SharePoint 2007 Publishing Sites
From ctowiki
| This page is updated for SharePoint 2007.
If you would like to see Student Computing Services add content, you can request additions to this page. |
Contents |
Adopting SharePoint Publishing Sites over Collaboration Sites
Introduction
Currently, CTLT is using collaboration sites for the front facing showcasing of its work. However, there has been an ongoing discussion into the possibility of adopting publishing sites as the de facto model for CTLT’s public web presence.
While SharePoint’s collaboration sites provide a suite of features that allow for multiple users to upload a range of content, the issues of management and quality control of this information is inherently implicit within a collaboration site. On the other hand, publishing sites by default make the management and quality control of published information explicit through the default workflows that come pre-loaded.
Now, the differences between publishing and collaboration sites are not all that huge, yet where the two do differ might make the transition a positive move. Overall, the primary difference rests with the emphasis upon built-in workflows, a richer set of options for configuring the visual layout to include views for search, navigation, articles, news, and generic page types, as well as a more explicit administrative system that provides tools for managing the content, workflows and layout.
Rationale
The rationale for supporting customized or even the default workflow is to enable collaborative review, to minimize confusing or erroneous information and collectively ensure that only the agreed upon product makes it to the public’s eye. In this way these built-in workflows can act as components to aid in collaboration while giving the site users more control over how the collaboration is distributed among site participants.
For instance, configuration of workflows can be changed both within the SharePoint admin area as well as through SharePoint Designer 2007. This makes it easy for a range of users to define workflows.
- Workflows provide easy configuration by end-user, with options for more complex operations through SharePoint Designer.
- Workflows can be content specific i.e. pages, articles, events basically any content type can have a different workflow attached to it.
- Workflows can be disabled.
Similarly, the range of layouts based upon content type and purpose allows for greater flexibility out of the box for those not fully acquainted with SharePoint features, and the widgets for editing content, workflows, etc is more obvious, which also represents an important feature for encouraging greater adoption.
Conclusion
While the rich set of options provided by publishing sites represents a firm basis for considering a move to publishing sites, a more understated rationale for use of publishing sites over the collaboration sites is that the former are more representative of standard CMS applications. Both in terms of layout and emphasis upon workflows, publishing sites follow along the lines of what is more commonly encountered among CMS business applications. As students enter the work force many of them will encounter a range of software for managing public and private data whether it is SharePoint, Plone, Alfresco or any of the other hundred or so applications out there. With this in mind it is arguably more appropriate to emphasis tools such as publishing sites, as these will be more commonly encountered in the work world.
On the other hand the number of features does add to the complexity concerning publishing sites, which can act in the opposite direction and hinder adoption. This means greater focus on providing the training and documentation necessary for effective adoption becomes critical to success
Using Publishing Sites
Here is a list of useful links associated with the use of Publishing Sites in SharePoint 2007