The topic at last nights local .NET User Group was "Tools I can’t live without". Joel Meikle (from Meikle Programming) had a massive list of tools... I use most of  them and the ones I don't use I will be looking into. Below is a list of tools I can't do without. This table below doesn't include any of the SharePoint Development Tools or Administration Tools I previously blogged about. NOTE: These tools are in no particular order!

After a couple of weeks on holiday, I am back into it... and I thought I would get started with a post on the way I customise a SharePoint project. This post  won't cover coding or how to configure sites, but more of the philosophy behind the customisation of a deployment.

When I get a new project to sink my teeth into I generally split the customisation into three parts: Configuration, SharePoint Designer and Custom Coding.

The three phases

As I explained above, I use three phases when I do any customisation in SharePoint. Some projects may only need to use the first, some may need all three. Below is an explanation of each of those phases:

Configuration

Using SharePoint's out-of-the-box functionality you should be able to achieve between 60%-80% of the required customisation (or 100% if it is a less complicated project).

Using Sites, Lists, Content Types, etc. you should be able to get a working example of a site. Usually this can be done with the users to ensure your requirements are correct and saves re-work later on.

I also find starting the build like this, you can let the project team loose on the site and as they get a feel for it they may move the requirements... it is better it happens at this stage, rather than on delivery when a lot more work has been done to the solution.

Once the initial configuration has been completed and a gap analysis has been done to determine what (if any) further customisation needs to be done you will need to crack open either SharePoint Designer (SPD) or Visual Studio (VS).

SharePoint Designer

The next phase of any custom work I do requires SharePoint Designer (SPD). SPD is a tool that doesn't require masses of coding (VB.NET or C#) knowledge and can be used by technical BA's or skilled up power users. This doesn't mean developers can't use it as well!

I generally use SharePoint designer to:

• Change the look and feel for the site
• Display Cross-Site information in the Data View Web Part
• Use SP Data source controls to populate ASPX controls
• Do basic customisation of list views using the Custom List Form Web Part
• Create basic workflows
• Generally messing with the SharePoint Pages

Most of the time SharePoint Designer will get you close to the finish line. There are a few issues with it (not being able to easily move Workflows is one of them), but the good out-weights the bad!

Custom Coding (Visual Studio)

The third and final phase in any custom work is the cutting of custom code. The tool I use when customising a project in this way is Visual Studio. This is the realm of the developer and comes with all of the "extras" that go with full custom development (support, bugs, upgrade changes, etc.). But, VS allows you to really make the final changes to customise the project to 100% of the users requirements.

I use VSeWSS and other tools along with VS to do the following tweaks:

• Create full site definitions so re-deploying the same site template is easy!
• Create state machine and complex sequential workflows
• Create custom Web Parts to modify and display information
• Write event handlers to catch and process requests

and the list can go on and on... Where there are any gaps left after the first two steps, it should be cleaned up with code.

What to use and When

The size of the project generally dictates how far down the list you will need to go to get the solution you want. Below is a table that shows where you which direction you need to head:

Conclusion

Hopefully the above information will prove useful when deciding what path to take with customisation of your SharePoint project. If you have a large project that requires a fair bit of custom work, try and get the most out of SharePoint before you start using SharePoint Designer or Visual Studio... it is amazing what a little bit of planning and architecture can do! Anywhere from 60% - 80% of a large project can be completed without even opening SPD or VS.

This post is for anyone in New Zealand that is interested in the latest and greatest from MSFT & HP in the Small Business and Cloud-Based Services space... If you haven't already done so, check out the following two events:

• Microsoft Unplugged series (to register)
  the presentation by Nigel Parker is titled: UNPLUGGED MSDN Update: Get Ready for Cloud-Based Services, IE8 & Silverlight 2
• HP-Microsoft SBS 2008 ROK Road Show (to register)

Both events are being run on the same day in most centres, with the HP-MSFT session in the morning and the unplugged session in the afternoon. For more details on both the events visit the NZ SBSC (Small Business Specialist Community) blog.

I am presenting at this months Bay of Plenty SharePoint User Group... The topic is: SharePoint Workflows from a Developers Point-of-View.

Here is a blurb about the presentation:

Workflows can be a powerful tool for an organisation to automate many processes and decrease information duplication and becoming misplaced. In this session Eamon will create a workflow using Visual Studio to show the power of SharePoint’s Workflow Engine working with enterprise line-of-business applications. This session is aimed at developers, but it may be useful for power users to get a look at what is possible with customised workflows.

I will record the session and post it on here, so anyone that misses it will be able to watch it and post questions.