Sharing and Pointing, Pointing and Sharing....

OK - so Sharepoint has Forums (well, discussion boards as they call them) built in. However, not really as full featured as I would like - or as you would see elsewhere on the Internet.

So... came across this a while back from Codeplex. Problem... not strictly WSS3/MOSS 2007 compatible. Fair dooooos - thought would leave it alone a bit.

Most other things on our system are sorted now, so I went back to it. This is what it looks like (attached), and also a link to it...



www.codeplex.com/spforums

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Ok - getting this to work on WSS3/MOSS 2007 is a bit of fun. To save you looking through the discussion on codeplex - here is how to get it working.

1. Download and install the AJAX Enabler Kit solution from RL-Soft. This saves you loads of time - and also means you can use loads of other AJAX webparts on your sites.

Link: http://www.rl-soft.com/en/downloads/...jaxEnabler.rar

You will need to install and deploy the solution. In the download is a script to do this for you. From your Sharepoint Central Admin Site, you can then activate the solution. A guide is attached - even though this applies to the Contact Us webpart solution they also have (handy too!) - the first bit deals with the AJAX enabler.

Link: http://www.rl-soft.com/en/downloads/...umentation.pdf

2. Download the SPForums solution from Codeplex and run the .msi on your system.

Link: http://spforums.codeplex.com/Release...x?ReleaseId=53

You will then need to go to C:\Program Files\WPPackager\. In there you will find a {string} folder containing the .cab, .xml and some other bits.

3. You then need to deploy the web part package. Open a command prompt and run the following command from the
C:\Program Files\WPPackager\{14aa60ab-2b6b-4254-b45e-0ef7b8b2a201} folder:

Copy the code below, and paste into a new text document in the same folder. Rename it as deploy.bat

Code:

stsadm.exe -o addwppack -filename "SharePointForums-1.2.0.0_Bil Simser.cab" -globalinstall -force

4. Add the following to the .master page for your websites, just before the </BODY> tag:

Code:

<script>
function ProcessOwsForm(ctl, argument) 
{ 
if (frm.fPreviewMode) 
{ 
var LcantSaveText = "This form cannot be saved when previewing this page."; 
window.alert(LcantSaveText); 
return; 
} 
if (frm.FValidate(true)) 
{ 
frm.FPostProcess(); 
var theForm = document.forms['aspnetForm'];
__doPostBack2(ctl, argument); 
} 
}
function __doPostBack2(eventTarget, eventArgument) 
{
theForm.__EVENTTARGET.value = eventTarget;
theForm.__EVENTARGUMENT.value = eventArgument;
theForm.submit();
}
</script>

5. Add the webpart to a page as you would usually - and job done.

Enjoy!