Launch of www.SharePointSriLanka.org

This was a dream came true. Finally on 12th of January 2011 we were so happy to announce the launch of the Sri Lankan SharePoint Forum. The online forum which can be reached at www.SharePointSriLanka.org or www.SharePointSriLanka.com or www.SharePointSriLanka.net. The offline forum which will take place on second Wednesday of every month.

These forums are the official Microsoft Approved forums dedicated to SharePoint and related products. What you see above is the  logo of SharePoint Sri Lanka Forum. This logo has the meaning of collaboration which is the idea behind the product SharePoint. Its represented by the 4 colored people.

For the launch there were over 130 attendees. And there were two technical sessions held. The first sessions which was a the 1st of a series, on SharePoint branding hosted by Abul Azad a SharePoint UX Expert. The second session was on Claim-based Authentication hosted by me.

I’m so happy to be one of the founders of SharePointSriLanka forum. Also my special thanks goes to Gogula (One of the founders of SQLServer Universe and MVP SQL Server) who came up with the idea and was behind me nagging all times till we launch it. How can I forget, Dinesh Priyankara (One of the founders of SQLServer Universe and MVP SQL Server) the BI Guru for being there for me always (even paid for the soft drinks ) and helping in all matters to make the SharePoint Forum a success.

Also many thanks to Dinusha Kumarasiri and Abul Azad for the sleepless nights spent to bring the www.SharePointSriLanka.org up and running. And not to forget the one and only Wela, Wellington Perera, without your support this wont be a success, you know it well buddy.

Okay, this offline forum is not only for SharePoint Experts. We have planned to have two sessions each day, giving a chance for a newcomer to do a session on any SharePoint related technology or product. And the second session will be hosted by a person with more experience on the product.

Now you know, you have a place to publish your articles, blogs, ask questions on related technologies. So guys get registered soon and help make SharePointSriLanka a better place for you.

PDF in SharePoint 2010

This is a step-by-step guide to setup and configure Adobe PDF file search in SharePoint 2010.

Step 1
Download the Adode iFilter from the following url.
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4025

Step 2
Download the pdf icon file. Download a 16*16 gif or a png file. Or else you can download it from the below url. http://www.adobe.com/misc/linking.html

Step 3
Extract the zip file and install the PDFFilter64installer file which you downloaded in Step 1.

Step 4
Open the “Run” window and open Registry Editor running the regedit command.


In Registry editor browse to location \\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\14.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension

Step 5
Right Click on “Extension” and add a new Key.

Name it as .pdf.

Step 6
Now add the following GUID as the default key.
{E8978DA6-047F-4E3D-9C78-CDBE46041603}

Step 7
Now is the time to set the icon for pdf files.
Copy/Move the pdf icon you downloaded in in Step 2 to the following folder.
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\IMAGES
Next open “Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and Stop the service.

This step is required as you are going to amend a file which is currently in use.

Step 8
Browse to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\XML and open the DOCICON.XML file. (use Notepad). And do a search for the <ByExtension> tag.

Add the line <Mapping Key="pdf" Value="pdficon_small.gif" />
(replace pdficon_small.gif with your icon name)

Save the file.
Start IIS Service

Step 9
Open SharePoint Central Administration. Under Application Management select Manage Service Applications. Open Search Service Application.

Step 10
Select File Types on the left menu. Click New File Type. Enter pdf and click OK.

Step 11
Click on Content Sources and do a Full Crawl (not an Incremental Crawl). After completing job, you know what to do. Do a search.

SharePoint Rocks!!

Microsoft MVP in SharePoint

1st of January 2011 was a day I could never forget. I stared the day with a pleasant surprise from Microsoft. I got awarded as a MVP (Most Valuable Professional). MVP in SharePoint.

Thank you God. Thanks Microsoft. Thank you Dinesh Priyankara, Gogula, Wela, Lilian, Susantha, Jinath and all who helped and guided me to come an MVP.

I have done few thing for the community and I have a lot to do.