Creating "Append-Only" Comment Field in Custom SharePoint List - sharepoint

I am relatively new to SharePoint, working with WSS SharePoint 2.0. The "Issues" list template contains an "append-only" comment column. The great thing about this append-only comment column is that it saves a history of the comments entered every time you save, and it clears out the comment field for the next time you edit the item.
I would like to add this column to a custom list. However, when I add a new column, it does not give me an option to add this type of comment column - it only gives options for single or multiple lines of text. Is there a way to do this?

You can create an append-only column by choosing the Multiple Lines of Text option and selecting "Append Changes to Existing Text". I believe this only applies to lists, not document libraries. Other kinds of lists may restrict this, too.

if you're using SharePoint 2007, In the List/Library Settings click Add from existing site columns. Under Base Columns Append-Only Comments should be there. In order for the "tracking" to work Versioning must be enabled for that list/library.

Not having an append-only field in a document library made me pretty sad. But this template made me happy again:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=02C4D1B4-7D53-4B72-B577-3DA23F86EC17&displaylang=en
It's the Document Library and Review template and allows each document to have a "Discuss" button and related discussion thread.

Related

Sharepoint 2010 document templates

We have a requirement for a site wide document library that contains simple word letter templates.
From within a customer item on a list we need to be able to select one of these templates and then have the template populate with customer data such as name & address etc.
What’s the easiest way to achieve this? Ideally without using workflows.
Then you shall assign a document template to a content type.
See this blog post, http://sharepointchick.com/archive/2011/01/07/using-content-types-with-document-templates-when-using-quotnew-documentrdquo.aspx
Create fields in your template that display the document properties to "Autofill" them. This is done in the Insert tab of the ribbon, then by clicking QuickParts, then Document Properties.
The end result is that in addition to the File > Info or the properties bar, each property will also appear in the body of the document wherever you have inserted the field for it. These can then auto-update themselves based on the metadata stored with the document in the library (how often they update is a Word setting).
Xpertdoc Letter Management for SharePoint let's user pick a template from the context of a customer record, then generates a new document with customer data automatically merged inside the document.
CGU, an insurance company, estimate they save 0.5 million dollars per year by the efficiency gains introduced by Xpertdoc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbqWiFt5dUA&feature=channel&list=UL.
First of all, you should use the technique mentioned before for the document creation based on content type.
As for auto-filling the property fields, I suggest you check out this post that explains how to auto-fill properties when document is added.
You can also opt for a commercial solution such as Harmon.ie for SharePoint to retrieve your templates. They have a free version, if I'm not mistaken.

Sharepoint 2007 Count Modifications View

Is it possible to create a list view that contains a column for how many times a document has been modified? I would also like a "Total Modifications" value that sums the modifications from that column.
I am new to sharepoint. If this is possible, where should I start looking for the information on how to achieve this?
Turn on versioning control in the document library settings and edit the views to include [version]. This will only work going forwards of course.

Sharepoint custom list, dynamic field?

Hey guys, just wondering if their is a simple way to create an Item in a custom list but i need that item to be dynamic. The user can click add more to get another field that would hold the same type of data an unlimited amount of time.
If i could even just add an excel spreadsheet type of field that would work also. But excel wouldnt need to be a requirement on the users machine.
I thought i had read somewhere you could do this using info path but i cant seem to find anything relating to it on google.
The InfoPath feature is called a "repeating section". There is information on how to set that up in Office Online.
If you wanted to achieve this entirely in SharePoint, the problem is that there can only be a fixed number of fields in a list. So you could create as many that would ever be used and just display all of those. Or to make it much nicer for the user incorporate jQuery to hide all of the fields except the first one and provide a button for them to click that unhides the next one.
There is good information on how to access list form fields using jQuery in the question How can I set the default value in a SharePoint list field, based on the value in another field?

Sharepoint: Person column in custom list

I have a Person field in my custom list. I want to have a view that will show multiple fields from that Person instead of the one I had to choose when creating the Person column.
So basically I want to have one column for Person and then in the view see Name, title, email, phone. All of those are valid choices but I can only pick one right now.
I really want to avoid typing in the username lookup for each column I choose to display.
This is SP 2007
It sounds like you need to create a custom fieldtype (with a fieldcontrol) that inherits from the userfield but in viewmode renders out the different columns you need. Is that something along the lines you are looking for?
http://www.sharepointblogs.com/nicksevens/archive/2007/08/31/create-custom-field-types-for-sharepoint.aspx
Note: This link is broken
You probably want a Computed Field. Note that this is not a Calculated Column. A Computed Field is what is used to display the same data is different ways. In SharePoint there is a Title field, but there is also a "Title (linked to item with edit menu)" computed field as well as a "Title (linked to item)" computed field.
See midway down this link for more details. I'm not sure if it will have all of the power that you need, but if it does it is almost certainly what you are looking for if you don't mind getting into the Schema XML file a little.
Could you use a DataView web part for this? If it's just a question of viewing the data that might be suitable.
Came across this thread and thought I'd add a tip. This suggestion is clearly not for every use case, but may work well in situations where you're managing a list rather than allowing manual inputs (verified to work with SP 2013):
Create a spreadsheet with columns to match your SharePoint list that contains multiple profile fields. (for example: name, phone number, email address)
In the spreadsheet, enter the same email address in all of the person/group field types in that row. (e.g., boss#company.com, boss#company.com, boss#company.com)
Select and copy the row(s) you wish to transfer to SharePoint.
In SharePoint, change the list view to "Quick Edit" and paste the row(s) into the grid.
SharePoint will process each field and convert the email address to the profile value you selected during the list setup.

Auto number column in SharePoint list

In a SharePoint list I want an auto number column that as I add to the list gets incremented. How best can I go about this?
Sharepoint Lists automatically have an column with "ID" which auto increments. You simply need to select this column from the "modify view" screen to view it.
You can't add a new unique auto-generated ID to a SharePoint list, but there already is one there! If you edit the "All Items" view you will see a list of columns that do not have the display option checked.
There are quite a few of these columns that exist but that are never displayed, like "Created By" and "Created". These fields are used within SharePoint, but they are not displayed by default so as not to clutter up the display. You can't edit these fields, but you can display them to the user. if you check the "Display" box beside the ID field you will get a unique and auto-generated ID field displayed in your list.
Check out: Unique ID in SharePoint list
If you want to control the formatting of the unique identifier you can create your own <FieldType> in SharePoint. MSDN also has a visual How-To. This basically means that you're creating a custom column.
WSS defines the Counter field type (which is what the ID column above is using). I've never had the need to re-use this or extend it, but it should be possible.
A solution might exist without creating a custom <FieldType>. For example: if you wanted unique IDs like CUST1, CUST2, ... it might be possible to create a Calculated column and use the value of the ID column in you formula (="CUST" & [ID]). I haven't tried this, but this should work :)
I had this issue with a custom list and while it's not possible to use the auto-generated ID column to create a calculated column, it is possible to use a workflow to do the heavy lifting.
I created a new workflow variable of type Number and set it to be the value of the ID column in the current item. Then it's simply a matter of calculating the custom column value and setting it - in my case I just needed the numbering to begin at 100,000.
it's in there by default. It's the id field.
If you want something beyond the ID column that's there in all lists, you're probably going to have to resort to an Event Receiver on the list that "calculates" what the value of your unique identified should be or using a custom field type that has the required logic embedded in this. Unfortunately, both of these options will require writing and deploying custom code to the server and deploying assemblies to the GAC, which can be frowned upon in environments where you don't have complete control over the servers.
If you don't need the unique identifier to show up immediately, you could probably generate it via a workflow (either with SharePoint Designer or a custom WF workflow built in Visual Studio).
Unfortunately, calculated columns, which seem like an obvious solution, won't work for this purpose because the ID is not yet assigned when the calculation is attempted. If you go in after the fact and edit the item, the calculation may achieve what you want, but on initial creation of a new item it will not be calculated correctly.
As stated, all objects in sharepoint contain some sort of unique identifier (often an integer based counter for list items, and GUIDs for lists).
That said, there is also a feature available at http://www.codeplex.com/features called "Unique Column Policy", designed to add an other column with a unique value. A complete writeup is available at http://scothillier.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!8F5DEA8AEA9E6FBB!293.entry
So I am not sure I can really think of why you would actually need a "site collection unique" id, so maybe you can comment and let us know what is actually trying to be accomplished here...
Either way, all items have a UniqueID property that is a GUID if you really need it: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.sharepoint.splistitem.uniqueid.aspx
Peetha has the best idea, I've done the same with a custom list in our SP site. Using a workflow to auto increment is the best way, and it is not that difficult. Check this website out: http://splittingshares.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/auto-increment-a-number-in-a-new-list-item/
I give much appreciation to the person who posted that solution, it is very cool!!

Resources