.



That completed our simple example of generating KPI based on total number of items in the list. If you have observed while creating KPI, you must have seen other two options as well. It says that you can also go for the percentage value. Other is calculating average, calculating sum etc kind of a function. We will go for calculating average sales. So let’s add one more KPI which is again from List data. So click on new and select KPI from list option. In the page, shown name the KPI and then select third radio button. Select your list by specifying URL and selecting view as All items, here you can also mentioned your specific view for which you want to generate KPI, so this gives us more flexibility for criteria based KPI as well. After this select column as “Sales Goal” and select average from the drop down. Provide 1000 in the goal and 600 in warning textbox. You should have something which looks similar to shown below.



We have specified that if the average sale is 1000 or more, we are safe and it shows green symbol. If it’s between 600 to 999, we are in a warning stage else we are in danger zone and indicated by red square.

Here we have this entry in our base list.



Because average sales is higher than we specified (which is $1,000 in our case), KPI indicator shows us green symbol.



To know more on the same KPI, just click on the KPI item that we have just created; it will take you to a page which shows more detailed information.



Now, go ahead and change the sales values accordingly. When you change the value which makes the average change in them, when average goes below 999 it will start showing yellow triangle and if average changes below 600, it will start showing red square.

Ok, now let us start analyzing the other options which is entering manual information KPI, it is very simple process of giving static data. You just need to give a value and select the criteria goal for it and it simple displays the image depending on the value that you have entered like shown below.

You can also create a KPI indicator which will come from the excel file. But before starting on this, you need to create SSP for this, because the excel file that we are going to use here must be under the trusted location. So create the SSP from central administration and click on the excel trusted file location. Give the entire path till your library name in which your excel book resides. Once you are done with this, then only you will be able to use this feature. So go ahead and create one more KPI indicator and this time select the indicator using data in excel work book. Once you click on this, you need to give the URL of the workbook. So go ahead and select your work book. Now here, once you select the workbook, you need to give the cell number here to mention your indicator value. Along with this you also need to give the cell number for goal and cell number for warning.

This is the snapshot of excel workbook that I have created. In this workbook, in Shhet1 I have mentioned Sales data.



Here D11 cell is an average of sales goal value of D4 to D8 which is our target value as indicator. H$ value indicates the goal to achieve and H7 is the warning sales goal. So let’s specify these values in respective field as shown below.



Just see at the indicator field in KPI list,

Let’s prepare one workbook which look like this, here D11 is calculated column which is average of all sales figures. Cell H4 represents the goal to be achieved and cell H6 represents the warning match.

So here we will specify our criteria like shown above in workbook figure.

Go ahead and have a look at the KPI list how it looks like.



Try to open the workbook for editing and see the changes in the indicator values, you will see different indicators shown in the KPI list.

Now, we are almost done with our examples of KPI. Just one more topic left to discuss which a KPI web part is. We are done with creating KPI list, its supporting list but there is one more thing, which is web part that supports the KPI list. So let’s go ahead and add web parts. Click on edit page, where you want to put this web part. This web part will basically pulls the KPI data from the KPI list and shows details at one go.

Find web part which is named “Key Performance indicators” under Dashboard category. Once you add it, click on modify shared web part and select the KPI list.



One more web part is there which says KPI Details under same Dashboard category. So go ahead and add that web part on the page, click on modify shared web part. Select KPI list, here you will find all KPIs that you have mentioned in the KPI list in the drop down. From there you can select KPI. In this example, I have selected the excel sales data calculation KPI and selected icon as checkmark and result is shown below.



That is it. i will soon come with part 2.

Creating a KPI list based on a SharePoint list.

SharePoint as a business tool can be utilized for displaying data for the end users. And not just displaying the data, but displaying it in brief so that the users get to know the overall scenario without getting down to the basics. For these reasons, I have always liked SharePoint.

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is financial and non-financial metrics used to help an organization define and measure progress toward organizational goals. KPIs can be delivered through Business Intelligence techniques to assess the present state of the business and to assist in prescribing a course of action.

Sample KPI list

Consider the following scenario:

You have a company where the performance is based on Surveys that the users provide for the product/company. The Company Director would like the survey data targets to be displayed on the home page of a report site on the SharePoint web application. Now, there are four parameters that need to be displayed on the KPI list.

• Top Area [Overall survey points including all the parameters. The total point are 10 and if the user give a overall survey of equal to or greater than 8 points, then that would be considered under this parameter]
• Bottom Area [This is opposite of Top Area. Now if the end user give a overall score of equal to or less than 4 points, then that would be considered under this parameter]
• Product Quality [This is the individual rating the end user gives about the product that they are using. This is also a score out of 10 points. If the user gives a score of equal to or greater than 8 points then that would be counted positive under this category or else for any value less than 8, it would be considered as negative]
• Engineer Knowledge [This is the individual rating the end user gives based on what they think about the support engineer/executive/customer service agent that they has a talk with. This is also a score out of 10 points. If the user gives a score of equal to or greater than 8 points then that would be counted positive under this category or else for any value less than 8, it would be considered as negative]

The above scenario is just an example so that we can develop out KPI list. The scenario may depend on the company requirement.

e.g. A sales company may want to display the sales that are done for different products in different areas. As per the definition of KPI, it is not necessary that we display only financial data. We can display any data where target is in picture. E.g. if a department want to meet 75% of total product sales in a specific region, we can create a KPI list that can show the current status of the sales as per the data that is present in a SharePoint list / database / external source like XML. In this tutorial, we will first continue with using another SharePoint lists as the data source for generating the KPI list.

So, now that we have an understanding of the scenario, let us get started with the actual work.

• I have created a collaboration portal site which by default creates a “Reports” sub site under the top level site. We can even use a team site or a blank site template to start with. But there might be features that are required for a specific web part to function properly. For these reasons, I tend to start off with a publishing site template and then test it with other templates.
• Browse to the “Reports” site and click on “View All Site Content” in the quick launch bar. Select the Create button in the Actions menu bar.

Create Site Content

• Create a list. I am using the Custom List, so that I can have the columns as per the report requirements.

Creating Custom List

• Enter the description of the custom list and click on “Create” button.

Survey Data – Custom List Details

• Now to add the custom columns, we need to click on “Settings” button in the Actions menu bar of the list and go to “List Settings”.

Survey Data – List Settings

• Under the columns section, select “Create Column” and create the following columns in the list.

Survey Data – Columns

The Engineer column is a lookup column that is pulling out data from other list [which contains the engineer details. This concept in SharePoint is called re-usability, where a list can contain general data and that can be used in multiple locations. Thus the end-user does not have to always feed in the data for the individual items. The list automatically pulls out the data that is present and the user just have to select the item from the list.]

• Once we have the above columns created, we will add some items in the “Surveys” list. This data will be used for getting the KPI on out site. After filling in some items, the list should look somewhat like this.

Survey Data – List Items

• Now that we have the data filled in the list, we need to create a KPI list in the site. So, once again , we will browse to the “View All Site Content” of the Reports Site and select the “Create” Option. This time, select the “KPI list” under the custom list section and fill in the details to create a KPI list. Now, we have already been through the process of creating a list, so I am keeping it short this time.
• Once the list is created, it should look like this.

Survey KPI – Blank List

• Select, New -> Indicator using data in SharePoint list

Creating a new KPI item

• Put the following settings for the KPI item

Name : Top Area
Description : This KPI displays the performance indicator for the top area.

List Url : Select the “Survey Data” list from the list locator. The url should be
/Reports/Lists/Survey Data/AllItems.aspx

Under the “Value Calculation” section, Keep the option – “Percentage of list items in the view where” selected as we are going to show the data in percentage format on the KPI.

Select the “Overall” column -> is greater than or equal to -> 8 [Here, “8” is the value which defines the limit. If the Overall score of the survey is greater than “8” then the survey data will be counted under the Top Area parameter.]

Moving on to the next section [Status Icon], select the following settings:

Better values are : greater
Display when has met or exceeded goal 70

Display when has met or exceeded warning 65

Display otherwise

• Leave the other settings as default and click on “OK” button.

Now, this was an example for the “Top Area” KPI parameter. Similarly, I have created 3 more KPI items for the bottom area, engineer knowledge and product quality. Now all these items have their own logic as the one above. Depending on the scenario, you can create your own KPI items.

Once the KPI items are created, the KPI list should look like this.

Final Survey KPI list view

Now, you have your KPI list ready and working. The only thing that might be missing is to display the list on your home page of the Report site. For that you need to browse to the home page of the Report Site -> Site Actions -> Edit Page -> Click on “Add a web part” on a zone of your choice.

Add the “Key Performance Indicators” web part on the page.

KPI Web Part

Configure the KPI web part and specify the “Survey KPI” list as the source for the KPI web part and there you are.… KPI on your Report site.

SharePoint as a business tool can be utilized for displaying data for the end users. And not just displaying the data, but displaying it in brief so that the users get to know the overall scenario without getting down to the basics. For these reasons, I have always liked SharePoint.

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is financial and non-financial metrics used to help an organization define and measure progress toward organizational goals. KPIs can be delivered through Business Intelligence techniques to assess the present state of the business and to assist in prescribing a course of action.
Sample KPI list





Consider the following scenario:

You have a company where the performance is based on Surveys that the users provide for the product/company. The Company Director would like the survey data targets to be displayed on the home page of a report site on the SharePoint web application. Now, there are four parameters that need to be displayed on the KPI list.

* Top Area [Overall survey points including all the parameters. The total point are 10 and if the user give a overall survey of equal to or greater than 8 points, then that would be considered under this parameter]
* Bottom Area [This is opposite of Top Area. Now if the end user give a overall score of equal to or less than 4 points, then that would be considered under this parameter]
* Product Quality [This is the individual rating the end user gives about the product that they are using. This is also a score out of 10 points. If the user gives a score of equal to or greater than 8 points then that would be counted positive under this category or else for any value less than 8, it would be considered as negative]
* Engineer Knowledge [This is the individual rating the end user gives based on what they think about the support engineer/executive/customer service agent that they has a talk with. This is also a score out of 10 points. If the user gives a score of equal to or greater than 8 points then that would be counted positive under this category or else for any value less than 8, it would be considered as negative]



The above scenario is just an example so that we can develop out KPI list. The scenario may depend on the company requirement.

e.g. A sales company may want to display the sales that are done for different products in different areas. As per the definition of KPI, it is not necessary that we display only financial data. We can display any data where target is in picture. E.g. if a department want to meet 75% of total product sales in a specific region, we can create a KPI list that can show the current status of the sales as per the data that is present in a SharePoint list / database / external source like XML. In this tutorial, we will first continue with using another SharePoint lists as the data source for generating the KPI list.



So, now that we have an understanding of the scenario, let us get started with the actual work.

* I have created a collaboration portal site which by default creates a “Reports” sub site under the top level site. We can even use a team site or a blank site template to start with. But there might be features that are required for a specific web part to function properly. For these reasons, I tend to start off with a publishing site template and then test it with other templates.
* Browse to the “Reports” site and click on “View All Site Content” in the quick launch bar. Select the Create button in the Actions menu bar.




Create Site Content
Create Site Content

* Create a list. I am using the Custom List, so that I can have the columns as per the report requirements.

Creating Custom List
Creating Custom List

* Enter the description of the custom list and click on “Create” button.

Survey Data - Custom List Details
Survey Data – Custom List Details

* Now to add the custom columns, we need to click on “Settings” button in the Actions menu bar of the list and go to “List Settings”.

Survey Data - List Settings
Survey Data – List Settings

* Under the columns section, select “Create Column” and create the following columns in the list.

Survey Data - Columns
Survey Data – Columns

The Engineer column is a lookup column that is pulling out data from other list [which contains the engineer details. This concept in SharePoint is called re-usability, where a list can contain general data and that can be used in multiple locations. Thus the end-user does not have to always feed in the data for the individual items. The list automatically pulls out the data that is present and the user just have to select the item from the list.]



* Once we have the above columns created, we will add some items in the “Surveys” list. This data will be used for getting the KPI on out site. After filling in some items, the list should look somewhat like this.

Survey Data - List Items
Survey Data – List Items

* Now that we have the data filled in the list, we need to create a KPI list in the site. So, once again , we will browse to the “View All Site Content” of the Reports Site and select the “Create” Option. This time, select the “KPI list” under the custom list section and fill in the details to create a KPI list. Now, we have already been through the process of creating a list, so I am keeping it short this time.
* Once the list is created, it should look like this.

Survey KPI - Blank List
Survey KPI – Blank List

* Select, New -> Indicator using data in SharePoint list

Creating a new KPI item
Creating a new KPI item

* Put the following settings for the KPI item

Name : Top Area
Description : This KPI displays the performance indicator for the top area.

List Url : Select the “Survey Data” list from the list locator. The url should be
/Reports/Lists/Survey Data/AllItems.aspx

Under the “Value Calculation” section, Keep the option – “Percentage of list items in the view where” selected as we are going to show the data in percentage format on the KPI.

Select the “Overall” column -> is greater than or equal to -> 8 [Here, “8” is the value which defines the limit. If the Overall score of the survey is greater than “8” then the survey data will be counted under the Top Area parameter.]



Moving on to the next section [Status Icon], select the following settings:

Better values are : greater
Display when has met or exceeded goal 70

Display when has met or exceeded warning 65

Display otherwise



* Leave the other settings as default and click on “OK” button.



Now, this was an example for the “Top Area” KPI parameter. Similarly, I have created 3 more KPI items for the bottom area, engineer knowledge and product quality. Now all these items have their own logic as the one above. Depending on the scenario, you can create your own KPI items.
Once the KPI items are created, the KPI list should look like this.

Final Survey KPI list view
Final Survey KPI list view

Now, you have your KPI list ready and working. The only thing that might be missing is to display the list on your home page of the Report site. For that you need to browse to the home page of the Report Site -> Site Actions -> Edit Page -> Click on “Add a web part” on a zone of your choice.
Add the “Key Performance Indicators” web part on the page.

KPI Web Part
KPI Web Part

Configure the KPI web part and specify the “Survey KPI” list as the source for the KPI web part and there you are.… KPI on your Report site.

What SharePoint Can Do ????

SharePoint is one of the most useful, versatile and beneficial technologies you can use. SharePoint can do many things for you, from managing data to document sharing to instant messaging. If you take a few minutes to think about the things SharePoint can do for you, you might just be pleasantly surprised.

On a basic level, SharePoint can provide you and your organization a way to share knowledge. Sharing knowledge benefits you on several levels. It helps to reduce the duplication of effort inside your organization. Users can become more efficient, building off one another’s work instead of creating everything they might need from the ground up.

In addition, the kind of knowledge sharing that SharePoint provides your business helps to streamline the knowledge sharing process. Rather than having to look in several places – such as a server, a personal computer and a filing cabinet – your employees can find all of the information in the SharePoint repository.

One of the best things about SharePoint is that it makes finding documents easier. While most companies have a way to share documents, SharePoint lets you do it in a uniform way. For example, attaching documents to email messages means that only the recipient of the email message has access to the document. In addition, to get any use out of the document in the future, that user has to be able to remember the particulars of the email in order to find the document. SharePoint puts the document in a central location where it is easily accessed.

In addition to easy access, SharePoint lets users have the latest and best information available. If you send someone a document via Email or burn a document to a CD, the recipient will only ever have that version of the document. If you update the document in the future, you’ll have to send an entirely new Email or burn a new CD. With SharePoint, you simply update the document on the SharePoint server and the user will have the latest version at their fingertips.

SharePoint can also reduce your overall need for Information Technology consulting or personnel. For example, SharePoint can empower your Human Resources personnel to make information available directly to employees via SharePoint, rather than having to place a request with your IT department and waiting for them to make the information available.

You can also use SharePoint to provide data and information across your organization to users without specialized knowledge or without specialized software. You could post accounting data to SharePoint, for example, which could then be used by other departments without having to install the accounting software and without having to make a formal request to the accounting department. In this way, SharePoint makes your company’s important data more accessible to the entire organization.

If you need a more effective way to share information across your company, consider implementing a SharePoint solution. SharePoint can make your business run smoother, and can do it in such a way that actually saves you money and increases productivity

Changing Face of MOSS 2007 To sharepont 2010

The SharePoint 2010 Microsoft has regrouped all the feature into 6 new Feature Area

Here is the Mapping between the Feature Areas from Office SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010

1. Collaboration is now Communities

2. Portals is now Sites

3. Business Processes is now Composites

4. Business Intelligence is now Insights

5. Search is Search

6. Content Management is now Content