Welcome to Week 3 of how Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Can Save You Time & Money!  This week the subject is:

 Handling "Offline Access to SharePoint Files"

 Being able to access SharePoint files offline saves time and money in the following ways:

• Less time is spent connecting to corporate servers using VPN or RAS tools
• Time wasted waiting for servers to come back up (during down time, or times of slow server performance) is eliminated
• Content updates are noticed sooner so staff spend less time locating the 'latest and greatest'
• External Members can access internal content without having to create an externally facing site ($$ licensing)
• Reporting can be easily customized to meet the needs of a variety of Users

Document Libraries and Offline Access

With document libraries you have a few options for providing off-line access to files.  In each option you decide which documents/libraries are available off line.

1. Connecting SharePoint Libraries as Folders to Microsoft Outlook - This reminds me of the "Public Folder" days of the past, yet works very well with two-way synchronization since v3.  (This also works for Calendar and Contact Lists that look just like any other calendar or contact list in Outlook.) Get instructions here - literally takes less than 1 minute to set up per library.
2. Connecting using Microsoft Groove - This provides a scenario where Users who cannot access your SharePoint site may still access a defined number of documents on SharePoint.  They will be synchronized by a Groove Monitor (a person) that does have access to the SharePoint site.  Get instructions on Groove here.  I find that setting up Groove for new users is a little challenging.....and may take a day to get everyone on the same page as to what to download and how to log in the first time - but after that it is really VERY easy to use. 

SharePoint Lists and Offline Access

With lists there is a bit of a difference on what you get when you access them offline. In this case you are not managing 'documents', but list items (line by line in detailed format).  There are a variety of ways (that could be a blog in itself) to handle that type of content.  Here are my three favorite methods (first two methods are read only, and the last one can be read/write):

1. MS Excel Export - When you export a list to a spreadsheet (or to Visio which ROCKS for task lists) it retains a query string that can be refreshed when connected to the server.  In the meantime, when you are not connected, the data is still visible in the spreadsheet.  One of the things I like to do is leave the query worksheet separate in the file (often I make it invisible so it doesn't get tampered with), then I pivot from it new reports, charts and summaries.  I refresh the workbook whenever I connect to the server, and VOILA! my custom template with all my fancy reporting is updated as well.  This is really kewl, and can take you places if you enjoy working in MS Excel. Try this out using the "ACTIONS" button, and the "Export to Spreadsheet" command, on any SharePoint List.
2. RSS Feeds - RSS Feeds are useful for adding very dynamic list reporting to your desktop sidebar.  I use the free Hermes widget and copy and paste the RSS Feed URL into it for updates that scroll like a vertical ticker tape on my side bar.  This works great when you want to know what is going on in the list all the time; like for lists that hold incident reports, service requests or complaints. Try this out using the "ACTIONS" button, and the "View RSS Feed" command, on any SharePoint List.
3. InfoPath as a Reporting/Query Tool - You can connect InfoPath forms to any SharePoint Web Service.  Therefore you can create custom reports using InfoPath and have the data stored in the form for offline use.  What makes this really unique is that you can set up the form to write information to SharePoint Lists once re-connected to the network, something the other two methods above won't manage.  Call Xtreme today if you are looking to maximize InfoPath in your firm for this or other purposes!

In the export to MS Excel and the RSS Feed scenarios the export is directly related to the visible VIEW in the list at the time of the export....so you can get pretty creative about the information you get from the list. 

Hope you enjoyed this blog, and I'll look forward to blogging again for you next week. If you leave a comment (and I do encourage you to) I will respond within a day or so.