Advanced Sharepoint Services Solutions

No sooner had I finished my first book on SharePoint technologies titled Microsoft Share- Point: Building Office 2003 Solutions than Gary Cornell sent me an e-mail asking for a sequel. I thought about the concept for a while and began to realize that there was a definite need in the SharePoint community for a book that went beyond the basics of team sites and web part construction. Based on feedback from customers, postings on the Web, e-mail inquiries, and blogs, I realized that people were struggling to create real solutions with SharePoint techno- gies. Everyone understands the basics, but many are having difficulty overcoming certain l- itations, customizing sites, and integrating with other Microsoft technologies. As SharePoint gains hold, I am increasingly seeing development teams stretching the product to behave in new ways. Much of this effort involves changing the underlying XML structure of SharePoint or manipulating the content database directly. This is an area where some guidance is required because you can easily destroy a SharePoint installation by man- ulating either of these subsystems. Many teams are also drastically changing the navigation system that SharePoint uses. P- ular alternatives involve the use of tabs or treeview controls to present views of sites and inf- mation. Additionally, developers often want to significantly customize search capabilities and present the results in unique ways. These modifications can dramatically impact performance if not done correctly. Finally, developers are beginning to realize that SharePoint is more than just an intranet.