Patrick Domingues

How To Get started with SharePoint! This comprehensive beginner’s guide covers site creation, content management, permissions, and workflow automation.

Introduction

Are you new to SharePoint and looking for a comprehensive tutorial to help you get started? Look no further! In this SharePoint tutorial for beginners, we will walk you through the basics of SharePoint, its key features, and how to effectively use it to collaborate and manage documents within your organization. Whether you are a business professional, an IT administrator, or a project manager, this guide will equip you with the necessary knowledge to leverage SharePoint’s power and streamline your work processes.

SharePoint for Beginners: What is SharePoint?

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty details, let’s start with the basics. SharePoint is a web-based collaboration and document management platform developed by Microsoft. It serves as a centralized repository where teams can create, store, share, and collaborate on documents, lists, and other resources. SharePoint offers a wide range of features and functionalities that enhance productivity and streamline teamwork within organizations of all sizes.

The Benefits of Using SharePoint

SharePoint provides numerous benefits that make it a popular choice for organizations worldwide. Let’s explore some of the key advantages of using SharePoint:

1. Enhanced Collaboration: SharePoint allows teams to collaborate seamlessly, irrespective of their geographical locations. Team members can work together on documents in real-time, make edits, leave comments, and track changes, promoting efficient collaboration.
2. Document Management: With SharePoint, managing documents becomes a breeze. You can create document libraries, organize files into folders, set permissions and access levels, and implement version control to ensure document integrity and improve overall document management processes.
3. Centralized Information: SharePoint acts as a central hub for all your organization’s information. You can store and access files, data, and other resources from a single location, eliminating the need for scattered files and improving information retrieval.
4. Workflow Automation: SharePoint offers powerful workflow capabilities, allowing you to automate repetitive tasks and streamline business processes. You can create custom workflows to automate approval processes, document review cycles, and other routine tasks, saving time and effort.
5. Search and Discovery: SharePoint’s robust search functionality enables users to quickly find the information they need. Its advanced search capabilities, including metadata search and keyword highlighting, ensure efficient information discovery.
6. Security and Permissions: SharePoint offers a comprehensive security model, allowing you to control access to documents and resources at various levels. You can assign permissions, define user roles, and implement data loss prevention measures to protect sensitive information.

Getting Started with SharePoint

Now that we understand the benefits of SharePoint let’s delve into the practical aspects of getting started with this powerful platform. In this section, we will guide you through the initial setup process and familiarize you with SharePoint’s user interface.

Setting Up SharePoint

To get started with SharePoint, you have several deployment options. You can choose to set up SharePoint on-premises, in the cloud using SharePoint Online, or opt for a hybrid approach that combines both. SharePoint Online, part of Microsoft 365 suite, offers hassle-free deployment, automatic updates, and scalability, making it an ideal choice for many organizations.

Navigating the SharePoint User Interface

Once you have set up SharePoint, it’s essential to familiarize yourself with the user interface. SharePoint provides a user-friendly and intuitive interface that allows you to navigate through sites, libraries, and lists effortlessly. Here are some key elements of the SharePoint user interface:

1. Site: A SharePoint site serves as a container for storing and organizing content. Sites can be customized to meet specific requirements and serve as the starting point for collaboration.
2. Lists: SharePoint lists are used to store data in a structured format. You can create lists to track issues, manage tasks, store contacts, and much more.
3. Libraries: SharePoint libraries serve as repositories for documents and files. You can create document libraries to store and manage files, apply metadata, and control access.
4. Web Parts: SharePoint web parts are pre-built components that allow you to add functionality and customize your sites. You can add web parts to display news, calendars, documents, and more.
5. Navigation: SharePoint provides various navigation options to help users move around sites and access content easily. You can use the top navigation bar, quick launch, or custom navigation menus for efficient site navigation.

SharePoint Sites and Site Collections

In SharePoint, sites and site collections play a crucial role in organizing and managing content. Understanding the difference between sites and site collections is essential to effectively structure your SharePoint environment.

SharePoint Sites

A SharePoint site is a container within a site collection that allows you to organize and share content. Sites can be created for teams, departments, projects, or any other organizational units. Each site has its unique set of permissions, lists, libraries, and pages. SharePoint provides several site templates, such as Team Site, Communication Site, and Project Site, to cater to different collaboration scenarios.

SharePoint Site Collections

A SharePoint site collection is a collection of sites that share common settings, administration, and security. Site collections allow you to manage a group of related sites efficiently. They provide a hierarchical structure where a top-level site acts as the parent site for all other sites within the collection. SharePoint Online allows you to create multiple site collections, each with its unique configuration and content.

SharePoint Lists and Libraries

Lists and libraries are fundamental building blocks in SharePoint, enabling you to store, organize, and manage data and documents effectively. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.

SharePoint Lists

SharePoint lists are used to store and manage structured data. Lists can be customized to meet specific requirements, and you can create multiple views to display data in different formats. SharePoint offers various list templates, such as Tasks, Calendar, Contacts, and Issues, to address common business scenarios. You can also create custom lists with your desired fields and settings.

SharePoint Libraries

SharePoint libraries serve as repositories for documents, files, and other resources. Libraries provide features like version control, metadata tagging, and document check-in/check-out, facilitating efficient document management. SharePoint offers document library templates such as Document Library, Form Library, Picture Library, and Asset Library, catering to diverse document management needs.

SharePoint Permissions and Security

Effective security and permissions management are critical in SharePoint to protect sensitive information and ensure appropriate access levels for users. SharePoint provides a robust security model that allows granular control over permissions and security settings.

SharePoint Groups

SharePoint groups are sets of users who share the same access rights within a site. By assigning permissions to groups rather than individual users, you can streamline permission management and simplify security administration. SharePoint offers default groups like Owners, Members, and Visitors, and you can also create custom groups based on your requirements.

Permission Inheritance

In SharePoint, permissions can be inherited from parent objects like sites, site collections, or libraries. This means that if you assign permissions at the parent level, those permissions automatically flow down to child objects. Inheritance helps maintain consistency and simplifies permission management. However, you can also break inheritance and assign unique permissions to individual objects when necessary.

SharePoint Permission Levels

SharePoint provides a range of pre-defined permission levels that specify the actions users can perform on sites, lists, libraries, and items. Permission levels include Full Control, Contribute, Read, and Limited Access, among others. You can also create custom permission levels to match specific requirements and assign them to users or groups.

Security Trimming

SharePoint’s security trimming feature ensures that users only see the content and functionality they have permissions to access. This helps maintain data confidentiality and improves the user experience by reducing clutter and irrelevant information. SharePoint automatically trims navigation, search results, and web parts based on users’ permissions, providing a personalized and secure environment.

SharePoint Workflows

Workflows play a vital role in automating business processes and streamlining collaboration. SharePoint offers a robust workflow platform that allows you to design, deploy, and manage workflows without writing code.

Out-of-the-Box Workflows

SharePoint provides several pre-built workflows that address common business scenarios. These out-of-the-box workflows can be easily customized to fit specific requirements. Some of the popular built-in workflows include Approval, Collect Feedback, and Signature Collect, among others. You can associate workflows with lists, libraries, or content types to automate processes like document approval, review cycles, and feedback gathering.

SharePoint Designer Workflows

SharePoint Designer is a powerful tool that allows you to create custom workflows with advanced functionalities. SharePoint Designer workflows offer more flexibility and control, enabling you to design complex business processes. With SharePoint Designer, you can incorporate conditions, loops, stages, and parallel actions into your workflows, providing a highly tailored and efficient automation solution.

Microsoft Power Automate

Microsoft Power Automate, formerly known as Microsoft Flow, is a cloud-based service that allows you to create and manage workflows across multiple platforms and services, including SharePoint. Power Automate offers a wide range of connectors and templates, making it easy to integrate SharePoint with other applications and automate tasks seamlessly. Power Automate workflows can be triggered by events, timers, or manual inputs, providing unparalleled flexibility in workflow design.

SharePoint Search and Content Discovery

SharePoint’s powerful search capabilities enable users to find the information they need quickly. SharePoint’s search functionality extends beyond document titles and includes content within documents, metadata, and even enterprise-wide search.

SharePoint Search Features

SharePoint’s search features enhance information discovery and improve the user experience. Some of the key search functionalities include:

1. Metadata Search: SharePoint allows you to assign metadata to documents, making them more searchable. You can create custom metadata fields and use them to classify and tag documents, improving search accuracy.
2. Keyword Highlighting: When users perform a search, SharePoint highlights the searched keywords within the search results, making it easier to identify relevant information at a glance.
3. Refiners: SharePoint provides refiners, also known as search filters, that allow users to narrow down search results based on specific criteria. Refiners can be based on metadata, file types, authors, or any other relevant attributes.
4. Search Suggestions: SharePoint offers search suggestions, which are dynamically generated as users type their search queries. These suggestions help users refine their search and discover related information.
5. Result Sources: Result sources allow you to configure different content sources for search, enabling users to search specific sites, libraries, or external systems. Result sources provide more control over search scopes and help users find information from specific locations.

Enterprise Search

In addition to SharePoint’s built-in search capabilities, organizations can leverage the power of Enterprise Search to search across multiple systems and repositories. Microsoft offers various enterprise search solutions, such as Microsoft Search and Azure Cognitive Search, which integrate with SharePoint and provide unified search experiences.

SharePoint FAQs

FAQ 1: How can I create a new site in SharePoint?

To create a new site in SharePoint, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the SharePoint home page or the site where you want to create the new site.
2. Click on “New” or the “+ Create site” button.
3. Choose a site template based on your requirements, such as Team Site, Communication Site, or Project Site.
4. Provide a name, URL, and description for the new site.
5. Configure the additional settings, such as privacy, permissions, and site classification.
6. Click on “Create” to create the new site.

FAQ 2: How can I upload documents to a SharePoint library?

To upload documents to a SharePoint library, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the SharePoint library where you want to upload the documents.
2. Click on the “Upload” button or drag and drop the files directly into the library.
3. You can choose to upload multiple files at once by selecting them from your local file system.
4. SharePoint will start uploading the files, and you can track the progress.
5. Once the upload is complete, the documents will be available in the library.

FAQ 3: How can I share documents with external users in SharePoint?

To share documents with external users in SharePoint, follow these steps:

1. Open the SharePoint library containing the document you want to share.
2. Select the document and click on the “Share” button.
3. In the sharing dialog, enter the email addresses of the external users you want to share the document with.
4. Choose the appropriate permission level for the external users, such as “View” or “Edit.”
5. Optionally, you can add a message to provide context or instructions for the shared document.
6. Click on “Send” to share the document with the external users.

FAQ 4: How can I customize the look and feel of a SharePoint site?

To customize the look and feel of a SharePoint site, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the SharePoint site you want to customize.
2. Click on the “Settings” gear icon and select “Change the look.”
3. Choose from the available site themes or click on “Try it now” to explore more options.
4. Customize the site header, colors, fonts, and layout to match your branding or preferences.
5. Preview the changes and click on “Apply” to save the customization.

FAQ 5: How can I create a custom list in SharePoint?

To create a custom list in SharePoint, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the SharePoint site where you want to create the list.
2. Click on the gear icon or “Settings” and select “Add an app.”
3. In the “Apps” page, search for “Custom List” or “List” and click on it.
4. Provide a name for the list and click on “Create.”
5. Customize the list by adding columns, defining column types, and configuring other settings.
6. Click on “Save” to create the custom list.

FAQ 6: How can I create a workflow in SharePoint Designer?

To create a workflow in SharePoint Designer, follow these steps:

1. Open SharePoint Designer and connect to your SharePoint site.
2. Click on “Workflows” in the left navigation pane.
3. Click on “List Workflow” or “Reusable Workflow” based on your requirements.
4. Select the list or library to associate the workflow with.
5. Define the workflow stages, actions, conditions, and variables based on your business process.
6. Customize the workflow settings, such as start options and task notifications.
7. Click on “Save” to save the workflow, and then publish it to make it available.

Conclusion

SharePoint is a powerful platform that enables organizations to enhance collaboration, streamline document management, automate workflows, and improve content discovery. In this SharePoint tutorial for beginners, we have covered the basics of SharePoint, its key features, and how to get started with it. By following the steps and best practices outlined in this guide, you can harness the full potential of SharePoint and drive productivity within your organization.

Whether you are a business professional, an IT administrator, or a project manager, SharePoint offers a wide range of tools and capabilities to support your collaboration and content management needs. By mastering SharePoint’s sites, lists, libraries, permissions, workflows, and search features, you can create a robust and efficient digital workplace that empowers your teams and drives organizational success.

Remember, SharePoint is a versatile platform, and there is always more to learn and explore. As you gain experience and expertise, you can leverage advanced SharePoint functionalities, integrate with other Microsoft tools and services, and customize SharePoint to match your organization’s unique requirements.

I hope this article was helpful!  You can find more here: SharePoint Articles.