Microsoft SharePoint Training Courses

SharePoint is a document management and collaboration tool developed by Microsoft. At its core, it is basically an intranet and content management system that is used by businesses to assist in bringing an organisation together through better collaboration.

It provides tools for sharing documents and data across various departments within a company’s network. Typically deployed as a series of intranet sites on a company network, SharePoint facilitates the control of security, workgroups, documents, and data within various departments.

SharePoint is most frequently used to store version controlled documents, such as Word documents or Excel spreadsheets.

Because SharePoint provides a single source for storing, viewing, and updating documents, many of the typical issues, such as multiple versions of documents, and the need to email copies are eliminated. The platform is highly configurable and usage varies between organisations.

Microsoft SharePoint can handle almost any type of document, so it is frequently used to store and consolidate documentation related to projects involving teams.

Because SharePoint is a platform, rather than an individual application, using the term “SharePoint” is a bit like using the words “Microsoft Office”. SharePoint does not refer to a specific product but to a platform comprised of several components used together.

Anyone who needs to simplify the process of business collaboration. SharePoint is an extremely adaptable platform with a comprehensive range of templates and components. It can be used for many different tasks. Some significant benefits of SharePoint are:

• Security
• Version Control
• Content Collaboration
• Centrally Stored Content
• Shared Calendars
• Task Lists

These are just some of the features of SharePoint, there are many more. Any successful business requires document storage, and staff needs to be able to quickly access and collaborate on content. Some of this can be performed outside of SharePoint, but users and organisations can benefit by bringing this functionality into a central platform.

Another useful aspect of SharePoint is that it is designed to allow non-IT people to administrate, update, and modify it to their requirements.

Have you ever wondered why the Dummies books are so popular? Well, it’s probably because so many of us are self-taught, using Google to find out how to use a function, or we are shown how to use software by someone at work. Although this can be useful, it also means we tend to spend a lot of time with trial and error, or we are just picking up somebody else’s bad habits. Trial and error, unfortunately, involves a lot of error, and the bad habits you pick up will probably be passed on to the next person, so soon they spread across the business, meaning entire teams can end up working inefficiently.

At this point, you might head to the bookstore or do an online search to find a SharePoint for Dummies book to help solve some of those tricky issues. That’s a step in the right direction, and we sometimes use reference manuals ourselves. The problem is that it still takes time to find the information you need.

Our SharePoint courses are designed to target the key features and tools included in the applications to help you get back to work and apply them right away.

Attending a Microsoft SharePoint with Keystroke Learning will show you how to use the most efficient methods to achieve your daily tasks. Not only that, but you will discover best practices and shortcuts to make your business tasks even quicker, so you can get on with your day. Our goal is to help you get to the point where you are focussed on the task at hand rather than the tool you are using.

Typically, one of our experienced trainers will walk you through the features and functions of the software, then you will try them out on your own, with tips and guidance on getting the best out of the features. We also encourage participants to ask lots of questions to help you get the most out of your learning experience.

You’ll receive a manual to take away at the end of the course, as well as exercise files so you can practice later, or just to jog your memory when you need.

SharePoint Online – This is a cloud-based service hosted by Microsoft, designed to be scalable for businesses of any size. Instead of installing and deploying SharePoint Server on-premises, businesses can subscribe to an Office 365 plan or to the standalone SharePoint Online service. Once in place, staff can then create sites to share documents and information with colleagues, business partners, and clients.
SharePoint Server – This is an on-premises option. All the features of SharePoint Foundation are included, as well as some additional features and capabilities, such as Enterprise Content Management, business intelligence, enterprise search, personal sites, and Newsfeed.
SharePoint Foundation –  SharePoint Foundation was previously the underlying technology for all SharePoint sites and it is free for on-premises deployment. You can use SharePoint Foundation to create many types of sites where you can collaborate on web pages, documents, lists, calendars, and data. Note: This is no longer available separately for the SharePoint 2016 release.

SharePoint has integrated security settings to enable site users to manage access to their content. The best practice in SharePoint is to manage security at the Site level. This means you will want to know who needs to have access to your site and what kind of permissions these users will require. Once you have added people to the major groups you have set up, those people will have the appropriate permissions.

SharePoint pre-defines several combinations of permissions, known as the default permission levels. Permission levels specify which permissions users have for a site or list, and govern whether people can view, change, or manage a site.

By default, permissions are inherited in SharePoint—that is, permissions set at the site collection level are copied down to every site, list, and item in the site collection. This means that the permission levels you set when you create your SharePoint groups can affect access for every site, list, library, folder, and item in the site. The best practice is to create groups for people who require similar access to the site and content.

Some examples of SharePoint permission levels are:
Full control – For Site collection owners.
Allows all available permissions, meaning individuals and groups can carry out any activity such as creating sites and editing lists and libraries or deleting documents.
Design – For IM teams, IT and Site collection owners.
Allows users to edit pages and change their formatting such as styles, borders, and themes. Also allows users to create lists and document libraries.
Edit – For Group Members – typically department heads or those responsible for running a department’s site.
Allows users to add, edit, and delete lists.
Contribute – For anyone invited to work on a project.
Allows users to view, add, update, and delete list items and documents, but nothing more.
Read – Generally used for those invited to participate in a project where they are not authorised to make changes.
More permission levels are available, these are simply some examples.

Yes, when versioning is enabled in your SharePoint list or library, you can store, track, and restore items in a list and files in a library whenever they change. Versioning, combined with other settings, such as checkout, gives you control over the content posted on your site and can provide real value if you ever have a need to look at or restore an old version of an item or file.

Version control can be set for only major version changes or both major and minor changes.

Your learning doesn’t stop once you have completed your course. We hope you will continue your experience by taking some time to practice what you have learned and apply it to your own situation and environment.

If we have done our job well, you may be inspired to learn even more by attending another course. If you are looking for something other than Microsoft SharePoint, we have a comprehensive range of courses available for you to choose from.

We are here to help, so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need any further advice.