Finding and Contributing to Sites and Content in SharePoint

The horizontal & vertical Navigation Bar in SharePoint is a consistent navigation element that appears on every page of a SharePoint site. The vertical bar contains several icons and links that provide quick access to different areas of SharePoint and other Microsoft 365 apps.

1. Application Launcher icon – This is a grid icon that opens a panel with links to various Microsoft 365 apps and services. What you see available depends on BCIT’s subscription with Microsoft
2. Search Bar – Allows you to search for content within the current site or across all SharePoint sites, dependent on the permissions granted to you.
3. Account Profile details – Displays your profile picture and provides access to account settings.
4. Help icon – Provides access to help and support resources.
5. Gear icon – Is the Settings menu.
6. SharePoint start page icon– This icon takes you to the homepage of the current SharePoint site.
7. My Sites icon – Clicking this icon usually takes you to your personal site or OneDrive for Business.
8. My news icon – This icon may be used to access personalized news and updates.
9. My files icon – This icon provides a link to the user’s personal files or OneDrive for Business. When clicked, it takes the user to their personal storage area within the SharePoint environment, where they can store, organize, and access their files and folders. This area is often used for personal documents, files, and resources that are not intended for sharing with others by default.
10. My lists icon – Shows Recent lists you accessed, as well as your Favorites.
11. Create icon – This icon typically allows users to create new items such as lists, libraries, pages, and apps within the current site. However, whether everyone sees this icon depends on the user’s permissions and the site’s settings.

The Quick Launch menu on a SharePoint Team Site provides quick access to important links, documents, and apps, helping users navigate and find content within the site more efficiently.

Note: Site Owners of each Team Site can customize the Quick Launch menu.

Microsoft Support:

• SharePoint site contents page

The SharePoint Search function is a powerful tool that enables you to quickly locate documents, sites, people, news, and other resources across the entire BCIT SharePoint environment. From the SharePoint start page, you can enter a keyword in the search bar to look up information across all SharePoint sites within your organization, ensuring a comprehensive search. Additionally, you can perform more focused searches within specific areas: by searching within a Document Library, you can find specific files and documents, while searching within a Team Site allows you to locate content related to that particular team. This versatility ensures that you can efficiently find the exact information you need, regardless of where it is stored in SharePoint.

Note: The visibility of search results for a user is contingent upon their access level and the permissions they’ve been granted.

Searching from your SharePoint start page

In your web browser:

1. Go to the BCIT SharePoint start page.
   • Note: This is a different page than the BCIT Intranet. Searching from the BCIT Intranet homepage only shows resources that are part of the Intranet.
2. Click on the search bar at the top of the SharePoint start page and type in the keyword or phrase you want to search for.
   
3. As you type, SharePoint will display a list of suggested results based on your query. You can click on any of these suggestions if they match what you are looking for.
4. If you don’t see what you’re looking for in the initial suggestions, press Enter on your keyboard or click the search icon (magnifying glass) to execute the search.
   
5. SharePoint will display a list of search results that match your query. You can browse through these results to find the specific content you need.
6. On the search results page, you can use the filters on the top row to narrow down the results by type (e.g., Files, Sites, People, News, etc.).
7. Click on the title of the item you want to open. This will take you directly to the document, site, or other content.
   

Searching from a SharePoint site

Searching within a specific Team Site in SharePoint is designed to focus your search results exclusively on the content contained within that site. This targeted approach ensures that you quickly find relevant documents, lists, pages, and other site-specific information, without being overwhelmed by results from other areas of your organization. By limiting the search scope to a single Team Site, you can efficiently access the precise resources and information pertinent to your team’s activities and projects.

Searching from a Document Library

Searching within a specific Document Library in SharePoint focuses your search exclusively on the files and documents stored in that library. This targeted search approach ensures that you retrieve only the most relevant results, filtering out unrelated content from other areas of the site or organization. By narrowing the search scope to a single Document Library, you can efficiently locate the precise documents you need, streamlining your workflow and enhancing productivity.

Microsoft support:

• Search for content

To open a file stored in a Document Library on SharePoint, follow these simple steps.

1. Click the ellipses (•••) to the right of the file you want to open.
2. Select Open.
3. You can choose to either Open in browser, which opens the file in a separate tab, or Open in app, which opens the file in its original application, making it easier to edit.

Uploading files and folders to a library is a fundamental function in SharePoint, empowering users to share and organize content effectively. Whether you’re working on a team project, managing documents, or simply storing files for future reference, knowing how to upload files and folders is essential for maximizing the utility of SharePoint

1. Go to the SharePoint site where the document library is located.
2. Click on the document library where you want to upload the document.
3. Click on the drop-down to the right of the Upload button.
4. Select Files from the drop-down menu.
   
5. Browse your computer to select the file you want to upload.
6. Select the file and click Open.
7. Wait for the file to finish uploading. You should see a confirmation message when the upload is complete.
   

Sharing documents and folders is an essential aspect of collaboration in SharePoint Server, enabling teams to work together efficiently and securely. By sharing documents and folders, users can easily collaborate with colleagues, clients, and partners, ensuring that everyone has access to the latest information.

The files you store on a SharePoint site are usually available to everyone with permissions to the site, but you may want to share specific files or folders with people who don’t otherwise have access to the site. When you share files and folders, you can decide whether to let people edit or just view them.

Note Depending on a user’s access level, their request to share documents or folders will either be completed automatically or sent for approval. Users with read-only access can request to share a file; however, this request must be approved by the site owner before it is finalized. Conversely, if a user has edit or contribute permissions, their request to share will be processed automatically as described in the article.

1. Navigate to the library on your SharePoint site containing the file or folder you want to share.
2. Select the file of folder:
   1. Click the ellipses (•••) and choose Share.
   2. Alternatively, click the Share icon (box with arrow).
      
3. In the “Add a name, group, or email“, enter the name(s) of the people you want to share with.
4. To the right of the name(s), use the drop-down next to the View icon to choose the permissions for the user(s).
5. Optionally, add a message in the “Add a message” section.
6. Click Send.
   
7. You will receive a confirmation that the message is sent.
   

Microsoft Support:

• Share documents or folders in SharePoint Server

If you want to make changes to a file in a SharePoint document library, but keep others from making changes at the same time, check the file out of the document library.

When you check out a file from a SharePoint document library, only you can edit it. You can edit the file either online in Microsoft 365 or offline and save your changes as often as you like before checking the file back in. Once you’re done making changes to the file, check it in from the library to upload your changes. You can discard your changes and undo the check-out if you change your mind.

Check out a file

1. Navigate to the library on your SharePoint site containing the file you want to check out.
2. Click the ellipses (•••) to the right of the file.
3. Scroll down and select More.
4. Select Check out.
   
5. You will receive a confirmation message that the file is checked out.
   
6. When a file is checked out, the document will display a red arrow. When you hover your mouse over the file, you can see more detailed messaging.
   

Check in a file

1. Click the ellipses (•••) to the right of the file.
2. Scroll down and select More.
3. Select Check in.
   
4. In the Check In dialog box, you can enter a comment, such as what you changed or added.
5. Click Check in when done.
   

Microsoft Support:

• Check out or check in files in a document library

Moving files between libraries in SharePoint and Team Sites enhances document organization, improves access management, and streamlines collaboration. By relocating files to specific libraries, you can categorize content more effectively. For example, moving legal documents to a dedicated Contracts library keeps them separate from marketing materials, while outdated documents can be transferred to an Archive library. This approach helps users find information quickly and ensures a clear, structured environment for your team’s content.

1. Navigate to the source library and find the file(s) you want to move.
2. Click the checkbox next to the file(s) you want to move. You can select multiple files if needed.
3. Click the Move to button in the command bar at the top of the page.
   
4. A pane will appear. Click on the main Team Site link.
   
5. The existing libraries in this Team Site will appear. Click and select the library where you want to move the file(s) to.
   
6. Click Move here.
7. The file(s) you moved will be removed from your current library, and a message will confirm that they have been successfully relocated to the new library.
   

Restoring a previous version of a file in SharePoint can be necessary to recover lost or corrupted data, revert unwanted changes, or address accidental deletions or edits.

1. Click the ellipses (•••) to the right of the file.
2. Scroll down and select Version history.
   
3. In the Version history pane, you’ll see all version changes. Hover your mouse to the right of a version, click the drop-down arrow, and you will see options to View, Restore or Delete.
   
4. Once you’ve chosen the version you want to restore, select Restore.
5. A message box will appear asking you to confirm the restoration of the selected version. Click OK.
   

The newest version will then be restored.

Microsoft Support:

• Restore a previous version of a file without unwanted changes

When you delete items from a document library or list in SharePoint, they aren’t immediately removed. Deleted items go into the SharePoint site recycle bin for a period of time (currently 90 days) or until they are emptied from the recycle bin. The SharePoint site recycle bin isn’t the same as the Windows recycle bin that you see on your desktop.

1. In the Quick Launch menu, click on Recycle bin.
2. Select the item you want to restore.
3. Click on the Restore icon.

Microsoft Support:

• Restore items in the recycle bin that were deleted from SharePoint or Teams

Documents were turned into Word documents so as to permit users to continue to edit their content collaboratively as they were used to doing in the Loop.

• All documents are listed under Documents.
• Word document filenames follow the pattern “DOC-<number>.docx”, matching the document’s original URL in the Loop. The original title of the Document is listed under Org-FileName.
• The last 10 published versions of each document can be found by going to File > Version History after opening the document in either Word or Word Online.
• If there were any comments on the original document, they are included as part of the text of the document at the end.

Discussions and blog posts were turned into site pages

• Site pages are listed under Site contents (not Documents). To view site pages:
  1. Click Site contents in the site menu on the left.
  2. Click Site pages.
• Site page names will follow the pattern “Msg-<number>.aspx” or “Blog-<number>.aspx”, matching the discussion’s or blog post’s original URL in the Loop. The original title is only visible when viewing the site page.
• If there were any comments in the Loop, these will have been added as replies on the site page attributed to “Sharepoint App” but listing the name of the original poster below.

Videos are still videos

• All videos can be found in the Documents area in a Videos folder.
• Unfortunately, it was not possible to retain any comments that may have been added to videos in the Loop.

Standalone files

• Files which were uploaded as standalone items (rather than attached to other content types) were migrated with their original format and filenames.
• All standalone files are found in the Documents area.
• Unfortunately, it was not possible to retain any comments that may have been added to uploaded files in the Loop.

Attachments

• Files which were uploaded as attachments (on a discussion, document, blog post, etc.) were also migrated with their original format and filenames.
• All attached files should be visible as links in the migrated and transformed content (channel posting, word doc, site page, etc.) they were originally attached to.
• The attached files for migrated content are found in the Site contents area:
  1. Click Site contents in the site menu on the left.
  2. Click Site assets.
  3. Click the Attachments folder.