Forum Discussion
Saving files to SharePoint Online is HARD
It's been a while since I made this post and I'd only think it fair to follow up with it as Microsoft has delivered some real positive improvements in this space.
Files on Demand - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/use-group-policy#FilesOnDemandEnabled
AutoMount Team Sites - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/use-group-policy#AutoMountTeamSites
Save to SharePoint site - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2015/11/09/attachments-in-outlook-2016-ready-for-collaboration/ and much easier when using the two features mentioned above.
Bonus points: Live document collaberation - https://support.office.com/en-us/article/document-collaboration-and-co-authoring-ee1509b4-1f6e-401e-b04a-782d26f564a4
Big thanks to ssquires , LincolnDeMaris , cfiessinger , and anybody else involved with these changes. They were a game changer when they launched and they've been much appreciated by consultants and end-users alike!!
Joshua,
It's almost 2019, and the tech world revolves around usability. Re-read your post and tell me what about it is "easier to use."
I left a client's office today in search of a solution, and found this thread. They have email show up in their inbox, with PDFs attached, and they want to move those PDFs to a Document Library on SharePoint.
Yesterday, they could:
1. Open the attached PDF in Acrobat
2. Save As... and pick the folder on the shared drive.
What's the process now? Serious question.
Kevin
Easier is a relative term, but I see no reason why your client cannot do what you described?
You don't even "need" acrobat. (unless you want to edit the PDF)
Most of the problems I have seen with PDFs and SharePoint, are around the browser plugins for Adobe. Yes there are some versions issues, if you are using an older version of either SP or Adobe, you can face some compatibility issues. But I do not think that sort of problem is specific to SP or Adobe.
Below I pasted the URL of a SP site into the save as dialog, and then select the library I want.
No Adobe installed at all.
Thanks for the reply.
Can you tell me the result if you do that with Acrobat? Or notepad? Or Photoshop? Or anything other than the 4 or 5 Office apps it works with?
Again, the workflow was very simple:
1. Get email
2. Open attachment in attachment's native app (assume Acrobat for a PDF)
3. Identify the project
4. Navigate to the right folder on the Shared Drive and save.
Now it is:
1. Get email
2. Open attachment in attachment's native app (assume Acrobat for a PDF)
3. Identify the project
4. Save to some temporary space on the C:\ Drive
5. Navigate SharePoint to the right folder
6. Find the local file
7. Drag / upload from local to SP
8. Delete the local file
I'm looking for a valid solution that doesn't require more steps than a local server with a shared network drive for filing files, regardless of the file type.
- I couldn't agree more with the original post. I do have a solid workaround at the end of this post.
It never fails to amaze me how IT pros and even power users can be so oblivious to the struggles "normal" users face with technology. The more ironic point is that many of these struggles could be avoided if the solution implementors knew the product better and spent a few minutes training the end users.
We approach our clients with these projects and sell them on the collaboration and usability benefits that they can offer. Yet seem to get irritated when they can't alter their behavior to accomodate the solution. Some of my end users have been saving company files to file shares for going on 30 years. It's really the one thing that has always been constant. I've been using sharepoint and other ecm systems for half that time and I still find myself getting frustrated with the shortfalls.
The idea that sharepoint SHOULD replace file shares is, at least in my eyes, rediculous. Sharepoint can be a complete file system but it's not what it was meant for. I can create a pretty decent report using notepad, but when I use tools specifically designed for the process I'm working on, the experience is far better. If you sell sharepoint as a better file server, your users are going to struggle. And if you force users into using it as their primary file system they will straight up revolt.
My rule of thumb has been this. If the company is willing to shift the way they work with their files from a traditional explorer based system to a web page based experience, sharepoint is the way to go. But if not, don't force them. Azure has file storage options that work beautifully. Spinning up a server vm to handle file storage also works well. But the key is, instead of forcing them to use sharepoint, give them reasons to want to use sharepoint. Train them on the ways it does save time and provide a better experience. That way if they decide to move everything to the cloud, it will be because they understand the trade offs and have weighed those against the benefits themselves.
Apologies for my long winded rant.
As for saving files. If you setup a site for document management with a drop off library, all your users need to do is have one place where they save all of their documents. Add one or two required managed Metadata fields, and sharepoint will move the content to the correct place on its own. For example, I ask users when saving a document to add two tags, 1. The desired Site(business function) 2. The related Client. 99. 9 percent of the time the document is routed to the place it needs to be and the users love it because it's even less work than navigating a filesystem set of folders. On the rare occasion that the routing is wrong or they tagged it wrong, they know to open Delve and look/search there. Delve has literally gained the nickname of the Bermuda Triangle with many of my clients. The only time they ever go there is to find a missing document. I've been doing this for several years and have yet to have a client dislike it.So by that logic, if a user has been driving a '57 Chevy or an old VW van, with a column shifter, for the past 30 years, that they should/would have no problems getting in a 2018 car? But is that person better off driving the new car? Certainly safer.... Airbags, antilock brakes, hell power brakes and steering.... etc... etc... A person in that situation could very well need some extra instruction on how to use the new car. But no substantial adjustment would be made to the car to accommodate, the user would just have to learn. A company that will not train users on new tech, I have no sympathy for...
Should we revert cell phones back to wired phones because my grandmother can't figure out how to use a touch screen? She even has trouble with a flip phone. It is very much different from what she originally learn how to use. Good reason to not use it? For her perhaps, but that then limits her ability to communicate to just at home. There is nothing really stopping anyone from continuing to use a file server. But it has its limits.The old POTS phone system was far more reliable, and easy to use for phone calls... But not so much for data transfer.... But we should definitely stuck with it by your logic, because everyone knows how to use it, and I never liked the whole router thing anyway. I am good with buffering video for hours and hours.
File servers are old tech, they are less "securable", less available, less manageable, less redundant (out of the box) But yes, for the most part, rock solid. So is a '57 Chevy. I would love to own a '57 Chevy, but I would not use it as my daily driver.It is our job as technology advocates to guide companies into the future, some of that is difficult and challenging. But if I have a client that insists on the "old way", I have no problem obliging, I build what they want, and move on. Giving my attention and focus to clients that understand the need to move forward and innovate. You will never beat your competition by doing things the same way you always have in the past. That does come with an inherent contract that the new way must provide value that the old way does not. Better data, faster service for customers, etc, etc....
Let just go back to paper files, and cabinets. Really that is where your logic leads. (IMO)
If you want to make the product better, use the user voice tool. If people agree with you, it could happen. If not, you need to take a hint, and/or try another solution.
