Essential SharePoint

Trying Out SharePoint

I recommend using the 30-day free trial of SharePoint before installing it on Windows 2003. There are three good reasons for this: it's free, it's painless, and it's quick. Then, if you like it go ahead and put it on your server.

To get a free SharePoint site, go to http://www.sharepointtrial.com/default.aspx. Follow the signup instructions and wait for email confirming your site has been created. If everything goes correctly, you'll get a new SharePoint site that looks something like Figure 1-19.

Figure 1-19. Creating a free trial site before installing SharePoint

You can then experiment with sharing workspaces and lists, or you can just mess around with your new SharePoint site for a while, changing the home page, adding users (choose Site Settings → Manage Users), adding a welcome announcement (choose Add new announcement), or posting your vacation pictures (choose Pictures → Create Picture Library). Get a feel for what it can do.

SharePoint is a foundation for building sites that solve specific problems. The general site types Microsoft includes (team sites and workspaces) are a starting point, not an end point. If you have more specific needs, look for SharePoint add-ons (sometimes called accelerators ). Some accelerators, such as workflow management systems, are already available from multiple vendors. See the "Resources" section for a link to a set of Microsoft accelerators you can try for free.