Recommended Additions for SharePoint 2007

I have had the pleasure to be involved with many SharePoint projects, and more often than not with those projects, there is a need to install or develop additional functionality which enhances the end user, administrator, or developer experience with the product. Below are several tools which I find myself installing and/or recommending on those projects, which do just that, without having to re-invent the wheel.

If you have any additions, please leave a comment about them, and I will keep this list going.

Backup/Recovery

• Microsoft IT Site Delete Capture LE 1.0
  • Link: http://www.codeplex.com/governance/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=14351
  • Description: “Microsoft Site Delete Capture LE version 1.0 is an Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 solution package that when deployed to a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 server farm enables administrators to create a snapshot of site collections and Webs when they are deleted through the SharePoint user interface, the SharePoint Administration Tool, or Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007.”

Administration

• U2U List Properties Feature Package
  • Link: http://www.u2u.be/res/Tools/SharePointListProperties.aspx
  • Description: “The U2U List Properties Package has been developed to ease the work of a SharePoint 2007 developer. It adds an hyperlink to the List Settings page displaying a page with detailed information about the list properties.”
• U2U Site Properties Feature Package
  • Link: http://www.u2u.be/res/Tools/SharePointSiteProperties.aspx
  • Description: “The U2U Site Properties Package has been developed to ease the work of a SharePoint 2007 developer. It adds an hyperlink to the Site Settings page displaying a page with detailed information about the site properties.”
• SharePoint ULS Viewer
  • Link: http://www.codeplex.com/ULSViewer
  • Description: “A windows application for viewing SharePoint ULS log files more easily. Supports filtering and easy viewing of data.”
• WSS / MOSS Log File Reader
  • Link: http://www.codeplex.com/wssmosslogfilereader
  • Description: “View, search and filter SharePoint ULS log files directly from within Central Administration.”
• SharePoint Access Checker Web Part
  • Link: http://www.codeplex.com/AccessChecker
  • Description: “The Access Checker Web Part is a Windows Sharepoint Services Web Part, for use within Windows Sharepoint Services v3 and Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007, that displays a tree view showing permissions on objects for a user scoped to a Site hierarchy. It also has a second mode which will show the permission inheritance of objects within a Site hierarchy.”
• SharePoint Manager 2007
  • Link: http://www.codeplex.com/spm
  • Description: “The SharePoint Manager 2007 is a SharePoint object model explorer. It enables you to browse every site on the local farm and view every property. It also enables you to change the properties (at your own risk). This is a very powerfull tool for developers that like to know what the SharePoint holds of secrets.”
• SharePoint SUSHI
  • Link: http://www.codeplex.com/sushi
  • Description: “SharePoint SUSHI is a powerful, user-friendly utility enabling you to accomplish common administrative tasks. You can think of SUSHI as a Swiss army knife for SharePoint.
    SUSHI = SharePoint Utility with a Smart, Helpful Interface”
• STSADM Custom Extensions
  • Link: http://stsadm.blogspot.com/2007/08/stsadm-commands_09.html
  • Description: Gary Lapointe has built an fantastic array of extensions for the STSADM utility. These commands add much needed functionality to STSADM for performing administrative tasks in MOSS and WSS.

Web Parts and Other Features

• SharePoint 2007 Features
  • Link: http://www.codeplex.com/features
  • Description: “This is a project for SharePoint 2007 Features. Features add new functionality to a SharePoint 2007 farm, site collection, or site. This project will create Features to address deficiencies in SharePoint 2007 or add new capabilities. You should understand a little about Features before trying these out. The packages here use batch files or WSP files to install the Features. After installation, be sure to activate the Features to see them in SharePoint.”

Usability

• SharePoint Explorer Client 2.0 – Community Edition
  • Link: http://www.adselfservicesuite.com/SharePointExplorerClient.aspx
  • Description: “The Dot Net Factory’s SharePoint Explorer is an IE add-in providing end-users and administrators the richest possible SharePoint usage and navigation experience for all SharePoint 2003 and 2007 versions. SharePoint Explorer provides a friendly tree-based interface allowing novice and expert users alike to see all SharePoint sites and content at a glance while providing right-click menus for all common functions.”

The descriptions used above in quotes were copied from their original source (link provided above each), and are © their original authors.