Chapter 40. SharePoint

SharePoint is a program that helps businesses share access to files and information in a variety of ways. In essence, SharePoint is a special kind of Web site that provides controlled access to folders, documents, contact information, scheduling, and other resources related to documents and workflow management.

SharePoint works as a server that can be installed on your own company’s computers. A server is a computer or computer program that provides services to client programs. Servers usually are connected to a network—such as the Internet or a local area network—and are available to respond to client applications, such as your Web browser, Microsoft Outlook, and even Microsoft Word. For example, Web sites are located on servers, and they respond to your browser requests to display information. When you send or receive e-mail, different kinds of server programs are used to deliver e-mail between you and your correspondents.

If you or your company doesn’t have its own servers connected to the Internet, you can purchase SharePoint hosting services, just as you can purchase a hosting plan for other Web sites and services. Increasingly, the same companies that provide ordinary Web hosting are also offering SharePoint hosting, sometimes bundled into hosting plans as low as $10 per month or lower. You can discover such plans by searching for “sharepoint hosting” using a search engine such as Google or Yahoo!.

Word 2007 has features that are designed to work with a SharePoint server. You can access these features directly, using the Publish command from the Office menu, or you can access them indirectly by saving a file to a SharePoint server or by opening a file that resides on a SharePoint server. All you need is a SharePoint server and a user account.