I've recently published a couple of SharePoint 2013 Apps to the Office SharePoint store. Both are SharePoint hosted apps and include a free trial for unlimited users. Any feedback on features, pricing welcome…

The first is metaEngine Tag Cloud which displays popular keywords and terms used across your SharePoint sites. It's powered by SharePoint Search and is a kind of refiner on steroids. It's also easy to scope the search for terms to suite your specific needs. Various display templates are included and inline with the SharePoint 2013 template features, additional ones can be added using JavaScript (JSRender) templates. You can use your own search page/centre as the target of the cloud or use the results included page. The included page adds inline tags to the results enabling you to pivot the results as you go.

The second app is metaEngine Easy Search. This app provides a super easy search app part for creating complex queries easily and the results page includes a search toolbar for filtering results, editing queries and saving searches. The app part is somewhat of a throwback to the familiar Windows XP search panel… and the toolbar shows show similarities to the familiar Google Search tools… Give it go and let me know what you think…

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The v1.0.9 release of the SP Term Cloud user solution is now available here... SP Term Cloud User Solution (metaEngine.SPTermCloud.Site.1.0.9.wsp). The full change log is at the bottom of the post .

It includes an important fix for any customers on Office 365. A recent Office 365 SharePoint 2013 update alter the way that sandbox solution resource assemblies are handled. Customers must upgrade to this release if they are running on the latest SharePoint 2013 platform.

I've got a large backlog of posts to get out of new topics, but for Office 365/SharePoint 2013 customers I would recommend checking out our new SharePoint 2013 App - metaEngine Tag Cloud. The app utilises new SharePoint 2013 search enhancements to significantly improve the overall performance of the solution.

The full change log:

1. Improved handling of terms and term sets that are not in the current term store.
2. Fixes an issue with resource handling in SharePoint 2013 sandbox solutions

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Starting to catch up on my feed reader - Here’s my best loved posts of the week: 24 December 2012.

Everyone

SharePoint best practice: what roles in a SharePoint intranet dream team
Outlines the roles/skills needed when embarking on a SharePoint intranet project.

ADMIN

The great free performance, load and stress testing tools that can be used with SharePoint verdict
Good listing of performance testing tools.

Developer

Metro UI style Live Tiles Web Part with Metro JS and jQuery in SharePoint 2013
Example of combining open source JavaScript MetroJS with SharePoint data via C#. Could be done with no code using a DataView web part to make it more general purpose.

SP 2013: Searching in SharePoint 2013 using the REST new API’s
Good example of using search data via the REST API in 2013.

SP 2013: Using the JSLink property to change the way your field or views are rendered in SharePoint 2013
Great examples on how to set and use the new JSLink property.

Search Query Suggestions for anonymous users in SharePoint 2013 with Mavention Query Suggestions
Enabling query suggestions for anonymous users.

Using jQuery Deferred object with SharePoint Javascript Object Model
Interesting example of combining jQuery ...

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Here’s my best loved posts of the week: 17 December 2012.

Everyone

Are You a SharePoint Developer Moving to Apps? You’re a Moron!
Typically provocative post from Bjorn. I normally enjoy his blog, lots of great opinion, and not the typical Microsoft cheerleading of most SharePoint blogs. I’m guessing the post intends to comfort SharePoint developers already struggling to master a massive platform by telling them they needn’t rush to learn Apps and reiterates the practice makes perfect mantra (e.g. stick with what you’re doing, don’t bothering learning new stuff...). Whilst agreeing with practice makes perfect I also love learning new things, isn’t variety the spice of life? Anyway worth checking out for the excellent comment responses (especially from Chris O Brien).

ADMIN

Is Your SharePoint Secure – Server Security Part 4
Good info on how to lockdown your SharePoint server.

Create An Easy PDF Preview for Search Results in SharePoint 2013
Good post on configuring search for PDFs in 2013.

Shredded Storage and the Evolution of SharePoint’s Storage Architecture
Overview of Shredded Storage in SharePoint 2013.

Developer

Access and Manipulate Data in Your CloudShare SharePoint 2013 Farm from Anywhere with CSOM ...

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Here’s my best loved posts of the week: 10 December 2012

Everyone

SharePoint Composite Handbook
Good read from the horses mouth (Microsoft) on creating no-code business solutions with Office and SharePoint. Even as someone who has produced reams of C# code and SharePoint add-ons in the past I would always promote exploring no-code/out of the box SharePoint solutions first. This doc is a good starting point to explore some of the options.

Preview of coming changes to the external sharing features in SharePoint Online
Overview of the simple sharing coming in SharePoint Online. Anyone still building extranets on premise?

SharePoint 2010 Records Management Overview
As the title says a good overview of Records Management in 2010…

Using SharePoint and HP TRIM to manage email
Overview of using OnePlaceMail to add emails from Outlook into SharePoint with great metadata support ready for storage into a Records Management store.

Confessions of a (post) SharePoint Architect: Midwives versus doctors and Confessions of a (post) SharePoint Architect: Don't define "governance"
Interesting posts on the role of a SharePoint Architect. Always lots of debate on what the title “SharePoint Architect” actually means but some excellent writing on the topic here. (I agree ...

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Here’s my best loved posts of the week: 3 December 2012

Everyone

Best Practice – Metadata in SharePoint and Beyond
Good starter advice for metadata in SharePoint.

Sharing Content in SharePoint 2013
Overview of access request features in 2013.

Microsoft, SharePoint, and Enterprise Social [Charles Chen] 
Strongly voiced opinion on Enterprise Social, not sure I’m quite this negative but the continuing massive sell of “Social” software as the route to business success does get a bit tedious. (Some teams I worked with struggled to be social when they were sat 1 metre apart in an office…)

SharePoint Managed Navigation, Part 1 [Justin Voels]
Intro to Managed Navigation using Managed Metadata. Nearly as good as SPTermCloud… ;)

SharePoint Collaborative Ownership [Geoff Evelyn]
A good example of some typical business rules that could be applied a new SharePoint environment. As Geoff says whether you agree or not with his rules make sure you at least have your own rules and plan accordingly, unless you want SharePoint chaos, anarchy and distress to visit…

ADMIN

SharePoint Server 2013 Test Lab Guide stack refreshed
Overview and links to all of the available SharePoint 2013 labs.

Developer

TypeScript: Add Productivity and Manageability to your JavaScript Apps ...

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