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Tips from the Field

Tips from the Field: Easily Copy a SharePoint Library and All Its Content

Tips from the Field |

Here is a simple tip that allows you to easily create project document libraries with their content from a template in Microsoft 365.

Lydon Solutions has been delivering SharePoint-based solutions for over 14 years. We’ve seen the evolution of SharePoint over that time from an on-premises application to the new cloud-based Microsoft 365 SharePoint Online. While the move has provided many benefits, some features have changed or deprecated with the new SharePoint Online. One such feature change is copying a document library and its contents from one location to another.

Back in the day, with SharePoint on-premises, if you wanted to create a list or library template, you would go to the list or library settings, click Create a Template, and provide a name. You could then use that template when you add a new list or library to your site. You could even export and import templates to other locations.

With SharePoint Online, the save a template feature is still there, but you unfortunately can’t use the template you save, which is weird. Caveat: the ability to save a template depends upon enabling features in the SharePoint site containing the document library. Straight out of the box, saving a template is unavailable.

This lack of copying ability creates a problem if you have a site where you manage multiple projects that all need to use the same document library structure with folders. Obviously, you don’t want to re-build a new document library whenever you have a new project.

How to Copy a SharePoint Library

Thankfully, there is a way out of this conundrum. SharePoint Online provides a way to copy libraries with their content but with a different approach than using list and library templates.

Here are the steps:

  1. Create a document library, name it “template,” and build out the folder structure as needed. Add any files that you want to have in your template document library.
  2. Create a new document library, but select “From existing library.” Select the template document library you created in step 1. This feature copies the template library and all the columns but does not copy the structure and content.
doc-lib_1
  1. Return to your template document library, select all the folders, click on the ellipses, and then select “Copy to.” You can then use the breadcrumbs in the pop-up window that appears to locate your new document library; then click on the “Copy here” button.
doc-lib_2
doc-lib_3

Presto, you have now replicated your template document library! Simple right? This is a great feature that allows you to copy content to any location.

So, instead of building a homegrown solution using an application such as Power Automate or installing a third-party tool that costs thousands of dollars yearly for a license, you combine two out-of-the-box features to solve the issue.

We hope this tip helps you use SharePoint Online to manage your projects. You can reach out for a free one-hour consultation if you need help with SharePoint or Microsoft 365.

Tips from the Field: Speed Up Your Excel Workflow

Tips from the Field |

Excel is probably the most heavily used software program in every industry, including construction. Across every discipline and every stakeholder, Excel is king. Over the years of being in the construction field and delivering Excel-based solutions such as Cost Reports and Project Monthly Reports to clients, I found some tips to help speed up your workflow.

Want to copy data without copying the formula?

If you want to copy the values in fields and not the formulas, then there is a quick way of doing this. Everyone is familiar with copy and paste. But if you select your data range, click copy, paste special, and choose values, then you only paste the data, not the formulas.

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How can you avoid re-typing values from columns to rows?

If you want to copy rows and make the values display as columns or vice versa, select your data range, click copy, paste special, and check the transpose box

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Looking for a simple way to look up a set of values in your worksheet?

You can insert data validation into your worksheet if you want users to pick from a list of pre-defined values. Start by creating a list of the values to choose from. Then click on a cell where you want users to select the value. From the Data tab, click on Data Validation, select List under Allow, and highlight the list of values you created for the Source. When a user clicks in the cell with the data validation, they will have to choose from the pre-defined values you defined.

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There are many more of these tips in Excel that can save you time and frustration. If this article is helpful and you would like to see more Excel tips, please like and share. Also, if you have any tips and tricks, please add to the comments and help others in the community.

Lydon Solutions is an IT solutions provider in the construction industry specializing in Microsoft Azure, 365, Power Platform, SharePoint, and SQL. If you need help with your Microsoft products, you can reach out here for a free one-hour consultation.

Keep Your Construction Data Safe with Microsoft 365 Permissions – Part 2 

Tips from the Field |

In part 1 of this three-part series on Microsoft 365 permissions, we discussed Microsoft 365 admin roles and application-specific permissions. Part 2 of this series will focus on Microsoft SharePoint Online permissions management. SharePoint brings another level of permissions management to Microsoft 365 applications, which is why we are keeping this topic separate.  

Think of SharePoint as the database for Microsoft 365 applications. Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Planner, and Microsoft Lists store data in SharePoint lists and libraries. You can thus extend the default permissions from the app level through the underlying SharePoint site permissions.  

This article will discuss SharePoint permission levels and groups and how you can modify them to help manage overall project permissions. 

Structure of SharePoint Permissions

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To understand permission controls within SharePoint, you must first understand SharePoint permissions levels.  

SharePoint Permission Levels

Permission levels navigation link from the advanced permissions settings
Permission levels navigation link from the advanced permissions settings

Permission levels enable users to perform specific tasks. Permission levels are assigned to permission groups or can be assigned to a user directly (not recommended). The permission levels that we typically see on construction projects are the following:

  • Full control - Enables users to view, add, update, delete, approve, and customize items or pages on the website. This level is typically reserved for just the SharePoint admins since this level could delete entire pages and libraries. 
  • Read – Enables users to view pages, list items, and download documents. This level is suitable for managers and external stakeholders viewing but not modifying data. 
  • Contribute - Enables users to manage personal views, edit items and user information, delete versions in existing lists and document libraries, and add, remove, and update personal Web Parts. You typically assign this level to users who add and upload data. This level is most common for construction team members sharing files and forms. 

You can create and modify permission levels from the advanced permissions settings menu if you are a site owner or have full-control permission.  

Default Permission Levels 
Default Permission Levels 

Lydon Solutions typically adds a custom permission level to projects, and we name it “Contribute No Delete” to accommodate external contractors. This custom level allows users to upload but not delete records, which is handy when sharing files between internal and external stakeholders.  

Uncheck "delete items” in the permission level settings to create a new “Contribute No Delete” level. 
Uncheck "delete items” in the permission level settings to create a new “Contribute No Delete” level. 

SharePoint Permission Groups

Permission groups are containers where you can assign a permission level and users. You can add a permission group to an entire SharePoint site, and its permission level would be inherited across every artifact (list, library, folder, and record) in the site. Alternatively, you can break inheritance and assign a different permission level to a group or user for individual SharePoint artifacts.  

As with any other Microsoft 365 application, there are default permission groups available: 

  • Site owners – Site Owners can manage site permissions, add and delete artifacts, edit site settings, and change site themes. This group has the Full Control permission level assigned in SharePoint.  
  • Site members – Site Members can add and delete records in lists and libraries. This group has the Contribute permission level assigned in SharePoint. 
  • Site visitors – Site visitors can see site content but not edit it. This group has the Read permission level assigned in SharePoint. 
SharePoint Default Permission Groups 
SharePoint Default Permission Groups 

These default permission groups are automatically assigned to every artifact on the site and will be added to every new artifact you create. This means that while site visitors cannot edit content, they can still see everything in the site, which might not be ideal if you share the site with external users and have sensitive documents on your site.  

For sites with external contractors, you will want to create new named permission groups and possibly a new permission level to control project permissions. You can add new permission groups from the advanced permission settings. 

Advanced permission settings – Create a Permission Group 
Advanced permission settings – Create a Permission Group 

Also, instead of every user having access to all of the content on the site, you will most likely want to break inheritance (permissions) for specific artifacts. To change the permissions for each artifact, go to the library settings menu, select permissions, and click Stop Inheriting Permissions. 

Library Permission settings – Stop Inheriting Permissions 
Library Permission settings – Stop Inheriting Permissions 

At this point, you should have a general idea of permission levels and groups. Please be aware that most projects have different permission levels and group needs, but here are a couple of examples of what you might have on a construction project for owner-project managers and external contractors: 

Owner-Project Managers: 

  • Permission group name: Owner Project Manager. 
  • Permission level: Contribute. 
  • Assigned: Site level. 
  • Scope: Project Managers can add and delete list items and documents across the entire site. 

External Contractors: 

  • Permission group name: Contractor. 
  • Permission level: Contribute No Delete. 
  • Assigned: Contractor Document Library. 
  • Scope: Access to only the Contractor Document Library to upload files but not delete anything. 

This article is just the tip of the iceberg regarding SharePoint permissions. SharePoint permissions can get pretty complex, and you might end up with a spiderweb of assigned permissions. If you need help with permissions or just setting up your projects in Microsoft 365, you can reach out for a free one-hour consultation here. 

For Part 3 of this series, we will be covering file sharing. While this is the easiest way to assign permissions at a folder or file level on a case-by-case basis, we wanted to get the concepts of permissions management in Microsoft 365 out of the way first. Stay tuned. 

Tips from the Field: Adding Images to a Power BI Report

Tips from the Field |

Microsoft 365 Power BI is an incredibly powerful reporting tool and is fast becoming the go-to reporting solution in construction. While creating connections to different data sources and building cool reports is relatively straightforward, adding dynamic images is not as simple.

Read on to learn how to add images to your Power BI report.

Two options when adding images to Power BI reports

There are two paths to adding images to a report.

Option 1

Your first option is to insert images directly into the report. This approach is useful if you want to embed a static image into your report, like adding a logo to a project-specific report.

Unfortunately, you need to open Power BI, update the report, and re-publish it to add or edit images.

Note: These embedded images will display when you print a report.

Option 2

Your second option is to link images dynamically from another file location. This approach allows you to connect to images from another file location and display them dynamically in your report.

A good example of this would be a set of project progress photos that are dropped off in a SharePoint image library every month. You could then connect these photos to your report and use a project and time period slicer to display only the images you would like to see in the report.

While this approach provides the most flexibility, since images are read from the image library, the setup in Power BI of the connection is more difficult.

Also, there are a few considerations to be aware of:

  • Viewers must have permission for both the image library and the Power BI report to view the images.
  • Images will not display in Power BI Desktop until you publish the report to Power BI Online.
  • The connected images will not display when you print a report.
Power BI Desktop with both options
  • When images initially display in Power BI, they will appear as small thumbnails, and you will not have many options to format them. You will most likely need to “Get more visuals” and find a third-party image display visual. See the screenshots below for how to do this.

Step 1: Click the three dots and select “Get more visuals” 

Step 2: And then search on images and click on one to add 

So, you might wonder how actually to create a dynamic image connection in your report from SharePoint? There are a bunch of steps to doing this, but I found a great video to get you most of the way there: A little trick for SharePoint Online Images in Power BI.

We hope this blog helps you build out your project status report. If you need a complete reporting solution from building a Power App to collect period data or structuring a Power BI Report that can filter by project and period, you can submit a consultation request here.

Tips from the Field: How to Access Checked-Out Files

Tips from the Field |

Microsoft SharePoint is a powerful document management platform with robust version control tools. However, a frustrating scenario can arise when you go looking for a file that you know is there, but someone checked out the document and then went off on vacation or left the organization. As a result, SharePoint will not let you open or edit the file – and in some cases, you might not even be able to see it. Here is how to restore your access to the file you need.

How to enable document checkout

Being able to check files in and out in SharePoint is a great way to manage updates, avoid conflicts and enforce version control. But this feature is not enabled by default when creating a new library. To turn on document checkout, you need to change the "Require documents to be checked out before they can be edited" option in the document library's versioning settings (see screenshot).

How to recover checked out documents

Problems can arise when someone checks out a document, does not check it back in, and then becomes unavailable (perhaps going on vacation or leaving the organization and having their account disabled). When this happens, the file may not show in your document library views, leading you to think it has disappeared.

The good news is that you can easily check stranded files back in under your account if you have the right permissions. You can do this regardless of whether the account of the person who checked it out is still active or not. Here's how.

  1. Go into the document library settings
  2. Click on "General Settings"
  3. Select "Manage files which have no checked in version"
  1. Under the "Checked Out Files" view, you will see the currently checked out files. Select the files you want to check back in, then click "Take Ownership of Selection" to become the owner.  The file will now show as being checked out to you. You can now open, edit, or check the file back in as appropriate.

Get More Tips and Tricks for Microsoft 365 and SharePoint

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Tips from the Field: List and Document Library Templates

Tips from the Field |

Have you ever wanted to create a standard document library in SharePoint with key columns for the project name, contractor, document types, and owner that you can reuse multiple times or import into another site? You can with SharePoint List and Document Library Templates.

Benefits of List and Document Library Templates in SharePoint

SharePoint’s List and Document Library Templates is a powerful feature that will help speed up site creation. There are many benefits to creating sets of list and library templates that you plan to reuse:

  • Standardize lists and document libraries settings (versions, check in check out, and so on)
  • Standardize lists and document library views.
  • Standardize metadata columns and content types across your content.
  • Include content in the template, such as previously created records, which could be helpful if you are creating an archive, backup, or phase of a project.
  • Reduce errors in rebuilding sites.
  • Accelerate time to build sites with repeatable tasks.
  • Export your list and library templates to other sites.

How to Create a List or Library Template in SharePoint

Creating a list or library template is relatively easy.  Make sure you define a template nomenclature in advance so you can easily determine the latest one to use when replicating. Then follow the steps below.

  1. Once you have created a list or library in SharePoint, go into Settings and click the “Save list as a template” link under the Permissions and Management column.

creating standard document library in SharePoint

2. Fill in the File Name (used when you export), Template Name (what will show in your Site Contents Apps), and a Template Description (a handy way to describe how you will use the template).   Note: make sure to use nomenclature that is consistent and easy to identify.

3. If you want to include the records that are currently in the list or library you created, click “Include Content.”

4. SharePoint will display a confirmation message if the creation step was successful.

5. Once created, your template is now available when you add an app under Site Contents.   You can now use it just like any other app.

Want to do more with Microsoft SharePoint and Office 365?

The Lydon Solutions team knows construction and IT.  Our team can help you keep ahead of your competition by getting the most out of technology solutions like SharePoint and Office 365. Contact us for a free consultation.

And if you need something turnkey, we also offer Construction Viz, a powerful construction project management solution with everything required to manage your construction projects, including document management, dashboards, reports, forms, workflows, and more. Construction Viz is available in the cloud, on-premise, or as à la carte apps deployable in Microsoft Office 365 and SharePoint.