In case you missed it, SharePoint Designer is half of what Microsoft FrontPage morphed into when it died and was reborn with the Expressions label. Designer is a similar-looking Web design tool, but built specifically for SharePoint users, and although it's probably possible to build SharePoint pages using standard Web design tools, these would only have basic functionality. Only Designer will allow easy access to core SharePoint features, especially the communication, collaboration, and workflow tools. And "easy access" is critical to SharePoint's overall sales pitch; developers have plenty of meat on the SharePoint bone, but most of the standard features, including site customization, need to be modifiable by non-IT users. So administrators looking to commit to SharePoint will need to factor in Designer license costs as well. The upside is that this really does make it easier on end-users, especially if they're been pretrained on Office.

The Bottom Line Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Microsoft, microsoft.com Good  7.4 criteria score weight Ease-of-use 8 20% Features 8 20% Scalability 7 20% Management 7 15% Security 7 15% Value 7 10% Cost: Base server license $4,347; Standard client access license $93; Enterprise client license $76 Platforms: Windows Server 2003 Bottom Line: Office SharePoint Server 2007 is a platform that offers amazing new potential to Microsoft Office users, and it does so without loads of new training for IT. However, the platform is so powerful, that administrators will need to be careful when planning architecture and hardware distribution as well as when and in what order they’ll roll out certain features About our Reviews and Scoring Methodology

Configuring the initial top-level site isn't hard, but does mean you'll need to address the users and permissions question again. On initial examination, ITmeisters might complain that SharePoint doesn't use predefined users and groups from an existing AD (Active Directory) tree. But there's a reason this software should have its own usage structure: the fact that it allows users to build and assign work sites of their own, complete with users and permissions they can assign themselves. Going back to AD would mean that IT would have to get involved with every new SharePoint site creation.

Customizing a top-level site isn't difficult, but you can't forget to hit the Site Actions button and track down to People and Groups. This is where you can add the home users for the top-level site as well as the member users of this MOSS server. That last one is important for their initial log-on experience. It's not as nightmarish as it first sounds, since Microsoft thoughtfully included an "Add All Authenticated Users" option, which will automatically import every user currently part of the SharePoint server's domain.

Users can now create work sites of their own beneath this top-level site. Each site gets its own template and can assign its own users complete with permission specific to that site. The site creation tools have easy cherry-picker options to find the users you're looking for, turn them into groups, and assign permissions on either basis.

End-users get a top-level site, too, called MySite. It is automatically generated when a user accesses the default portal site, is authenticated, and then hits the MySite button. MySite has a number of tools, but its purpose is to summarize all the MOSS team sites to which the user belongs, including new information alerts and task roll-ups. Users can also access MySite either via the SharePoint server or as part of their Outlook Today views.

Making sites useful
Here's where the MOSS glitz and glamour shows up. The most basic piece of site functionality is the Document Library. You can build one for a particular site by hitting Site Actions > Create > Document Library. Now you've got a library tab and importing tools as well as extra permissioning and even versioning if you're up for it. Bur these doc libraries are good for more than just controlled data dumps.