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Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

NOTE:
Due to data loss with OfficeZealot's blog server, all comments posted between April 28 and June 8 , 2005 to any of my blog entries were inadvertently deleted.  The end of this blog entry contains the text of the comments applicable to this posting that I was able to recover.

If you use Outlook 2003, there are some pretty cool things that you can do with Meeting Workspaces in SharePoint Portal Server 2003.  Well, one cool thing – the ability to create them from within Outlook.  Power Outlook users will probably prefer this method over using the web wizard for creating Meeting Workspaces in SPS.

To get started, the first thing you have to do is create a new Meeting Request item (not a new Appointment).  You’ll notice the Meeting Workspace button on the bottom – fill out your meeting info first, then click it.  Now the Task Pane will come alive on the right.  In the ‘Select a location’ area, choose any existing Windows SharePoint Services sites from the list, or select ‘Other’ and manually enter the URL.  The Meeting Workspace will now be created underneath this site, populated with the details you filled out in the Meeting Request form – including the list of attendees that you have chosen.  You (and the recipients) can view this Meeting Workspace by clicking on the link in the text that has been inserted into the body of the message.  After you click ‘Send’ to dispatch the invitation to your attendees via e-mail, they will still get the standard form that allows them to accept (and add to their calendar) or decline the message – and their responses will be updated in the Attendees list on the Meeting Workspace site!

Note that you also have the option in the Task Pane steps above to link to an existing Meeting Workspace that you may have created already in SPS.  The users will again get the invitation via e-mail, and the Meeting Workspace that you point to will update its list of attendees accordingly.

Although it is far more satisfying to create these Meeting Workspaces through Outlook, there is one piece of functionality you lose.  When you create a listing in an Events list through SPS and choose to also create an accompanying Meeting Workspace, this also keeps an entry in the Events list which points to that Meeting Workspace – a special kind of list entry, with its own icon.  Outlook doesn’t do this, but there is a workaround if you want an entry in the Events list of the parent site of the Meeting Workspace you created to point to it.  What you have to do is add the entry into the Events list as usual (replicating the info from your original Outlook Meeting Request) and choose to create a Meeting Workspace as well.  However, after you choose to save it, the following page has an option in the ‘Create or Link’ section that allows you to bypass creating a new one and instead link to any existing Meeting Workspaces, which are handily displayed in a drop-down list!

Before we go, did you know that you can also view Events lists in Outlook 2003?  There’s a ‘Link to Outlook’ button on every Events list toolbar that adds the list as an entry in the 'smart area’ that is only displayed when you use the Navigation Pane buttons to view folders (for the Calendar view, the top area shows the next three months, then a My Calendars section for calendar folders local to your profile, and the Other Calendars area for essentially just Windows SharePoint Services folders.  These WSS calendars are read-only from within Outlook though.

----------------------------------------------------------------
 COMMENTS RESTORED FROM BACKUP:

Tue 5/10/2005 2:46 AM Mircea SIMION

"Hi. Nice topic you have here. Can Meeting workspaces be enabled on Sharepoint Server 2001.

Thanx
Mircea"

Tue 5/10/2005 8:48 AM Eric Legault http://blogs.officezealot.com/legault

Mircea: SharePoint 2001?? Yikes, I haven't touched that product in over two years. Unfortunately, SPS 2001 has no concept like the Meeting Workspaces found in WSS.

Sat 5/28/2005 8:54 AM Parag Chogle

"I have one doubt Is it possible to place Inbox outside mysite and depending upon the user who have logined show respective mails from exchange server.
Plz reply me or send any reference you know on parag.chogle@patni.com"

Mon 5/30/2005 10:16 AM Eric Legault http://blogs.officezealot.com/legault

Parag: Yup, it's possible! See this link: http://www.asaris-matrix.com/sweber/playground/default.aspx?id=11

Thu 6/2/2005 1:25 AM Parag

"Hi Eric,
This web part is of no use to me as it required outlook installed on client m/c. I want to show mails from Exchange server 2003 (through OWA). I have generated web part for it, Here problem is every time it ask user to enter userid and password. Can i do anything to programatically pass userid and password to exchange server which is on another m/c (SSL is installed). So once user has logged in Sharepoint He should not have to enter his login information again while connecting to exchange server (here SSO is not implemented on sharepoint m/c )."

Thu 6/2/2005 10:19 AM Eric Legault http://blogs.officezealot.com/legault

"Parag: I don't understand this issue completely, but this blog posting appears to cover the authentication issues quite well:

Displaying Exchange public folders in Sharepoint:
http://weblogs.asp.net/mnissen/archive/2004/07/05/173364.aspx

Fri 6/3/2005 7:32 AM Cesare

"Hi Eric,

I create a workspace as you explain, but when it's time to send the email, I receive a notification that Outlook was unable to add all attendees to the site. The attendees are taken from my contact list and their email match exactly the one they are registered with in Sharepoint.
The server doesn't run Exchange.

Is there any workaround ?
Thanks, have a nice day."

Fri 6/3/2005 8:43 AM Eric Legault http://blogs.officezealot.com/legault

Cesare: You don't need exchange, but the SMTP address of the attendees you're inviting should exist in the properties for their Windows user account. I'm guessing these are external users who don't have access to your network, and thus cannot be a member of your Meeting Workspace.

Fri 6/3/2005 9:11 AM Cesare

"Thanks Eric for your quick answer, but what are you referring to when you talk about "properties of their windows user account" ?
Those user are present in the Web Site list as administrator and can reguarly access the sharepoint web site (but not the meeting workspace just created)....

Thanks a lot "

Fri 6/3/2005 10:27 AM Eric Legault http://blogs.officezealot.com/legault

Cesare: "If these users are part of your domain, then everything is good. However, I have no idea why you are having problems adding them. Maybe this page will shed some light on your situation:

Microsoft Office Assistance: Troubleshoot Meeting Workspaces:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011611351033.aspx

END COMMENTS RESTORE
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Published Monday, January 12, 2004 11:40 PM by legault
Filed under: ,

Comments

#

Is it possible to change the layout of the meeting space? The one I created with Outlook 2003 appears with three columns for web parts, is it possible to change this to one? Thanks
Wednesday, March 10, 2004 5:54 AM by Anonymous

#

Hi Caroline. You can indeed change the layout of Meeting Workspaces. For ones that you have already created, you can use Front Page 2003 to edit or create Web Part Zones. These Zones can be vertical, horizontal, and you can have as many as your want for whatever layout you need. Some of the existing Meeting Workspace templates (Basic Meeting, Social Meeting, etc.) may have a layout that you like. If not, you can always create your own template - just create a blank Meeting Workspace, customize it, and save it as a Site template for that Site. The next time you try to create a Meeting Workspace in Outlook for that particular site, you'll see your template listed amongst the others that you can choose from. Hope this helps!
Wednesday, March 10, 2004 10:35 AM by legault

#

We have Meeting workspaces already created through our Corporate Events WSS site. However, when we go into Outlook and create a New Meeting Request, and then attempt to link it to one of these already existing Meeting Workspaces it appears that Outlook actually creates another workspace. When linking to the existing meeting workspace, I select it from the drop down list that appears, I can check that the right workspace has been selected by clicking on 'View Workspace' and then I click OK and then Link - which places a link in the body of the meeting invitation. But when I, or anyone I send this invitation to, clicks on this link, they in fact go to another blank workspace. The link that they want appears in the Meeting series launch bar on the left of the screen. Do I have something in WSS or Outlook configured wrong?
Wednesday, April 21, 2004 12:48 PM by Anonymous

#

Hi Patricia. I reproduced your steps exactly, and failed to get the same result. The link I see in the received Meeting Request e-mail points to the linked workspace. I can't imagine what could be wrong, and I haven't heard of any issues that point to your problem. The only think I can think of is to ensure that the people you are inviting have permissions to access the workspace. Also, what exactly do you mean when you say "The link that they want appears in the Meeting series launch bar on the left of the screen"? Is this in the meeting request message body or in the blank workspace?
Thursday, April 22, 2004 10:52 AM by Anonymous

#

I have successfully added both SPS events and SPS contacts to Outlook 2003. I have not been able to bring over custom fields I create in an SPS contact list. They do not show up in outlook. Any idea's ? Is this even possbile or does MS only allow for the defaults contact and event list field to be viewed in Outlook 2003?
Sunday, May 30, 2004 10:37 AM by Anonymous

#

Hi John. Unfortunately, by default SharePoint doesn't push over to Outlook any of the custom fields you may have defined in your Contact or Event Lists. This is possible by building a custom solution though. See the section "Integrating with SharePoint Sites" from the MSDN Article "What's New in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 for Developers?". Alternately, you can export these lists to a spreadsheet, save it as a .csv file, and import that into Outlook. If you add the same custom fields to your Contacts or Calendar folder in Outlook, you will be able to map the custom SPS list field to these during the import process.
Monday, May 31, 2004 11:14 AM by Anonymous

#

Hello, I am having a problem with the Meeting Series. I am unable to remove a date in the series on the default.aspx calander page. Can anybody help me out here?
Monday, June 28, 2004 10:21 AM by Anonymous

#

Are you referring to a recurring meeting/appointment in SharePoint? You cannot delete an individual recurrence, only the entire set.
Monday, June 28, 2004 11:02 AM by legault

#

Do you know where I can find a Web Part for Interfacing directly with ones calendar, or e-mail etc.???
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 4:33 AM by Anonymous

#

I'm having the same problem as mentioned in "Posted by: Patricia at April 21, 2004 12:48 PM" When I create a meeting in outlook and create a workspace, then try to link to it with a sps events item it creates another meeting workspace like a recurring meeting with seperate dates on the left.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004 8:37 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

"If you add the same custom fields to your Contacts or Calendar folder in Outlook, you will be able to map the custom SPS list field to these during the import process." - How is this done? Where do you map the Outlook fields to the Sharepoint contact list fields?
Wednesday, August 04, 2004 11:46 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Wayne, check out Sigfried Weber's Outlook Folder Web Parts at http://www.asaris-matrix.com/sweber/playground/Downloads/Forms/AllItems.aspx.

CorasWorks also has "My Workplace for Outlook", but this is a commercial product.

Also, bundled with SharePoint are some Exchange 2003 Web Parts - My Inbox, My Calendar, My Mail Folder and My Tasks. However, these are meant to be used on your My Site page only.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004 8:24 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Patricia, Damien - I see exactly what you are talking about now. Linking to an existing workspace seems to create extra instances of meetings, with each newly linked meeting added to the list of dates in the Meeting Series bar at the left.

I'm not sure what the intent of this 'feature' is! The instances are not their own workspaces, as each instance shares the same Attendees, Agenda, etc.

Perhaps this is meant for "ad-hoc recurrences". When you create a recurring Meeting Workspace through an Events List, the recurrence instances DO share individual Lists!

I'll have to think about this some more - but I don't think this is a bug.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004 8:59 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Mark, where did you see those instructions? I don't see how there's any way to do this.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004 9:20 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

The link to existing only works for single events - it doesn't for recurring events.
Friday, August 06, 2004 6:45 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Does anyone know how to export lists from recurring meetings? It only seems to export the current meeting and not previous meetings.
Monday, August 09, 2004 3:55 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Hello, I'd like each new meeting created in outlook and linked to an existing workspace (making a new entry in the meeting series section) trigger a new entry into an 'events' list. Any idea how to do that?
Wednesday, September 15, 2004 10:02 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

How can I integrate existing meeting workspaces into one from within SPS?
Wednesday, September 22, 2004 1:21 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

BUT the real question is how do you delete a meeting workspace???
Friday, September 24, 2004 9:31 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Andrew: This can't be done automatically. You have to create the entry in the events list manually, and point it to an existing Meeting Workspace. See paragraph 4 above.
Monday, September 27, 2004 8:27 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Nic: From the Home page of your Meeting Workspace, select "Site Settings" from the "Modify This Workspace" drop down near the top right corner. Then browse to "Go to Side Administration" and click "Delete This Site" from the "Management and Statistics" section. Deleting the event from the list does not delete the associated workspace.
Monday, September 27, 2004 8:38 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Rohan: When you creat an entry in an Events list and specify to create a Meeting Workspace as well, you have the option of linking to an existing Workspace when you create it.
Monday, September 27, 2004 8:40 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Are these instruction for Sharepoint Server or Sharepoint Services? When I add the event into the events webpart of the home site of Sharepoint Server, check the meeting workspace and save. It gives me an error message(Portal sites do not support the creation of document or meetin workspaces. To Create a Sharepoint site base on another site template, click sites and click create site from the action page.). Does anyone know if there is a fix for this? Or a way to create a meeting workspace related to an event in SPS2003?

TIA,

Jackson
Sunday, October 03, 2004 9:29 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Jackson: How were you even able to attempt creating a Meeting Workspace in an Events list stored in an SPS Area? I don't see the option to "Create a Meeting Workspace". You only have the capability of creating these Workspaces in Events Lists stored in Windows SharePoint Services Sites.
Thursday, October 07, 2004 11:02 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Eric:
- I went into the Events webpart that was on the Portal page and created the event(It didn't have a create meeting workspace checkbox).
- I then went back to the event and noticed that there was an "create or link to meeting workspace" checkbox at the bottom of the event. Then when I clicked save it gave me - Portal sites do not support the creation of document or meetin workspaces. To Create a Sharepoint site base on another site template, click sites and click create site from the action page.

I tried a little work around and tried to make the meeting workspace through outlook 2003 and it made a meeting workspace in SPPS but then I wasn't able to link the workspace with the event.

I guess what kind of annoys me about the events list in SPPS is that it has the icon on it that looks like there can actually be a meeting workspace attached to a event.

So I guess my real question is whether or not I can link a meeting workspace with an event?

Thanks for replying back to my dilemma,

Jackson

Sunday, October 10, 2004 4:39 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Jackson: All I can say is, don't use SPS for Meeting Workspaces. Use WSS Sites only.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004 9:03 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Hi,
Can you please tell me how this Link to Outlook functionality works in detail if possible, as i am trying to create a functionality like this but for a custom list instead of events or contacts list, if its possible :(
Wednesday, October 13, 2004 2:03 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Amit:

When you link an WSS Contacts or Events list into Outlook, it essentially adds a read-only folder to a new .pst file called SharePoint Folders (stored in C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\SharePoint Folders.pst). Any changes you make to those lists in the Sites where they are stored will be visible in the relevant folder within the .pst.

If you want to build a custom Outlook solution that integrates with WSS Lists, see these articles:

What's New in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 for Developers?:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_ol2003_ta/html/odc_OLWhatsNew2k3.asp?frame=true

Custom Calendar Providers for Outlook 2003:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_ol2003_ta/html/odc_OLOutlookCalendar.asp?frame=true
Thursday, October 14, 2004 8:39 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Re:deleting meeting workspace.

THX Eric!
Monday, October 18, 2004 5:33 PM by Anonymous

# Document library Quotas

All document libraries (at least in the personal sites) seem to have a quota limit placed on them. I think it is the 100MB default limit. However, following the advice of the sharepoint resource kit and every online comment i can find has had no effect. based on the the virtual server quota template and the site quota limit I should be fine but it still won't permit more than 100MB of data in a document library. How can I change this?
Wednesday, October 27, 2004 3:39 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Nic: I believe this is because you are changing the value for a Template, not a Site. You would have to recreate the site to reflect the changes made to the template. Quotas are specific to an entire site though; you can't specify individual limits for document libraries.
Friday, October 29, 2004 10:58 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

The WSS meeting workspaces are cool. Eric, thanks for your feedback. We would like to:

1)Link these Workspaces to a Portal Site. Can this be done? We can "insert" them into a subarea of a Site using a web viewer web part, but this has issues, mainly the navigation bar for the Workspace. Is there a way to disable this in the WSS Workspace? We can link to the site via a group listing as well. Or?

2) Use the WSS meeting workspace web parts (parts is parts, right) in a portal site. Can this be done? Can we import the WSS web parts into the portal side?
Tuesday, November 23, 2004 12:47 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Mark:

1) Do you mean just add a link to the Workspace in the listings section of an Area/Topic? If so, yes. Just add a new listing and use the URL for the Workspace as the link. You can also add these URLs to any Links lists in the Portal or WSS Sites.

2) I'm not sure what you mean. Workspaces aren't "Web Parts", they're special sites. Workspace sites can only be created under WSS Sites, not as Topic or Area sites within the Portal.

Am I understanding your problem?
Tuesday, November 23, 2004 9:37 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

On #2: We like the web parts (Agenda, Decisions, Tasks, etc) that can be added to a WSS Workspace Site, but would like to use these same web parts on a Portal Site. I notice in some places you can "import" a web part into a gallery (filename .dwp). Can the web parts, used in a meeting Workspace Site, be imported and used in an Area Portal site?
Wednesday, November 24, 2004 10:23 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Mark: most Document Libraries and Lists that you can create in a Workspace or WSS Site can be added to a Topic/Area page. Within that section, go to Manage Content (I think); from there, you should be able to add any support List type. Note that there are some lists that are specific to Meeting Workspaces (Agenda, Decisions, etc.), but you can create a custom list that has virtually the same settings and fields.

After you create a List, you can design the page for the Topic/Area and include the Web Part associated with that list from the Gallery. You don't need to create or import .dwp files. You can try exporting one of those lists specific to Meeting Workspaces to a .dwp file, and import it into a Topic/Area page, but I'm not sure if it will work (I don't have access to a Portal right now).
Wednesday, November 24, 2004 10:33 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Hello, Is it possible to link the tasks from a meeting workspace to your Outlook Calendar or Task list?Thanks
Tuesday, November 30, 2004 12:26 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Surprisingly, you can only link Event lists in SharePoint to Outlook.

If you need quick access to the Tasks list in Outlook, you could add the URL to the list as a link for the Folder Home Page for you Task or Calendar folder.

Otherwise, you'd have to write code to import the Task list. See this article, which shows how you can import Contacts:

What's New in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 for Developers?:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_ol2003_ta/html/odc_OLWhatsNew2k3.asp?frame=true
Wednesday, December 01, 2004 8:19 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Is it possible add a single event in a meeting workspace with recurring meetings already there ? Thanks
Wednesday, December 01, 2004 8:29 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Yes you can. Just go into Site Settings -> Modify site content -> Create new content, choose an Events list and ensure that you choose Yes for "Change items into series items".

Any item you add to this Events list will be available in the view for every date in the Meeting Workspace recurrence.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004 8:51 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Thanks for your answer Eric.

Is there a way to include this new event in the left bar, beetween the series ? or it just an add inside the series ? Thanks again
Wednesday, December 01, 2004 9:16 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

You are referring to the Meeting Navigator component, which is not directly editable. However, if you use Front Page 2003, you can add an HTML link above that component (or anywhere on the page) to point to any List that you want.

You could also use the existing Link Bar component at the top of the page to add links alongside Home, Help, etc.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004 9:42 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Hello, Thanks for answering my previous question so well. I have one more question, what would be the best and easiest way to direct incoming email requests to sharepoint so can they all can be viewed as an event or task. Ideally I would like it to be so I can drag and drop the email to a shared sharepoint folder from within Outlook but drag and dropping in Outlook doesn't seem to update sharepoint. Does it only update one direction? Thanks again.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004 10:28 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

There is no automatic way to do what you want without a lot of code.

Your best option is to choose "Save As" for an e-mail, and browse to the Site and Document Library via My Network Places and save the e-mail as a file. Note that you can't save documents inside Task or Event lists, unless you attach a file to a list entry.

Otherwise, you can setup SharePoint enabled Public Folders if you use Exchange. The attachments of any e-mails that get saved to these Public Folders can be extracted and saved to a specified Document Library inside a SharePoint Site.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004 12:56 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

I am trying to show all the documents related to a recurring meeting in that meeting workspace.

I added a field to the documents called Meeting date. Currently I am asking the users to add the meeting date manually so that I can filter and show the appropriate docs in the meeting area.

To filter these, I need the meeting date in the recurring meeting. Currently there is no way I can find the meeting date programatically. CAn someone help.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004 6:37 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Siva: Sorry, there is no way to do what you want using filters in the view settings page.
Thursday, December 23, 2004 12:53 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

I cannot link any of the meeting workspaces created in SPS by Outlook. Only those meeting workspaces can be linked that were created by Outlook itself. But this way, it is not possible to create a meeting workspace properly, since some attributes are not filled out correctly. How to enforce an SPS created meeting workspace to be seen by Outlook for linking?
Monday, January 03, 2005 8:14 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

I'm having the same issue as Bela. I'm unable to link to any existing meeting workspaces. The drop down menu just says None found.
Monday, January 03, 2005 3:48 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Bela and Steve: For some reason, Outlook cannot link to recurring Meeting Workspaces. Don't know why, but that's the way it is.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005 9:45 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Eric,

Ashley asked a question, and you mentioned that it would take a lot of code. Your link to importing/exporting contacts may give a clue on where to start.

Here is what we would like to do. Send an email, let's say to a public folder (but prefer to stay out of Exchange) or a web service (?) and have certain email message properties inserted into a task folder (sender, recipient, date/time, subject, message, attachments). Any thoughts, links on how to accomplish this? Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions.
Thursday, January 20, 2005 6:48 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Only Document Libraries can be synched to a Public Folder, and only attachments are transferred, not e-mails.

To do what you want, you'll need to use either the Lists Web Service with a .NET solution (by using a managed Outlook COM Add-In), or use SOAP/WebDAV for a VB6 COM Add-In project or with VBA macros.

Lists Service:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/spptsdk/html/soapcLists_SV01034339.asp?frame=true
Thursday, January 20, 2005 3:13 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Very nice. Exactly what I was looking for. Gracias.
Friday, January 21, 2005 11:27 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Re: 6/28/2004
I have also experienced problems with the Meeting Series section of Meeting Workspaces. I have created a meeting workspace from an Event (which is NOT recurring), although future 'separate' events are then linked to this existing workspace, which creates the Meeting Series.
User error in creation and linking of events/workspaces has now duplicated some events. I have removed the duplicate events, but cannot remove the instance in the meeting workspace?
Please tell me this is possible!
Monday, February 14, 2005 4:01 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Ineke: What do you mean by "instance in the meeeting workspace"? Boy, these Meeting Workspace issues can be mind boggling at times!
Tuesday, February 15, 2005 8:29 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Eric,

I have been working with problematic recurring MWS for some time. Do you know of anyone that has come up with a coded solution to link to a recurring MWS?

I've been told by SP developers that it's possible..but have not found anything on the web.

Thanks
Monica
Wednesday, February 16, 2005 1:51 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Eric: Every time you link to an existing meeting workspace it creates another instance, ie. another date in the meeting series. (Also note the only distinguishable difference in the URL, between meetings, is the 'instanceID').
I have 3 instances, or dates, that are exactly the same where only one is needed. I can't delete the duplicates...

Make sense?
Ineke
Wednesday, February 16, 2005 3:41 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Monica: I haven't done what you're doing, but it looks like it is possible judging by these links:

Adding a Recurring Event to Lists on Multiple Sites:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/spptsdk/html/tsptAddFieldToLists_SV01074500.asp?frame=true

AddMeeting Method:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/spptsdk/html/soapmMeetingsAddMeeting_SV01034355.asp?frame=true
Monday, February 21, 2005 9:03 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Ineke: I'm not sure how that happened to you. I don't suppose you linked them three times? Have you tried deleting them using code? You can also try deleting them from the database, but I wouldn't recommend that.
Monday, February 21, 2005 9:05 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Eric: Yes the users in question linked to this meeting workspace 3 times with 3 different events of the same date.. which did create the issue.

I haven't delved into the code yet... hoping I wouldn't have to. Where do I start?
Sunday, February 27, 2005 11:02 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Ineke: If you can't delete duplicate dates in a Meeting series in the UI, I'm not sure how you would do it in code. Sorry! You might want to try posting your issue in the microsoft.public.sharepoint.portalserver newsgroup.
Monday, February 28, 2005 8:11 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Eric: I will, thanks for your help!
Monday, February 28, 2005 4:23 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Eric: I found a solution which works! ...for future reference...

Removing a Meeting from a Meeting Workspace:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/spptsdk/html/soapptRemoveMeeting_SV01118542.asp
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 12:04 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Ineke: Fantastic! Good find.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 8:13 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

In my effort to try and list Meeting Workspaces easily in a WSS Team Site, I'm stuck. I want to list either via the quicklaunch bar or a web part on the main page a list of all meeting workspaces, instead of having to click on documents and lists, then meeting workspaces. Is there any way to do this?

Thanks,
-Brian
Thursday, March 03, 2005 12:09 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

I was curious if you knew how to save email messages in a discussion group in sharepoint. I have been searching and have had no luck
Thursday, March 10, 2005 7:47 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

You can save the e-mail to a file and attach it to an entry in your discussion list. Otherwise, there is no direct import or export between threaded e-mail discussions and SPS Discussion Lists. Would be nice to have though!
Thursday, March 10, 2005 8:29 PM by legault

# Recurring meeting linking

Hi Eric,
Do you know if anyone has found out how to link to a recurring meeting?
I moved a meeting workspace and would like to link to it but outlook cant find it cause it was previously linked to a recurring meeting.Thanksss
Monday, March 14, 2005 8:39 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Eric --

We're trackign new installations in Sharepoint. There are roughtly 40 steps or tasks to complete a installation and I'd like to create a task list for each installation. How do you suggest doing this?

Regards,

Todd
www.dolphinimaging.com
Tuesday, March 15, 2005 12:14 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Todd:

You mean new installations of SPS on a server right, not creating WSS
sites?

If the former, there's no easy way to answer this. I suggest taking
a look at this sample chapter from the SharePoint Resource Kit:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sppt/reskit/c0861881x.msp
x

I believe there are also some planning document templates, but I
can't recall where they are at this moment. They may come with the
book CD or are from a Microsoft Partner Readiness Kit for SPS.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005 2:09 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Y’ello all the way from South Africa. Is there anyway to directly link a user’s tasks in Outlook to their tasks in SPS? I use my tasks on Outlook and I have to duplicate the infomation in SPS on a monthly bases.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 4:02 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Stewart: No, you cannot automatically link them without writing extensive code. How about pasting the URL to an SPS Task Item into an Outlook Task Item? There's no real automation involved here to directly synchronize the two items, but at least they can be linked together.
Monday, July 04, 2005 10:09 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

HI,Eric:
I created a meeting workspace through my Event WSS site.but,when i create a new meeting request,and attempt to link the existing Meeting workspace.however,it created anthor workspace,that is there is anthor workspace on the left of the screen ,then I reproduced my inventations for some times,there are many meeting wordspaces Listed on the left of the screen in the same webPage instead of the same workspace.in fact I meet the same problem with Patricia.how can i do ?thanks!
Tuesday, July 12, 2005 6:25 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Eric,

How do you change the default permissions in a meeting space created through Outlook?

When I create a new meeting space through Outlook the default permission is "Use unique permission" which of course locks out established users of the site until I manually set the permissions to the meeting space.

How do I change this behavior to default to the "use the same permissions as the parent site" permissions? When I create a new meeting space in SPS this is the default permission.

Help please!

Don M
Friday, July 15, 2005 7:13 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Ran: I'm not sure if this is a bug or the way it is intended to work. A search of the KB and the microsoft.public.sharepoint.portalserver newsgroup doesn't come up with any other references to this issue. Can you detail exact repro steps, and your full Outlook and SharePoint versions? I am unable to reproduce the effect you've described.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005 12:28 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Don: I don't see how this can be changed. I looked through the WSS SDK, and the Meetings Web Service (and every other one) doesn't appear to have any methods or properties for changing permissions inheritance. Sorry! Regardless, wouldn't you want only those who have been invited to the meeting to have access to the workspace? I believe this is what Microsoft was probably thinking.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005 1:15 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

I am not sure about anyone else but this took me forever to find. We moved our sharepoint servers, afterwards we had outlook users who had two identical Meeting Workspaces. They of course wanted the incorrect entries removed. The location list is found at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Meetings\Profile\MRUInternal

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011402651033.aspx
Tuesday, July 26, 2005 9:59 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

KC: This article seems tailor-made to your situation:

Microsoft Office Assistance: Configuring Meeting Workspace Options in Outlook 2003:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011402651033.aspx
Tuesday, July 26, 2005 10:58 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Hi Eric,

Great tips! Just what I am looking for.

One question, regarding the paragraph below, after I choose to save it, there is no page that I can link to the existing one which is created using Outlook. Does this function only available in SPS? I only have WSS.

"However, after you choose to save it, the following page has an option in the ‘Create or Link’ section that allows you to bypass creating a new one and instead link to any existing Meeting Workspaces, which are handily displayed in a drop-down list!"


Thanks!
Friday, July 29, 2005 9:40 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

The part of my post you are referring to details creating an entry in an Events list on a WSS Site (with or without SPS). When you click New Item on the Toolbar in the Events page, the form that is displayed to populate your Event data has a "Workspace" checkbox labelled "Use a Meeting Workspace to organize attendees, agendas, documents, minutes, and other details for this event". You MUST check this to get the page titled "New or Existing Meeting Workspace".
Friday, July 29, 2005 12:59 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Hi Eric,

I finally got to the Create or Link page. But I'm having new problems.

On the Create and Link page, I choose to link to existing workplace that I have created using Outlook.

Here comes the confusing part. If it's NOT a recurring meeting, after I linked them the workspace becomes a meeting series with two same date on the left-hand bar. One is linked to the Event and the other is linked to Outlook. If I update one of them, the other WON'T get updated. If it's a recurring meeting, then I am not given the option to link to existing workspace.

Is this how it designed to be or did I miss anything?
Friday, July 29, 2005 1:18 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Rachel: See my comments above from 8/4/2004 8:59 PM.
Friday, July 29, 2005 2:45 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Eric,

I guess it allows you to link to existing Meeting Workspace, but doesn't merge into it. Therefore, I'll end up having two same dates.

Friday, July 29, 2005 3:26 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Do you know if there are any 3rd party add-ins that allow two-way updating between the Outlook 2003 calendar and the llinked Sharepoint calendar? Thanks!
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 11:54 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

John: No, sorry. But there's a sample project with code that does something similar with Contacts:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_ol2003_ta/html/odc_OLWhatsNew2k3.asp?frame=true#odc_olwhatsnew2k3_integratingwithsharepointsites

You can probably easily modify it to handle appointments instead.
Friday, September 09, 2005 9:41 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Have you found the resolution to this issue yet? I have wasted entirely too much time on it and was hoping someone could help out!!?? HELP...


# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003 7/29/2005 1:18 PM rachel
Hi Eric,

I finally got to the Create or Link page. But I'm having new problems.

On the Create and Link page, I choose to link to existing workplace that I have created using Outlook.

Here comes the confusing part. If it's NOT a recurring meeting, after I linked them the workspace becomes a meeting series with two same date on the left-hand bar. One is linked to the Event and the other is linked to Outlook. If I update one of them, the other WON'T get updated. If it's a recurring meeting, then I am not given the option to link to existing workspace.

Is this how it designed to be or did I miss anything?

EOM
Friday, September 16, 2005 4:05 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Jennifer: Apparently, this is how it is designed. We'll have to live with it, unfortunately.
Monday, September 19, 2005 8:43 AM by legault

# Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

I have a question with regard to Meeting Workspaces and Outlook 2003.

I have a main SP Services website (call it "Project A") which has a recurring Event with an associated Meeting Workspace (call it "Project A\Meetings" --the Meeting Workspace was created with the Event in SharePoint). I would like the Workspace to be updated through user input via Outlook. If I want to send meeting information to users via Outlook, I go to New... -> Meeting Request -> select the Meeting Workspace... button -> under Tip: in the lower right-hand corner I follow the link -> For Select the location I choose "Project A". However, I CANNOT see a link to Project A\Meetings. I get a "none found" under the "link to existing workspace" menu. Is this a setting? How can I fix this problem? I have tried recreating the Meeting Workspace from SP, but nothing seems to get it to show up in Outlook.

I am using Outlook 2003 with the Exchange Server.

Thanks very much for your input!
Friday, October 28, 2005 9:40 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Jane: The list in the drop-down box titled "Select the workspace:" depends on what is chosen in the "1. Select a location" section at the top of the Task Pane. I believe it defaults to your My Site, so chances are you did not create the desired Meeting Workspace under that site. Select a site name in that list, or choose "Other..." and enter the URL manually if it is not listed. Then try the Meeting Workspace drop-down list again.
Friday, October 28, 2005 10:03 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

I have tried that. And even when I choose "Other..." and type in the URL of the SP site I still get "non found".

I have checked if the workspace was created correctly under "Site Settings" -> "Manage sites and workspaces" in SP and all looks correct. Could it have anything to do with the fact that the workspace was created with a calendar event?

I tried going in the opposite direction and creating the workspace from an Outlook Meeting Request. It then shows up in the drop-down menu. My only concern then is that I cannot 'link' it to a Calendar Event in SharePoint, which is my primary goal. How do I go about doing this? I do not have a drop-down menu option in SP Events for this.

Thanks again for all of your help.
Monday, October 31, 2005 7:34 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Jane: that is very strange; I don't know what to say!

As for linking a Meeting Workspace to an item in an Events list, this has to be done when you create the item in the list. You can then choose to create or link to a Meeting Workspace. After the fact, you can't change this.
Monday, October 31, 2005 10:53 AM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Hi, how do I create a workspace template that will be offered as one of the default choices when selecting "selet a template type" in outlook.?

Thanks in advance
Friday, November 18, 2005 11:39 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Hi, Another question kind of related to the above. I'm working with infopath forms, and would like to add a button to "create a workspace" on the infopath form which basicallt replicates what you can do from outlook create a workspace button (except no options - ie create a standard workspace based on the same template) Any idea where I can get the code that does this?
Friday, November 18, 2005 11:48 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

You have to create a custom Site Definition or Site Template. See this link:

Customizing SharePoint Sites and Portals: Using Templates and Site Definitions, Part 2:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odc_sp2003_ta/html/ODC_SPSCustomizingSharePointSites2.asp?frame=true

BTW, I believe that for Site Templates they have to published to the SharePoint Portal Server's template gallery, not a gallery in a top-level WSS Site. Otherwise they won't appear in the list unless you create a custom Site Definition.
Friday, November 18, 2005 12:17 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Mark: You'd need to use the InfoPath Tookit for Visual Studio in order to create .NET Assemblies that can work with SharePoint Web Services. This link from the SDK lists the ones you can use to create Sites:

Windows SharePoint Services Web Service:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/spptsdk/html/soapnsMicrosoftSharePointSoapServer2_SV01043862.asp?frame=true

Note that the Administration Service can create all kinds of Site types, but there are also specific Web Services for Document Workspace and Meeting Workspaces.
Friday, November 18, 2005 12:24 PM by legault

# Cannot linkt to recurring meeting workspace

I have created a recurring meeting workspace in WSS site. Now I want to create a new meeting request in Oulook 2003 and create a link to the recurring meeting workspace. It does not work to connect to the recurring workspace. I cannot se this workspace under "Select the workspace" It says "None found".
What is the problem. Please help me.
Friday, December 16, 2005 1:43 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Caroline: For whatever reason, they just do not show up. I have no idea why, and nobody else seems to know either. Sorry!
Friday, December 16, 2005 2:38 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

i have the same problem as caroline. i have created a recursing meeting workspace in wss sites. Now i want to create a new meeting request in Outlook 2003 and create a link to the recuring workspace. I cannot see this workspace under "select the workspace" it says "None Found
Saturday, January 21, 2006 12:25 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Hi Eric,

Just a note of thanks for this post and all the responses. It was a fantastic resource for learning the functionality and limitations of Sharepoint Meetings with Outlook

Cheers,
Mike.
Friday, January 27, 2006 7:22 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Thanks for all the tips and help listed here. I have a question about having meetings created on Outlook show up automatically on my events list.

To elaborate, right now I have a 3 step process: I create a meeting workspace. Then I create an event pointing to that meeting workspace. Then, in Outlook, I create a meeting, with a link pointing to the existing meeting workspace.

Ideally, I'd like a 1 step process: Create the meeting in outlook and click on the meeting workspace link. This creates the meeting workspace automatically, and it would be great to have the meeting show up in my events list - with the meeting workspace link. Is it possible to do this?
Friday, January 27, 2006 5:56 PM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

It's probably best to stick with creating the Meeting Workspace in Outlook; this way you get the item in your Calendar and the workspace created for you. All that is missing is the entry in the events list, but that can easily be created if it is *that* important. You do have it in your calendar after all.
Sunday, February 05, 2006 8:23 PM by legault

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

I must be doing something wrong - I create a meeting, add a meeting workspace, and my attendee's show up just fine at the site.

But when folks start to send in their replys, nothing ever updates at the site.

If I add folks and do an update, they get added, I just don't ever get their responses.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006 11:40 AM by Anonymous

# re: Integrating SharePoint Meeting Workspaces with Outlook 2003

Bruce: I'm not sure if it is supposed to automatically update, but if your local appointment is updated, open it and click Send Update and it should update the Meeting Workspace.
Thursday, February 09, 2006 6:02 PM by