Server Tasks
Use Server Tasks options, in the Office menu, to perform a number of SharePoint-related tasks, such as checking in, checking out, viewing version history, and viewing workflow tasks. To access these options, a SharePoint document must be open. Either open a SharePoint document or choose Office Button 
Publish 
Create Document Workspace to create a workspace for the current document on a SharePoint server. Once a SharePoint document is open, choose Office Button 
Server Tasks to display the options shown in Figure 40-17.
Figure 40-17. If the document is checked out, then Check In is the top option in the menu; if the document is not checked out, then Check Out is the top option.
Check In
If the document in the current window is checked out, choose Office Button 
Server Tasks 
Check In to check the document back in so others can edit and view changes and updates. The Check In dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 40-18.
Figure 40-18. When checking in a document, add a comment indicating what kinds of changes you made.
Under Version Comments, type a comment, if appropriate, indicating the nature of changes you made to the document. It’s often even more useful, however, to enable tracking of changes on documents that are checked out, so other users can see directly what changes were made, who made them, and when.
Note that when checking a document in, you can also click “Keep the document checked out after checking in this version.” Do this if you are making a series of unrelated changes, and want to preserve separate versions for each set of changes. Adding version comments is essential to letting other team members know what you did, and why.
Check Out
Use Check Out to prevent others from making changes while you are editing the document. Note that it’s possible to save changes to the server (depending on server settings) even if you haven’t checked the document out. For orderly and coordinated team editing, however, it’s important to use the check-out and check-in systems to prevent team members from working at cross purposes.
Discard Check Out
Use this option at any time to abandon any changes that haven’t been saved to the server and to delete your private local copy of the file. You might want to do this if you learn that your current efforts are moot or if you want to start over.
View Version History
Use version history to compare different versions of the same document and comments. Choose Office Button 
Server Tasks 
View Version History to display the dialog box shown in Figure 40-19. From here, you can select two versions and click Compare to see how the two versions differ. Or, select a single version and choose Open or Delete to open or remove the selected version. Click Restore to make the selected version the latest version for normal check-out procedures.
Figure 40-19. Use the Versions dialog box to manage and edit different versions of the same document.
Document Management Information
Use the Document Management Information tool to toggle the Document Management pane. When a SharePoint document isn’t open, the Document Workspace options are presented.
View Workflow Tasks
Use this tool to view workflow. This is another way to access the same information you can see in the Document Management pane.