It doesn’t matter if you’ve been using SharePoint for a few weeks or a few years, chances are you’re not familiar with all of its features. Maybe you know about some features, but you’re not using them. With that said, here are a few SharePoint features you should be using, but probably aren’t.
WorkFlows
If you aren’t using WorkFlows you should. A workflow is a group of tasks, as well as decision points that can lead to several outcomes or just one. Workflows are a lot like flow-charts, and there are many templates to choose from within SharePoint. Adding a workflow is easy, but there are four roles associated with it.
The roles are creator, author, initiator and participant. If you want to manage and complete tasks with ease and stay on top of everything, then start adding workflows today.
SharePoint lists are another feature that everyone isn’t taking advantage of. There are two main ways to manage information with SharePoint, with one being a library and the other being lists. Lists are similar to spreadsheets because columns and rows make them up. However, these lists are within SharePoint and not in Excel and many people have access to it at the same time.
Allowing multiple people to access SharePoint lists saves time because you don’t have to email them individually to people. Also, you don’t have to keep track of changes being made from users. You will love using SharePoint lists much more than spreadsheets.
Also, creating lists and reviewing them is easy. The same goes for updating and deleting them. All you have to do is click on the Add Lists section of SharePoint.
Libraries
Libraries are useful because you can use them for various tasks. You can use them to filter out data, store data and modify it. You can even group data and you can capture meta data.
Team members can use libraries to work together to create files, update those files when needed and collect files. SharePoint provides you with a number of default library apps you can use, so check them out and become familiar with them. The chances are that libraries will become one of your most favorite features.
Creating a library is simple. Go to the SharePoint Class site. Once there, go to the pane that mentions libraries. Click on the link and you’ll be well on your way to creating a library.
Search
SharePoint has a search feature that you’re probably not using. This basic feature lets you find queries that are placed against the data stored in the server farm. In short, this helps you find a lot of relevant information with ease.
Search results can contain a lot of info, such as links to your list items and libraries that you’ve created. It can even point you to links to sites and individual web-pages, as well as documents. The search engine that SharePoint uses takes many things into account, such as your previous searches and permissions, which play a role in what results they will return to you.
Project Site
Use the Project Site template to help with managing work. You can use this to help with task lists, calendars and creating a document library. This is a basic SharePoint feature, but a lot of people don’t add project sites to SharePoint and they should because it is incredibly useful.
Are you using any of the above features? If not, then you should start as soon as possible. Trust us when we say you don’t know what you’re missing. Go ahead and start using them today and the chances are you won’t stop using them.