Issue Tracking
The Issue Tracking list template has been updated to use the enhanced versioning and version-history storage features of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

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Real-time presence and communication
The enhanced real-time presence smart tag icon, displayed virtually everywhere a person’s name appears in the system, tells users whether a person is online and available for a telephone or audio conference call, instant messaging, or two-way video conversation.

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Social Networking Web Part
Include Social Networking Web Parts that use information about your organization, communities, and electronic communications in Public My Site pages to help establish connections between colleagues with common interests.

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Standard site templates
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 includes the following standard collaboration site templates:

• Team site
• Document workspace
• Blank site
• Blog
• Wiki
• Meeting workspaces (five workspace types)

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Wikis
A wiki is a new site template in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 that makes it easy to create, edit, link, and restore an individual Web page. Wikis can be used as creative forums to brainstorm ideas, manage knowledge bases, create designs as well as instruction guides or simply gather information in an easy-to-edit format. Wikis are easy to create, modify, and annotate in addition to tracking contributions and changes. Key features include:

• Fast and easy page creation
• Easy and automatic linking
• Version differences
• What you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) Web page editing

Wikis leverage existing SharePoint functionality including search, navigation, alerts, and custom fields.

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Blogs
Blogs provide a publishing-oriented experience for a single user or a team. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 includes a site template that supports:

• Article posting
• Reader comments

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People and Groups lists
People and Groups offer a unified place to find, communicate with, and manage people and their permissions, including support for custom fields such as Department, “Office #” and Area of Focus; in addition to the new Person field type. The Person field type creates rich displays of lists of people including support for a People Picker for browsing a list of users. Member Group provides:

• Re-use of groups across sites
• Distribution list for the members of the site

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Calendars
Calendars have been enhanced with richer calendar views, expanded support for recurring events, and all-day events.

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E-mail integration
Document libraries, discussion boards, calendars, and announcements can be enabled to receive new postings via e-mail. In addition, extensible support is provided for custom e-mail handlers in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.
Similar to the functionality provided by public folders in Microsoft Exchange Server, e-mail enabled discussion boards support:

• A highly scalable, topic-based architecture
• New “super rich-text” field type
• Unified experience for both e-mail and Web-based discussions
• One-step creation of Active Directory directory service distribution lists as part of the site creation process
• Unified SharePoint group and Active Directory management functions

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Task coordination
The new Project Tasks list template provides lightweight task management functionality including Gantt charts for visualization of task relationships and status.

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Surveys
Surveys now include conditional branching as well as support for inserting page breaks in long surveys such as annual employee satisfaction or and customer surveys.

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Document collaboration
Improvements to SharePoint document libraries include:
Similar to the functionality provided by public folders in Microsoft Exchange Server, e-mail enabled discussion boards support:

• Checking out documents locally
• Offline document library support in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
• Major and minor version numbering and tracking
• Support for multiple content types
• Policy, auditing, and workflow
• Tree view support

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My Site personal site
The My Site personal site gives users an opportunity to aggregate information “for me,” “by me,” and “about me.” Significant enhancements include social networking, privacy controls, SharePoint Sites and Documents Aggregation Web Parts, and Colleagues and Memberships Web Parts.

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Content syndication
Use RSS feeds to syndicate content managed in a portal site.

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Privacy and security
Use authorizations to control visibility of information in a My Site public view.

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Site Directory
The Site Directory automatically creates a site map and presents it in an easy-to-use format. The enhanced directory now includes the option to scan for changed or deleted links to external content.

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User Profiles and the Profile Store
User Profiles store personal information for system users. Improvements include multi-valued properties bound to taxonomy from Office SharePoint Server 2007, property-level security controls by person or group, open and closed vocabularies, and per-site property extensions. Profile synchronization and directory import support the extended capabilities of the User Profile Store with enhanced scalability and performance.

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Site Manager
Manage a SharePoint site’s navigation, security access, and general look and feel using this easy drag-and-drop tool. Site Manager unifies site management tasks for portals and Web sites, including management of areas, pages, listings, SharePoint site lists, and associated component parts.

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Mobile device support
All SharePoint portal, team site, and list pages now render on international and North American mobile devices (including Web-enabled mobile phones) using a simplified text-only format.

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Portal site templates
Preconfigured templates streamline creating, customization, and deployment of divisional portals, organization-wide intranet portal sites, and corporate Web sites.

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Integration with Microsoft Office Access 2007, Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, and Word 2007
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 easily integrates with smart client tools through a set of Web services and documented application interfaces. Users can readily adopt these new tools because of their similarity to other familiar environments, such as the Microsoft Office system. For example, users of 2007 Microsoft Office system programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, InfoPath, Project, and OneNote can directly interact with information stored in SharePoint sites without having to manually download the content.

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User interface
Simple, clean yet powerful user interface with industry-standard query syntax. Scopes are decoupled from content sources so users can easily broaden or narrow the scope of a content search. Search can be based on arbitrary content properties such as URL, type, and author. Actionable search results can be easily filtered and sorted; used and shared. Alerts and RSS feeds easily provide updated results for common and frequent queries.

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Search results
Search results are rendered more clearly. Results are security trimmed so users only see what they can access. Results include user-friendly features such as hit highlighting, duplicate collapsing, and synonym suggestion. Optional integration with real-time communications tools allow users to easily contact content authors and experts.

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Enterprise content sources
Searches over 200 file types in many enterprise content sources, including files shares, Web sites, SharePoint sites, Exchange Public Folders, and Lotus Notes databases out-of –the-box with the ability to extend to additional third party repositories and file types through the use of Protocol Handlers and iFilters.

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Administration and management
Improved administration user interfaces and admin application programming interface (API) provides broad support for various search and indexing scenarios, central controls for resource-intensive operations, as well as tools for management and reporting.

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Indexing controls
Granular indexing controls for easy inclusion and exclusion of searched content as well as immediate result removal of any site or item. Continuous index propagation to keep information fresh. Improved crawl rules and crawl log; multiple start addresses per content source; and a new browse able, filterable index log provide necessary information to optimize search.

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Security
Administrator permissions no longer required by crawler. Access control list (ACL) and ACL-only crawls index content permissions for compliance, privacy, and protection of intellectual property (IP). Security-trimmed search results only allow users to see content they are allowed to access.

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Business data search
Search data residing in your line-of-business applications using the Business Data Catalog. Structured content sources and line-of-business application data and reports accessible through Web services or ADO.NET can be indexed and retrieved through the Business Data Catalog as search results or into a SharePoint list.

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Business document workflow support
Automate document review, approval, signature collection, and issue tracking using workflow applications.

• Approval
• Collect Feedback
• Collect Signatures
• Disposition Approval

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Document management site templates

• The Managed Document Library site template defines large-scale document management sites.
• The Divisional Library site template includes managed document libraries, dashboards, KPIs, and other reporting tools.
• The Translation Library site template helps organizations manage multiple translations of a document.

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Integration with Microsoft Information Rights Management (IRM)
Helps ensure that access rights applied to Microsoft Office documents in a central library travel with the documents, even when they are downloaded from the library.

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Records repository
Helps ensure the integrity of the files stored in the repository, and supports information management policies that consistently and uniformly enforce auditing, and expiration of records.

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E-mail content as records
Provides consistent, policy-based solutions for managing e-mail content across Office Outlook 2007, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, and Office SharePoint Server 2007.

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Navigation controls
Out-of-the box navigation controls that can be easily customized by end users.

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Content authoring
Provides the ability for information workers to create content rich Web pages using a Web browser.

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Content publishing and deployment
Built in approval workflow allows Web content to be sent for approval prior to publishing. Content deployment to production sites can be scheduled by setting up jobs and a "live" time period for each page can be specified within which that page is viewable.

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WYSIWYG Web content editor
Extends the SharePoint user interface with additional commands and status indicators for in-context Web page authoring.

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Policies, auditing, and compliance
Repositories in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 support the following policy, auditing, and compliance features. However, the features denoted with an asterisk are activated only upon the installation of Office SharePoint Server 2007.

• Document retention and expiration policies
• Highly customizable policies
• Workflow process to define expiration
• Access control and security
• IRM policies applied on download to secure the functional access to documents
• Tracking and auditing
• Logging of all actions on sites, content, and workflows
• Official document-of-record repositories
• Site for storing or archiving enterprise approved content types

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Compatibility Checker
The Compatibility Checker helps forms designers validate those features that need to work across the broadest range of Web browsers.

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Browser-based forms
Microsoft Office InfoPath Forms Services available in Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 makes it possible to design Web-capable forms in Office InfoPath 2007 and distribute them on corporate intranets, extranets, or the Internet. Users can fill out forms in a browser or HTML-enabled mobile device with no download or client components needed.

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Centralized forms management and control
Office InfoPath Forms Services provide a administrator controlled centralized form solution catalog that makes it easy for users to find a form and minimize form solution downtime when upgrades are necessary. It also provides administrators with the tools to manage form solution security and accessibility.

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"Design once" development model
Forms designers can design their forms once and deploy them for use both within the rich Office InfoPath 2007 client program and through a Web browser. Office Forms Server 2007 automatically converts the form into ASP.NET Web forms, with no additional work from the designer.

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Form Import Wizard
The designer in Office InfoPath 2007 provides an easy way to convert forms designed in Office Excel and Office Word into rich Office InfoPath 2007 forms. The Form Import Wizard handles the conversion of form fields, repeating tables, rich text boxes, and other elements, dynamically generating the underlying XML structure for the new form.

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Integrated deployment model for "no-code" forms
The Publish Wizard in Office InfoPath 2007 makes it easy to publish forms that do not have any managed code components to a Windows SharePoint Services library, while making the form available as a browser-based form at the same time.

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Integrated, flexible spreadsheet publishing
Office Excel 2007 provides an integrated publishing experience that lets information workers easily choose what they want to share with others and determine how others can interact with published spreadsheets.

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Share, manage, and control spreadsheets
Share business data broadly while maintaining control and helping to protect sensitive information. Provides access to spreadsheet data and analysis through server-calculated, interactive Office Excel spreadsheets from a Web browser. Use these spreadsheets to maintain and efficiently share one centralized version of the truth while helping to protect any sensitive or proprietary information embedded in documents, such as financial models, by limiting access to portions of the spreadsheet and auditing their usage.

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Web-based business intelligence using Excel Services
Excel Services empowers spreadsheet authors to easily and broadly share spreadsheets that use the new business intelligence (BI) functionality through the browser. Fully interactive, data-bound spreadsheets including charts, tables, and PivotTable views can be created as part of a portal, dashboard, or business scorecard, without requiring any development.

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Data Connection Libraries
Data Connection Libraries are centralized SharePoint document libraries that store Office Data Connections (ODC); ODCs describe connections to external data. Centralizing Office Data Connections makes it easier to share, manage, and discover data connections that can be used by any Microsoft Office program.

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Business Data Catalog
The Business Data Catalog (BDC) tightly integrates external data into the Office SharePoint Server 2007 user experience, providing access to external data residing within backed line-of-business applications, and enabling the display of and interaction with external data through a set of Business Data Web Parts.

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Integrated business intelligence dashboards
Create rich, interactive BI dashboards that assemble and display business information from disparate sources by using built-in Web parts such as dynamic KPIs, Excel spreadsheets, Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services reports, or a collection of business data connectivity Web Parts that can visualize information residing in back end line-of-business applications.

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Report Center
An out-of-the-box site optimized for report access and management, including a report library, data connection library, and a dashboard template. These sites, hosted by the new Report Center, provide consistent management of reports, spreadsheets, and data connections.

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Key performance indicators
KPIs communicate goals and status to drive results. Using the KPI Web Part, a user can create a KPI list within a Web Part page, without writing code. The KPI Web Part can display KPIs from Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services, Excel spreadsheets, SharePoint lists, or manually entered data.

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Filter Web Parts
Filters enable dashboards to be personalized by communicating shared parameters among Web Parts on a dashboard. The parameters passed can be automatically applied based on user profiles, SharePoint lists, the BDC, manually entered information, and so forth.

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Configuration management
Built on the infrastructure and services provided by ASP.NET version 2.0, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 supports a centralized Web configuration management object model.

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Administration user interface
The administration Web pages have been reorganized and redesigned based on feedback from the many customers who deployed Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 Service Pack 2 (2.0 SP2) in their organizations.

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Delegation
In Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, delegation gives SharePoint site owners a secure, scalable, and centrally managed set of administration rights.

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Usage analytics

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Monitoring
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 provides a Microsoft Operations Management (MOM) package to support centralized monitoring and management of configurations ranging from single servers and small server farm to very large server farms.

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Support for ASP.NET 2.0
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 leverages the reliability, scalability, and functionality of ASP.NET version 2.0. This includes support for the ASP.NET version 2.0 Web Part Model (with added backward compatibility support for Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 SP2 Web Parts). Building on ASP.NET not only provides a deep technical foundation for Windows SharePoint Services, but also allows Windows SharePoint Services to leverage the Visual Studio development environment for application development.

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Alert customization
Additional platform features are provided for custom formatting, events, and alerts.

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Task notifications
Task notifications are now sent automatically when a user is assigned a task. There is no need for the user to subscribe to the notification in advance.

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Notification service
Extensible platform sends customizable e-mail alerts to users. Users participating in a workflow automatically receive e-mail alerts without subscribing in advance. Improved filtering conditions now trigger more relevant alerts to all users.

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Quick launch bar
Available on all view pages and is more easily customizable.

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Top navigation bar
Available on all view pages and is more easily customizable.

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View improvements
Ability to page forward and backward in addition to improved user interface for sorting and filtering.

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Descriptive menu actions
The Actions drop-down menu provides task-based descriptions of the actions that can be performed on a particular SharePoint list or document library.

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Accessibility
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 is Section 508 and W3C compliant.

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Recycle bin
Enables a user to easily restore an item that was deleted accidentally. Administration tools are also available to manage the lifecycle of deleted items in the recycle bin.

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Backup/restore support for Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)
Windows SharePoint Services backup and restore functionality is enhanced with the support for VSS a feature of Windows Server 2003.

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Document libraries
Improvement to SharePoint document libraries include:

• Checking out documents locally
• Offline document library support in Office Outlook 2007
• Major and minor version numbering and tracking
• Support for multiple content type
• Policy, auditing, and workflow
• Tree view support

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Large-list and cross-list indexing
The performance of large-lists and cross-lists can be improved through the use of indexes on specific list column properties. This significantly increases the capacity and performance of a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 list compared to 2.0.

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Metadata
Users can extend document libraries and lists with custom column properties.
The practical number of column properties that a list or document library may have has been significantly increased due to performance and scalability improvements in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Lists.

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Content types
Content types are reusable definitions of document types across your organization. A single document library can store content with multiple document types.
A content type is used to define a group of documents that share a common set of attributes; including:

• Document templates
• What’s on the “New” button
• Metadata specific to the content type
• Shared column property templates
• Custom InfoPath forms in 2007 Microsoft Office system applications
• Enterprise defined policies
• Common workflows

Content types are different from traditional file types (which map to physical file formats like Word documents or Excel spreadsheets). Content types are used to define and implement business documents such as functional specifications, budget planning spreadsheets, or new product concept presentation.

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Application templates
While standard workspaces in Windows SharePoint Services are easy to implement, organizations seeking a more customized deployment can get started quickly with application templates for addressing specific business processes or sets of tasks.
A new set of application templates will be available for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. They will highlight aspects of task coordination and will offer some pre-configured workflows. The application templates provide customers with a baseline for deploying Windows SharePoint Services in context of business processes and set of tasks. A rich ecosystem of solution providers use the application templates as the basis for deeper horizontal and vertical solutions.

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Workflow
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 hosts Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) to enable customized creation of workflow solutions and use of structured workflows on document library and list items. Office SharePoint Designer 2007 can be used to design and configure custom workflow solutions with the support for WF in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.
Ready-to-use workflow templates are available with Office SharePoint Server 2007 as well as a new set of application solutions for Windows SharePoint Services downloadable from the Microsoft TechNet Web site.

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Version history
Changes to the item are shown in the version history. In addition, support is provided for “append-only” comment fields.

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Major and minor version tracking
Tracking of both major version numbers and minor version numbers are supported in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

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LDAP pluggable authentication provider

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Single Sign-On (SSO)
Permits a person to enter one name and password to use a variety of back-end applications.SSO is used for integrating back-office systems and line-of-business applications that require separate credentials databases. Take advantage of single sign on to authenticate users and leverage this to pre-populate InfoPath forms.

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Common search technology and infrastructure
Provides a single indexing and search infrastructure that scales from the desktop, through team sites and divisional portal sites, to the largest corporate intranets, extranets, and Internet sites.

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Inteoperability and integration

• XML support
• SOAP support
• Web services
• Open API and Object Model

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