Category Archives: My Sites

New “Focus On…” Web Part Released!!

The “Focus On…” Web Part selects a random entry from the specified Sharepoint Library and displays a picture, a title and an         abstract of the selected person or item.

The Web Part can be used with Windows Sharepoint Services V3, MOSS 2007, Sharepoint 2010 and Sharepoint 2013.

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You can configure the following web part properties:

  • the Sharepoint Library
  • the List fields corresponding to the picture, title, abstract and detail link
  • enable or suppress the “Details..” URL.
  • show a new entry every day or on every page refresh

This allows you to display random data contained in any Sharepoint List by specifying the desired Sharepoint List name and the desired list column names.

How to use :

Create a new Sharepoint Picture Library if you do not intend to use an existing Picture Library.
If you decide to create a new Sharepoint list to store the Spotlight entries, create a new Sharepoint Picture Library anywhere in the Sharepoint site collection (the web part is able to access any picture library within the site collection).
The list needs the following columns to hold the entries:
– Title
– Abstract
– optional Detail Link URL

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Configure the following relevant Web Part properties in the Web Part Editor “Miscellaneous” pane section as needed:

  • Site Name: Enter the name of the site that contains the Spotlight Picture Library:
    – leave this field empty if the Library is in the current site (eg. the Web Part is placed in the same site)
    – Enter a “/” character if the Library is contained in the top site
    – Enter a path if the Library is in a subsite of the current site (eg. in the form of “current site/subsite”)
  • List Name: Enter the desired Sharepoint Picture Library
  • View Name: Optionally enter the desired List View of the list specified above. A List View allows you to specify specific data filtering and sorting.
    Leave this field empty if you want to use the List default view.
  • Title Field Name: Enter the desired Library Column name that contains the titles (Default=”Title”)
  • Abstract Field Name: Enter the desired Library Column name that contains the abstracts (Default=”Abstract”)You can alternatively specify a “Field Template” by entering the desired Library fields (surrounded by curly braces). You can specify HTML tags and CSS styles to freely format the text.

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  • Example:
    <strong>{JobTitle}</strong>
    <br>{Description}

    5px; margin-top:5px; background-color:orange”>


    <strong>Schools:</strong><br>
    {Bio}
    </div>

    The above example assumes that the Sharepoint Library includes a “JobTitle”, a “Description” and a “Bio” column.

  • Details URL Field Name: (optional) Enter the desired Library Column name that contains the Detail page links (Default=”DetailURL”). Leave this field empty if you don’t want to provide a detail link.
    If you want to automatically link to the corresponding Sharepoint List Detail View page, enter the keyword “DetailView” into this field.
    If you want to automatically link to the corresponding user’s “MySite” page, enter the keyword “MySite” into this field.
  • Open Details Link in new window: opens the link in a new browser window.
  • Details Caption: allows to localize the “Details..” link displayed in the lower right part of the web part (if a “Details” link is specified).
  • Text Layout: specify the placing of the Text with respect to the Image:
    – Right
    – Wrap
    – Bottom
    – Left
    – WrapLeft
  • Image Height: specify the image height in pixels. Enter “0” if you want to use the default picture size.
  • Default User Image: (optional) specify a default user picture (if there is no user picture available) by entering a relative URL to the imageExample:
    /yoursite/yourPictureLibrary/yourDefaultUser.jpg
  • Title CSS Style: enter optional CSS styles to format the Title (default: bold)
  • Text CSS Style:  enter optional CSS styles to format the Body Text (default: none)
  • Background Color (optional):  To set the desired Web Part Background color, enter either a HTML color name (as eg. “yellow”) or a hexadecimal RGB color value (as eg. “#ffcc33”). Leave this field empty if you don’t want to use a specific background color.
  • Show new Entry: shows a new entry depending on the below setting:
    – always (a new entry is displayed on every page refresh)
    – every Day
    – every Week
    – every Month
    – top Entry (the most recently added entry unless a View is used with a specific custom sorting order)
  • Show specific Entry: optionally enter the List ID of the List Item to be displayed.
  • Nbr. of Items to show: optionally enter two ore more items to be displayed side by side:

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  • Center Web Part: horizontally centers the Web Part within the available space.

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Contact me now for this awesome Web Part!