What is SharePoint?
SharePoint is Microsoft’s web-based online file-sharing, storage, and collaboration platform that integrates tightly within the Microsoft 365 environment.
How NHE uses SharePoint
NHE utilizes SharePoint in a variety of ways, however the main focus at this point in time is for file sharing and real-time collaboration. NHE’s main Corporate file share is hosted in a SharePoint site, and there are also designated SharePoint sites for specific business units and even properties in some cases.
SharePoint Overview
SharePoint is organized into collections called “sites.” A site is, in its most basic form, a website that includes a document library for file sharing, as well as customization options to create unique pages depending on the site’s needs. Some sites may be enriched with photos, text, and news posts, and some may just be straight to-the-point affairs that are only really concerned with serving files. In many cases across NHE at the time of this writing, SharePoint sites are mainly used for serving files, however this may change as NHE continues to evolve its Microsoft 365 presence.
Below is an example of a SharePoint site home page:
In the previous example, you can see a lot of the interactive elements of a SharePoint site, including (but not limited to) the title, a links and news area, and the navigation sidebar on the left-hand side. This is a more specialized site that the IT department uses for inter-departmental communications and collaboration. Another component of a SharePoint site that may look familiar is the document library of the Corporate NHE File Share, as seen below:
The above is an example of a SharePoint site’s document library. The document library is where you can find all shared files of a SharePoint site that are accessible by that site’s users.
The document library is going to be the primary focus of this guide moving forward.
SharePoint Document Libraries
A SharePoint document library is presented in a file/folder format like you would typically be used to in any modern desktop Windows environment. You can download, upload, save, and even edit certain files directly from within the SharePoint library with no additional software required. Note that the ability to edit files is currently only possible with certain file types, specifically any Microsoft Office files such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations. To open any of these files that support editing directly within the SharePoint site, just click them to open. You can also open files directly from the SharePoint site in desktop Office clients such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint by using the context menu as shown below:
The context menu also has some other features that are useful. You can share files using this menu, download a copy of the file, rename/move/copy the file, and see the file’s version history. The version history will display all versions of the file that have existed since the file’s creation and will document the changes made over the course of the history of the file.
This is just a brief look at SharePoint sites, but stay tuned for more guides following this to come. Let’s take a look at integrating SharePoint document libraries into your desktop Windows environment.
Integrating SharePoint Document Libraries into Windows File Explorer
If you prefer a more familiar file share experience, SharePoint document libraries include an option to directly interface with them using your desktop file explorer via OneDrive. What we want to do in this scenario is find the folder we’d like access to in a SharePoint document library, and then sync that folder to your desktop’s OneDrive client. Please see below for an example of how to accomplish this:
Once you sync the folder you want, you will see a popup from the SharePoint site asking you to open the sync action in your OneDrive client.
Click “Open” in the prompt on the top if asked, and then your SharePoint folder will start to sync to your desktop file explorer. You may be asked to sign into OneDrive if you are not already signed in, but once the connection is established you will start to see your files populate the file explorer.
Note: For particularly large document libraries and/or folders, you may see a delay of up to several hours for items to fully sync.
Your synced files will show in your file explorer under a heading called “NHE, Inc.” with a small building icon next to it, as shown in the below example:
Once your files are synced, you are free to edit, save, move, and rename as needed. Files opened from the file explorer will open by default in their respective desktop applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
Conclusion
In this guide we gave a brief overview of SharePoint, how NHE utilizes SharePoint, and a glance at basic SharePoint usage and integration with your Windows file explorer. NHE is looking at ways to utilize SharePoint in a greater capacity in the future so keep your eyes peeled for more user guides regarding SharePoint moving forward.
If you have any questions or concerns about this guide or any of the topics/concepts covered in this guide, please feel free to reach out to NHE’s IT department by phone at (800) 771-9323 or by submitting a help desk ticket at https://nhe-inchelp.zendesk.com
Thanks for reading!