Summary
This document will cover a lot of the basics of how to use SharePoint and OneDrive. SharePoint and OneDrive share many similarities so everything that’s covered here applies to both, unless stated otherwise. The basic tasks covered in this document include navigation, creating and uploading documents, editing documents, sharing documents and how to use the OneDrive client.
Navigation
o365.cfed.org takes you to the Office 365 portal. You can access all your online apps from here. The waffle icon on the top left makes it easy to switch between apps.
Clicking on the SharePoint app will take you to Prosperity Now’s SharePoint home page. Clicking on Team Site on the lower left will take you to Prosperity Now’s Team Site. You could also just go to cfed.sharepoint.com to take you directly to the team site. Also, IT developed a simple app that will bypass the home page. It can be found in the new tab in the waffle menu
Once at Prosperity Now’s team site, navigate to your teams specific site using the drop-down menus.
Each team site should have multiple document libraries that hold team files. Navigate to them using the links on the left. The folder structure should feel a lot like Windows Explorer.
Creating/Uploading Documents
There are many ways to create/upload new documents in SharePoint. You can click on the New drop down menu in a document library to create a document directly in SharePoint
You can also create a document on Office and then save it to SharePoint
You are also able to just drag and drop files into these document libraries.
Editing Documents
SharePoint makes editing and collaborating on a document very easy. To edit a document, open the document, then click on the Edit dropdown
Editing in browser does not give you all the features editing in Office does, so choose based on what you need to do.
More than one person can edit an Office document at a time. When editing the document in the browser, changes made show up in real time. When editing the document in Office, changes made only show up after you save.
When editing a document from SharePoint in Office, you should see the save icon with the refresh symbol, rather than the save icon without it. The refresh symbol indicates that the file you are working on is the file is in the cloud.
Sharing Documents
You have a few options when it comes to sharing a document: sharing it via email or generating a link. Sharing via email requires the recipient to have a Microsoft account, but is more secure. It is also easier to manage who has access to the document this way Generating a link will allow anyone to edit or view the document and is more difficult to manage who has access to the document.
The best way to share a document is to either right click the document and select Share or Get a Link
Or select the document and click on Share or Get a Link.
It is important for you to know your audience and what you want them to be able to do with the document. If it’s someone in Prosperity Now that you know has access to the document, just copy and paste the link in the URL bar (no need to share or create a link). If the document you want to share is in your OneDrive and you only need one person to have access to it, share the document with that individual. If it’s a document that you just need someone to have a copy of, send it as an attachment. The list of scenarios goes on and on and its crucial for everyone to understand the needs of the people who you’re sharing the document with.
Once you’ve shared a document/folder or generated a link, you’re able to remove access to the document/folder.
To do this, right click the document and go to details. You should see the Change permissions option.
Depending on how you shared the document, you should see individuals you shared the document with or you should see the link you generated. To deactivate the link, click on the X by the link. To stop sharing the document with individuals, click on the drop down arrow and select Stop Sharing
Using OneDrive Client
The OneDrive client is used to sync your OneDrive files to your hard drive. It will check for changes to the files then upload them to the cloud or download them to your hard drive. Your OneDrive should show up under your favorites.
The green check on the files means that the file you are working on is up to date with what is on the cloud
The OneDrive client is also able to sync SharePoint sites. To do this, go to the library you want to sync in SharePoint and click Sync
A window will open asking you what folders you want to sync
The synced SharePoint folder will show up in C:\Users\<username>\Corporation for Enterprise Development. With this folder open, you can right click on Favorites and select Add current location to Favorites for easy access.
Troubleshooting
If you accidentally delete a document on SharePoint, you can recover them from the Recycle Bin. You can access the Recycle Bin from the left panel
If you accidentally made a change on a document and saved over it, you can restore a previous version of that document. To do this, right click the document and click on Version History. This opens up the Version history window. Clicking on the versions allows you to view, restore or delete the version.
If you can’t edit an Excel document, it’s most likely because someone else is currently editing an Excel document. Only one person can only edit Excel documents at a time, currently.
Two people can edit documents that aren’t Office documents, but you run in to problems where multiple copies will be created on SharePoint. To avoid this, consider checking out the document. To do this, right click on the document, hover over More and click Check out
You should see the green arrow showing that the document is checked out
Check the document back in once you are done editing it. The check in process is identical to the check out process.
Always check to see the save icon with the refresh symbol when editing a document!
If you have any other questions, concerns or feedback, please let Helpdesk know!!