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SharePoint Overview

SharePoint is an online content and document management tool available for students, faculty, and staff to create web sites and manage file libraries. SharePoint sites are typically created for collaboration among multiple users. SharePoint is part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite, along with other Office 365 Applications such as OneDrive, Office Online, and OneNote.

The SharePoint site owner is responsible for managing the site content, giving user access and assigning permissions.

Benefits and Features

SharePoint Online features include:

Available To

Students

Faculty

Staff

Cost

None

Request This Service

Students, faculty, and staff interested in requesting a SharePoint "site collection" must complete the Collaboration Services Request Form.

How to Access

All SharePoint sites access require a NetID and NetID password. When a user visits a site that they do not have access to, they will see a web form that can be used to request access. This request will then be sent to the site owner (usually local school or department technology staff), or other local technology support staff as designated by the site owner.

SharePoint access is distributed and managed by independent local site owners. Access to new site collections is initially limited to the predetermined site owners, who will then designate appropriate user permissions in their area for authorized users.

Site owners and their designated approvers may permit access to:

Roles and Permissions

Visitors

  • Read and download site content
  • Browse site content
  • Search site content
  • Request higher access level

Members

  • All rights and responsibilities of the above role
  • Create and edit site content
  • No access to any secure areas of the site

Approvers

  • All rights and responsibilities of the above roles
  • Approve site content additions and changes

Designers

  • All rights and responsibilities of the above roles
  • Create/Edit lists and libraries
  • Change page structure and visual design
  • Add/Edit web parts

Owners

  • All rights and responsibilities of the above roles
  • Administer permissions

Browser Support for SharePoint Online

Microsoft has a chart of supported browsers available at Office Online browser support. In general, most SharePoint Online features are supported in the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Safari. One notable feature that is only available on some browsers is the "Open with Explorer" feature that allows document libraries to be opened as if they are a normal Windows folder.

Additional Resources

Visit the SharePoint/OneDrive User Resources page for online video tutorials, user guides, and other training materials that provide instructions on some of the options SharePoint provides.

 

Last Updated: 16 August 2018

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