SharePoint 2013 Team Site Enhancements

This article describes the new changes for team sites in SharePoint Server 2013.

It is no big surprise that SharePoint has Metro tiles on a team site.



Some of you may have noticed the new Share button in SharePoint 2013. Without going into great detail, the Sharing symbol is plugged in throughout SharePoint as a means for anyone to request and grant access, for themselves or someone else. It is now really easy to invite people to a team site. You have only click to SHARE and enter the people you would like to invite



Documents

As we know documents are the heart and soul of most projects. Every team site comes with a library for storing documents, which is automatically shared with everyone who has access to the site. Microsoft had made a lot of improvements to the document experience in the new SharePoint. Here are a few features.

• We can drag files from our desktop or file explorer to the document library.
• Click on the "…" icon next to a document's title to see a quick preview of the document along with other useful information, like the file's address and who most recently changed the file. This is called a Document callout. You'll find similar callouts all over SharePoint.
• There is a "Sync" icon in the top-right corner of the page when you are viewing a document library. Press this button to synchronize the library with your computer. Once you sync a library, you can access all of the files in it from Windows Explorer and Office even if you don't have an internet connection
  
  
  

One Note Integration

As you know One Note is fantastic software. OneNote is a digital notebook, made up of sections and pages. We can write in it, add pictures and videos, paste in clippings from websites or documents. If you have a digital pen, OneNote can capture whatever you draw/write/scribble.

If we put a notebook on a SharePoint site then something. Notebook is now in the internet. You can access it from any computer or mobile device, using a native OneNote app or a browser. Even better, you can share it with other people. You'll see their notes appear as they write them and they'll see yours.

OneNote integration is a fantastic tool that has included a shared notebook in each new team site. Everyone who has access to team site will be able to use the notebook. Click on the "notebook" link in the Quick Launch to open it in the OneNote Web App. From there you can open the site notebook in OneNote on your PC, Mac or mobile device and it'll be available offline and remain in sync automatically.



Newsfeed

There are many different tools for communication, each suited for a particular use. The site's newsfeed is a lightweight and simple way to have ad-hoc conversations with the people involved in the project. You can embed images, videos and links, @mention specific people and use #hash tags.

Most of the projects have its own group of people and its own team site. The Newsfeed hub in SharePoint will show a consolidated view of the conversations going on in each of the projects.

Other Good Features

There are only a few items in the site's Quick Launch at first: Home, Notebook, Newsfeed, Documents. Microsoft has included all these because most projects will want these features though if we don't want them, we are free to remove them. Everything else is an app that you can add if you need.

Remember the Getting Started tiles? Several of those tiles represent common apps that we might want to add to your site:

• For deadline tracking: We have to install the Tasks and Calendar apps. These apps help organize the schedule and keep track of who's doing what
• Keep email in context: We have to install a new app called "Site Mailbox". It's a shared inbox in Microsoft Exchange that all the members of your site can access.
• We can add lists, libraries and other apps as a shortcut to the "Add an app" page, which lists all of the apps available for installation on the site, and links to the SharePoint Store where you can find even more apps to help you get work done.
• As you add new apps to your site, they'll be available from the "Site Contents" page. The five most recently installed apps will also show up on the Quick Launch under the heading "Recent." You can edit the Quick Launch to keep it organized and ensure that the most important items in your site are available. For example, after I install the Tasks app, I'll edit the navigation and drag Tasks a bit higher, because it's important.
  
  
  

New Look and feel

A lot has been changed in the new version of SharePoint for working with SharePoint themes. One of the biggest changes is that it no longer works with Office themes.

In SharePoint 2013 they split up all the design elements, which make it more powerful than in the previous versions. Right now you have two different things:

1. Themes
2. Composed Looks

A couple of theme files are already available, but you can easily create your own theme files and upload them to the Theme gallery.



If you do not create themes in the Office client anymore. In SharePoint 2013 you need to compose your themes in SharePoint by creating a new composed look.

Creating a new composed look can be done under Site Settings  Composed looks. When you create a new composed look you have the following options:

• Name: the name of your composed look;
• Master page: the master page that you want to use;
• Theme URL: the URL to your color palette;
• Image URL: the URL to your background image;
• Font Scheme URL: the URL to your font scheme;
• Display Order: this will be used to arrange your composed looks ordering.