Beginners Guide: Learning SharePoint - Step by Step Tutorial

A Quick SharePoint Online Guide for Beginners

Microsoft's SharePoint Online provides users with versatile functionality, moving beyond a typical file share to incorporate extensive capabilities like document management, intranet portal creation, communication, and workflow data repository, among others. Beginners can learn more about SharePoint with online resources like YouTube tutorials or other informative articles.

Nevertheless, new users can often confuse SharePoint with OneDrive. The basic difference is that OneDrive serves as a personal repository while SharePoint is designed for team collaboration. Misunderstanding these platforms can risk security breaches and disorganized information architecture. Details on SharePoint vs OneDrive have been extensively discussed in a separate article by the author.

In terms of structure, SharePoint organizes its content into 'sites' and within these sites are 'document libraries'. A site is a workspace to organize various content types, and libraries serve as filing cabinets for files and folders. This concept may seem complex for beginners, as it differs from file shares and other cloud document management platforms that only utilize folder-based organization.

Besides, SharePoint distinguishes between 'sites' and 'pages'. Sites are workspaces for organizing content and managing security/access, while Pages are information display units within a site. Security in SharePoint is managed at the site level, not the page level.

Security within SharePoint Online can be intricate to understand and implement. With SharePoint you can set unique permissions at various levels - sites, document libraries, folders or files. Besides, permission levels help determine user activities on content. Further complexities appear with the introduction of Microsoft 365 Groups. This extra layer to SharePoint security hierarchy aims to ease security management.

Additionally, there's an interaction between SharePoint and Teams you need to be aware of. Teams don’t exist in vacuum; they are tightly integrated with SharePoint. All files shared on Teams Channels are essentially stored on SharePoint sites within document libraries. Depending on the channel type in Teams, files could be stored in folders (for standard channels), or separate sites (for private and shared channels).

SharePoint enables content sharing externally, whether it's an individual file, folder, entire site, or a Team. However, in order to operate effectively, proper configuration is required, including features to limit sharing to certain domains.

To make you document management unique, SharePoint uses metadata. This feature replaces the traditional folders and subfolders system with metadata tags or labels. These tags standardize labeling conventions among users and enhance searching in the document library, just "like shopping on Amazon®". Additionally, it tackles SharePoint technical limitations like the 400 URL character limit. To learn more about Metadata, check out the available courses.

Lastly, adequate training is essential to utilize SharePoint to its full potential. While it can be used as a simple file share without training, users may overlook certain limitations like the 400-character limit or the OneDrive sync client capacity, making formal training necessary. Numerous training courses and resources are available, some of which have been highlighted in the author's previous articles.

Further Insights

Learn more about SharePoint Online, its functionalities, differences from OneDrive, and the concept of 'sites' and 'document libraries' with the help of this resource

. Remember to avoid confusions between 'sites' and 'pages' and understand the security levels before you get started. Notably, SharePoint provides effective document management and content sharing through metadata tags and allows for integration with Teams. Full utilization of SharePoint's potential requires formal training. Consider these tips brought to you by SharePoint Maven Inc in their recent blog post.

Read the full article SharePoint Tutorial for Beginners

Learn about SharePoint Tutorial for Beginners

Understanding SharePoint is crucial for anyone wanting to utilize its capabilities to the fullest. This amazing Swiss-army knife tool offers several functions including file sharing, document management, communication vehicle, creating an intranet portal and landing pages, data repository, and a solid knowledge base.

Below are recommended steps to become proficient in SharePoint:

• Understand SharePoint High-level Capabilities: Known as not just another file share, SharePoint aims to provide various solutions – versatility is its charm.
• Know the Difference Between SharePoint and OneDrive: OneDrive is a user’s personal repository and is not meant for team collaboration. SharePoint, on the other hand, is designed as a team collaboration workspace.
• Get acquainted with Sites and Document Libraries: Sharepoint strays from the traditional file and folders concept, opting instead for the concept of sites and document libraries.
• Understand Sites and Pages: This is crucial as Social Media Pages are just a way to display information on a SharePoint site-
• Understand SharePoint’s Security Works: Robust security/permissions capabilities implementation is essential.
• Familiarize with Microsoft 365 Group: This introduces another level in the security/permissions hierarchy.
• Interaction between SharePoint and Teams: This will assist if your organization is using or planning to use Teams – a tightly integrated app with SharePoint.
• Understand External Sharing Features: A SharePoint plus – the ability to share content externally.
• Get Familiar with the Concept of Metadata: Sharepoint allows you to store documents not just via folders but also via metadata tags (labels).
• Don’t overlook training: Professional coaching can provide comprehensive SharePoint tool usage. Don’t be limited by lack of knowledge.

By investing time and effort to understand activities such as security management, metadata tagging, and the hierarchy associated with site creation, it’s possible to maximize SharePoint usage. Understand the differences between SharePoint and similar tools such as OneDrive, Teams, and commong practices such as external sharing. Always remember – training and continuous learning are essential!

More links on about SharePoint Tutorial for Beginners

SharePoint video training

Learn common SharePoint Online tasks with these videos and tutorials, and get links to more training for SharePoint and Office 365.

Keywords

SharePoint tutorial, SharePoint beginners, learn SharePoint, SharePoint guide, basic SharePoint tutorial, SharePoint introduction, SharePoint essentials, beginning SharePoint, Microsoft SharePoint tutorial, understand SharePoint basics