Topic:
Use MS Word to Manage a Project Web Log (Blog)
Category:
Tools and Objects
User Level:
Owner (Administrator) to Deploy the Blog
Member (Coordinator) to Update the Blog
Overview
One of the pre-made tools that ships with Microsoft SharePoint 2013, and is therefore automatically available as part of ProjectSolveSP, is the “Blog” site template.
This template is used to create a project-specific “web log” (a.k.a. a “blog”) that can be used to share information about that project with members of the project, and easily updated using Microsoft Word 2013 by those who have been granted permission to do so.
Because the Blog is created from a SharePoint site template, you must be a site owner or trained ProjectSolveSP administrator in order to deploy the blog as a sub-site to an active Project site.
Create the Blog in ProjectSolve
SPThe first thing we need to do is create the Blog site we will be using for the project. We do this by creating a “Blog” sub-site under our primary site.
Note: You must have “Owner” rights to the site in order to create a sub-site.
Steps
To deploy a “Blog” sub-site to your project site: 1. Access the site
2. Click on the “Settings” button (Figure 1):
Figure 1 - The SharePoint "Settings" Button
3. Select the “Site contents” option on the menu:
Figure 2 - The "Site Contents" Menu Option
Figure 3 - The "New Subsite" Link
5. The “New SharePoint Site” page will appear (Figure 4):
Figure 4 - The "New SharePoint Site" Page
6. Provide a short but descriptive title for the blog that you are creating 7. Provide a more detailed description of the blog if desired
8. Provide the desired short URL extension you wish to assign for the blog (e.g., type something like “PSSPBlog” to represent “ProjectSolveSP Blog”)
9. Under “Template Selection” be sure to select “Blog”
11. Under “Navigation”, if you want the blog to appear as a link within the Quick Launch Menu on the parent site, set “Display this site on the Quick Launch of the parent site?” to “Yes”.
12. If you want the blog to appear as one of the navigation links across the top of the parent site, set “Display this site on the top link bar of the parent site?” to “Yes”.
13. Finally, if you would like the blog site to use the same set of top navigation links as displayed on the parent site, set “Use the top link bar from the parent site?” to “Yes”.
14. Once you have the site setting like you want, click “Create” to create the site:
Figure 5 - The "Create" Site Button
The new blog should appear similar to Figure 6:
Connect Microsoft Word to the Blog Site
After we create our Blog site we need to connect our copy of MS Word 2013 to the site so that we can post updates from there.
Steps
1. Copy the URL for the blog site (e.g., https://bbdemo.pbid.com/PSSPBlog/default.aspx) 2. Open Word 2013
3. Click the “File” tab to access the File menu for Word:
Figure 7 - The MS Word "File" Tab
4. Click “Share” in the Quick Launch Menu on the left hand side (Figure 8) 5. Click the “Post to Blog” option under “Share”:
6. Click the “Post to Blog” button to initiate the connection to the blog site:
Figure 9 - The "Post to Blog" Button
7. If this is the first time connecting to a blog you will be asked to register a blog account - click “Register Now” to register a new blog account within Word:
Figure 10 – The “Register Now” Button
8. When the “New Blog Account” screen appears, select “SharePoint Blog” from the “Blog” drop down menu:
9. Click “Next” to continue
10. You will then be prompted to provide the “Blog URL”, this is the URL address for the Blog site we just created:
Figure 12 - Entering the Blog URL
11. Click “OK” to confirm the connection and an “Account registration successful” message should appear (similar to Figure 13):
Figure 13 - Blog Registration Successful Message
Figure 14 - MS Word "Blog Post" Screen
We can now use Word to add text to our blog.
Update the Blog
Once you have established a connection with the blog, and accessed the “Blog Post” page, you can use MS Word to create and post your message to the blog.
Steps
To update the blog after the blog connection is made: 1. Provide a “Post Title” for the entry
2. Type out the body of your entry in the body area
Note: You can use the “Blog Post” tool bar to configure your text until you have the post looking like you want it.
One your message is ready, click “Publish” to publish your post to the ProjectSolveSP blog site:
Figure 16 - The "Publish" Button
If the posting was successful, the system will provide a message telling you so:
Figure 17 - The "Post was Published" Message
