I told you SpotD was a dog for SharePoint…

Nuff said

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I’d say that’s about as perfect a way to spend an Easter holiday as it gets. But I may just be biased.

The wait is over, it is time to face the reviews.

Get Building the SharePoint User Experience from Apress now!

To celebrate there will be a special launch competition on the mailing list during the week of April 6 to April 10. One winner every day will win the book, either as a physical or electronic book. It’s not too late to sign up, just use the form in the menu and you will get a chance to win as well.

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Next week I’ll hold a launch competition for the mailing list members. Every weekday there will be a competition with the prize every day being one of the first copies of the book to leave the press. So, if you still haven’t signed up for the mailing list, do so before Monday, April 6, and you will get invited to participate in the competition.

If you don’t win, however, you can still preorder the book on Amazon.

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If you haven’t read it already, Sahil wrote a great review of the upcoming book in his blog. I recommend that you check it out if you are wondering if you are going to buy the book. Of course, I would recommend that, since the review is very favorable, but then again, I’m already partial…

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In addition to the table of contents three exclusive excerpts have been posted earlier and these will remain available. As the book now enters the first revision phase any updates to the contents will also be made available as soon as it is ready.

More content will be added to the exclusive content page in the coming months, so if you want to get a sneak peek of the best SharePoint book ever, you should get on the list right away. Sign up in the menu to the right or go to the mailing list signup page now.

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A lot of questions, however, are either a bit out of scope or is not covered exactly as you ask them, so I am including a chapter in the book called “Questions from the audience”. The idea is simple: I take some of the questions I receive and answer them with the voice of the very unreal Dr. Schwein Puddle, along with his beautiful but equally unreal assistant Miss Winterweather. Those who ask questions will get their name, location and optional company name preserved for history, and, of course, your question answered, hopefully to your satisfaction.

So, what you need to do is to ask me your question, preferably regarding SharePoint and even better if they revolve around the SharePoint user experience, and let me know how you prefer to be credited.

Send your questions to furuknap<[at]>gmail.com and I will forward them to Dr. Puddle and his lovely assistant. Questions must be received no later than December 21st, as I need time to answer them before the book deadline of December 31st.

Oh, and I will answer your questions by email as well, so you won’t have to wait until launch in April.

Now, if you still want to see this content you have two choices:

1. Wait until the content is posted on a public page. Can take a long time.

2. Join the mailing list! Instant access promised.

Here’s what you will get:

1. Working with web parts in a site definition (from chapter 4)

This 3-page excerpt explains how you would add web parts to your site definition using the AllUsersWebPart element. In addition you will be shown how you get the actual web part code from an existing web part so that you can pre-configure settings to be included in the site definition web part.

(PDF, 4 pages)

2. DelegateControls (from chapter 5)

Modifying appearance and behavior of existing pages can be accomplished using DelegateControls. These controls allow you to put new controls and content into a pre-defined area of a page, such as the search box, various links, or, if you have created your own pages, anywhere you put a DelegateControl control. Learn how in this short excerpt.

(PDF, 3 pages)

3. A deep dive into Email-enabled lists (from chapter 7)

If you ever wanted to have an email enabled custom list you should understand how email works with lists. Then you would need to write a single line of code. This excerpt will explain and show you how email enabling works under the hood.

(PDF, 5 pages)

To join the mailing list you can use the form on the right or go to the signup to the newsletter mailing list page. Either option will require you to confirm your subscription by clicking a link in an email you receive right after filling in the form. If you do not click you will not get the welcome message in which the password is revealed.

Or, you can just fiddle your thumbs until someone decides to post the excerpts in a public place

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Sahil has vast experience with both writing and reviewing IT books, being author of no less than 4 books:

• Smart BI Solutions with MS SQL Server 2008 
• Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2005 
• Pro ADO.NET 2.0 
• Pro ADO.NET with VB .NET 1.1 

In addition, Sahil has authored countless technical articles and is considered a Guru, with a capital G, in more than the SharePoint community. Check out his website, at http://blah.winsmarts.com/.

I am exceptionally happy that Sahil has agreed to be the technical reviewer for this book. He will make sure that what I write is not completely off the hook.

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1. Working with web parts in a site definition (from chapter 4)

This 3-page excerpt explains how you would add web parts to your site definition using the AllUsersWebPart element. In addition you will be shown how you get the actual web part code from an existing web part so that you can pre-configure settings to be included in the site definition web part.

2. A deep dive into Email-enabled lists (from chapter 7)

If you ever wanted to have an email enabled custom list you should understand how email works with lists. Then you would need to write a single line of code. This excerpt will explain and show you how email enabling works.

3. DelegateControls (from chapter 5)

Modifying appearance and behavior of existing pages can be accomplished using DelegateControls. These controls allow you to put new controls and content into a pre-defined area of a page, such as the search box, various links, or, if you have created your own pages, anywhere you put a DelegateControl control. Learn how in this excerpt.

Now, this is important. I will allow anyone to vote, even people who are not members of the list. However, in order to get the actual excerpt you must be on the list. This is because the password to the page on which the excerpt will be published will only be sent to the list.

So, first, vote on what you want to read. Vote in the left menu. Second, subscribe to the mailing list.  You can do that in the menu to your right.

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Anyway, I am a bit disappointed at the price. Here I am, pouring my soul out for the world to see, and the show is only $40 a ticket.

Oh, but they do have that cool book banner ad thingy. Here’s how it looks:

Nice, except they got my name wrong.

So, what are you still hanging around for? Get over there and buy the damn thing! I’m not getting rich by you sitting here!

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I recommend you take a look at the article; you will find some of the information and much of the writing style from the book. If you like the article you will certainly love the book.

“Customizing the default SharePoint user experience”

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In any case, if you want to check out my recommendations and perhaps augment your book collection while you are waiting for my book, hop on over to “Other SharePoint books you might want…”

If you have other suggestions for books you thing should be in the shelf, let me know, I might have missed some.

In any case, I was thinking of petting two dogs with one hand (I hate the ‘killing birds’ proverb’), and since I spend hours with my nose inside other SharePoint books these days I thought I would post some reviews of those books to my blog.

You can check out the first review of Developer’s Guide to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 in my blog.

The next book up for review is Ted Pattison and Daniel Larson’s Inside Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. Should be posted within a week, so sign up for my feed to get a notification when the review is posted.

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The competition was simply to tell me what would make you buy the book. I wanted to discover what potential readers wanted, so I asked. Most readers sent their suggestions early on, and quite a few statements were fairly on cue with what I am trying to do.

I would like to thank everyone who participated, it is extremely important to me to write a book that people will enjoy.

One late entry caught my attention for being spot on what I envision. The winner, residing in Kansas, USA, said:

‘I would buy your book because you have a way with words that makes learning the SharePoint in’s and out’s fun and not so intimidating as some other authors. Thank you for this!’

That statement really touched me because it is a summary of what I try to accomplish in the book as well as in my online writing.

I would also like to mention one other entry, just because of the text the person wanted for their book:

‘I hereby sign over all my earthly possessions to XXXXX. Bjørn Furuknap’

Congratulations, The Book will be inscribed, signed, and delivered as soon as it hits the shelves.

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What are the rules? If you are on the mailing list you will know. And if you are not, GET YOUR BEHIND MOVING and sign up, because the final chance to win expires on Monday October 20th.

Sign up to the Building the SharePoint User Experience mailing list here.

The vote was run until today, Monday, October 12, and to my pleasant surprise, half of those voting wanted my book as the prize.

So, I will post the competition to the mailing list tonight and the lucky winner will be among the first to get my book, and have it signed by me with an inscription of choice.

Details on the competition will be announced later, but ONLY PEOPLE ON THE LIST will be eligible for participation. I will reveal, however, that the competition will be related to this web site and will not require special SharePoint knowledge.

If you are not on the list you can sign up to the Building the SharePoint User Experience mailing list here.

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In any case, I got some feedback from my editor. And no, I will still not disclose who the publisher is, so the editor will remain anonymous for now. Here’s what editor said:

“The text is highly readable, and is “laugh out loud funny” (arguably), which is extremely rare for a tech book. Certainly, people will wade through the dsicussions with much more interest, and you have done an excellent job of balancing tech with humor.”

That’s right out of his mail to me. Seems that at least he enjoys the rather unique approach to getting content across.

Oh, and this information was posted to the mailinglist last night. You would have heard it sooner if you had signed up.

To compensate those who have wisely limited their external script settings I have put up a separate page with the signup form in pure HTML.

The signup page is here.

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The prizes needs a bit more description, just so you know what you are getting:

My book, signed on release

You get to be among the first to receive my book once it hits the shelves. I will sign the book with a text of your choosing, within reasonable limits, of course. You will receive the book delivered to your door.

3-month Platinum Audible.com membership

For three months you will get access to two new audio books every month. You choose from 50,000 titles and get to download, burn, and transfer your books to most MP3-players.

$60 Amazon gift card

Not sure what you would like? Well, Amazon offers a range of products and you get a gift certificate for US$50 to spend just as you please.

Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures

If you like online games, nothing beats Age of Conan, at least in my opinion. You get the full game, including one month of game time.

Vote in the menu to the left, voting ends October 12 2008.

The competition, however, will begin Monday October 13, AND YOU NEED TO BE ON THE LIST to participate.

For now your fastest way to receive updates will be to sign up on the mailinglist. The list will be the first notification channel for any updates and will also receive some exclusive content that will not be published on this blog.

Until later,

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Building the SharePoint User Experience Book

This blog supports the SharePoint book “Building the SharePoint User Experience” by Bjørn Furuknap.

My goal: Create the Best SharePoint Book ever.