Improve Your Workflow with SharePoint Server 2007

What is a workflow?
A workflow can be roughly defined as a schedule of tasks which make up our daily working routine. These can be everything from administrative tasks to conversing with clients. In order to work as efficiently as possible, systems can be put in place to automate a lot of the processes that take up time in our daily working routine.

With the advent of the computer, we were sold the vision of never having to lift a finger again as machines catered to our every whim. This vision, sadly, never fully materialised. Although computers don’t carry out all of our daily work, they have had an undeniable effect on the modern workplace and have simplified many of the working processes which previously took up so much time and effort. One could, for example, look at the impact of spreadsheets in saving the effort of manually calculating figures.

SharePoint Server 2007
As technology has advanced, so too have the innovations which help us in our everyday lives. Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 is the latest of these innovations, helping workers to collaborate effectively on tasks and projects. SharePoint includes a component called ‘workflow foundation’ which provides the backbone for all of its applications. This appears in 3 forms:

1. Readymade workflows built in to the product (suitable for those with limited computer literacy).
2. Workflows which can be customised using SharePoint designer – similar to Microsoft FrontPage (suitable for the moderately computer-literate).
3. Workflows including custom applications which can be programmed using visual studio and the .NET framework. (suitable for advanced users)

The great thing about these three options is that they cater to every level of computer competency, beginners, intermediate and advanced. These options offer organisations the opportunity to tailor workflows around the specific requirements of workers and to adapt to the ever changing needs of the modern workplace.

For those looking to implement SharePoint, there are 2 options. The system requires a dedicated server, which can either be housed within the organisation itself, or outsourced to a SharePoint Server hosting provider. The cost of Server equipment and the associated maintenance means that for many businesses, hosting a SharePoint server themselves is simply not a viable option. Using a SharePoint hosting provider is cost effective and takes away the additional responsibility of maintenance, which usually requires employing a full-time member of staff.

All this and other additional useful information can all e learned upon buying our newest tutorial – Sharepoint Designer 2007 Basic. Just log in to www.itfactory.co.nz and enjoy our special holiday discounts!

Useful Tips and Tricks in Learning Photoshop for Beginners

USEFUL PHOTOSHOP TIPS BROUGHT TO YOU BY IT FACTORY (NZ) Ltd.

Are you just starting out with Photoshop and quite interested about it? If yes, then you have landed on the right page. In behalf of IT FACTORY NZ, we are going tp present to you a list of 10 common techniques that will improve your Photoshop skills. So better get ready and learn.

1. Moving layers with the Control key

You don’t need to activate the Move tool to move layers around. Simply hold down the Control key (for Windows users) or the Command key (Mac users) and click and drag on your layer with the mouse.

2. Hiding the Palettes with the Tab key

Are the palettes getting in the way? You can hide them temporarily just by hitting the Tab key. To bring them back, press the Tab key again.

3. Selecting all pixels on a layer

To select all the opaque pixels on a layer (as opposed to using “Select All”, which selects the whole layer), hold down the Control key (Windows) or Command key (Mac), and click on the layer in the Layers Palette

4. Double-click to open documents

To open a document in Photoshop, you don’t need to reach for the File > Open menu option or even press Control+O – you can just double-click on the grey Photoshop window background!

5. Dragging layers between documents

You can copy a layer from one document to another by clicking on it in the Layers palette and dragging it across to the second document window:

6. Use Layer Sets

If you’re using Photoshop 6 or higher, check out Layer Sets. These let you organize your layers into folders – very useful if you have lots of layers in a document! To create a new Layer Set, click on the folder icon at the bottom of the Layers palette, then drag layers on top of a layer set to add them to the set

7. Full screen mode

If you’re working on a large image such as a photo, you can maximize the available editing area by pressing the F key to toggle between a full screen mode with and without menu bar, and normal editing mode. If you also use tip number 2 above, and the tool shortcut keys, you can do a lot of your work without a menu or palette in sight!

8. Nudging

You can get precise control over the position of your layers by using the arrow keys on the keyboard to nudge the layer around. Hold down the Control key (Windows) or the Command key (Mac) and use the up, down, left and right arrows to move the layer 1 pixel at a time. To move the layer by 10 pixels at a time, hold down the Shift key as well.

9. Choosing colours quickly

Press I to bring up the Eyedropper tool, then click on a colour in your image to make that colour the foreground colour. Press the ALT key and click to make the colour the background colour instead.

You can also press the D key to reset the foreground and background colours to the default (black and white), and the X key to swap the foreground and background colours.

10. Keeping to straight lines

You can often constrain movement of the mouse to the nearest 45-degree or 90-degree angle by holding down the Shift key while you click and drag with the mouse. This works on tools such as the Paintbrush Tool, Line Tool and Move Tool. Great for drawing straight lines!

With these 10 simple guides, you will be learning more about photoshop as if you are an experienced photoshop artist. To know more about photoshop and other interesting software tutorials, you may visit our site at www.itfactory.co.nz We assure that you will be learning more and more tutorials here. Happy learning!

THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING MICROSOFT OFFICE APPLICATIONS

For an office working environment, knowing how to use the computer is a must. Everyone is trying to adapt to this fast changing technological innovations that take place all throughout the world. However, not everyone can keep track of these changes since they do have other things to do. A typical example is the case of the working office moms out there. Aside from work, family is what they prioritize most. They have less time to unwind, less time to take other jobs and of course less time to learn and enroll new courses which will make their lives more active and updated. In line with this problem, many people especially those who are born years back before the discovery of different software applications still do not know much about it.

To resolve this issue, and to help everyone out there, IT FACTORY NZ brings out affordable Microsoft package tutorials where everyone can immediately start learning. This helpful package will provide complete training guides for learning different Microsoft applications including MS Word, MS Access, MS Excel, and MS PowerPoint. What we offer is learning at your own convenience and learning the easy way. This is an educational privilege you should not dare to miss. It is specially designed for all the working moms out there so they can spare and have time to sit and relax while learning these really helpful tools.

In this modern world of technological advancement, computers will eat you unless you do know how to use it. It’s not yet late for you to learn. Today is just the right time to savor the moment of learning while enjoying all Microsoft Applications you never imagine you will still learn.

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