Here’s the breakdown you need of SharePoint’s best practices

Best practices of SharePoint

Why we love SharePoint 

If you read any of our other articles you know that Code A Site loves SharePoint. There are many reasons why we believe that SharePoint is a great intranet solution. However, if you are a new user this software can seem daunting at first glance. In this article we will explain some of the best SharePoint on-premise installation practices to help make your installation experience a positive one.

Please note that most of this article pertains to on-premise SharePoint and not SharePoint Online.  We recommend that if you are looking for the most cost effective secure solution you consider the SharePoint Online version; however if your company chooses to use on-premise here are the best practices of the system.

6 Aspects of best SharePoint practices

  1. Planning for SharePoint: When it comes to planing for SharePoint you want to plan effective naming conventions of site titles, and understand the physical and logical infrastructure.

When creating the naming the convention for site titles you will need to make the names consistent.  Not only should names be consistent, but they should be complete. To save space in your system avoid adding spaces when writing names. Lets look at an ideal example: CodeASiteSharePointTraining. Examples that you should not imitate: Code A Site SharePoint Training or CAS Spt Trn.

SharePoint’s Physical Infrastructure is broken down into the SharePoint 2013 farm, Office Web apps farm and Physical environment. The Physical environment is basically the hardware of SharePoint. The Logical Infrastructure pertains to how users build their farm involving the convention naming etc.

If you are looking for more resources on SharePoint infrastructure check out:

2. Capacity Planning: The major question with capacity planning is deciding on the type of hardware you will need for this intranet software.

To plan effectively there is a capacity management model which moves from Model→Design→Pilot, Test, Optimize→ Deploy→Monitor and Maintain and then circles back to Model.  For more on capacity planning check out:

3. Training: Training is an important aspect in managing SharePoint because without proper training SharePoint services will not be used to the highest degree.

When preparing for training you should implement plans for each of these types of users:

  • Developers and designers – (include branding training)
  • IT Pro/ Farm administrators,
  • Site collection administers
  • Site owners
  • Employees

Overall, users need to consciously plan training around what the trainee will be using SharePoint services for.  If you need help with training Code A Site can create customized training for you and your team!

4.  Installing SharePoint: Of course, if you want to use SharePoint as your company intranet then you should probably have it installed.

Here is some information on the best practices when installing SharePoint. To install SharePoint you can deploy and configure SharePoint using PowerShell. This includes scripted installation of SharePoint, scripted creation of service applications and scripted creation of Web Apps. For more information on creating a PowerShell installation:

5. Microsoft Updates: There are three different types of Microsoft Updates that you will run into: Critical on Demand (COD), Public Updates(PU), Cumulative Updates(CU) and Service Packs(SP).

  • COD updates are specific fixes for specific problems and you should only install them when instructed by Microsoft.
  • PU are updates that have to do with security fixes and other problems. You should install PUs as soon as possible and are usually released once a month if required.
  • CU include all previous CUs and PUs and should be installed as soon as possible; these are released monthly.
  • SPs include all previous CUs, PUs, SPs, new fixes and new functionality.  The best piece of advice when it comes to updates is to not panic and quickly install whatever pops up on your system, make sure the update is applicable to your intranet goals and needs.

6. Optimization and Troubleshooting: Understanding how to optimize and troubleshoot your intranet service can save you time and frustration.

In order to prevent issues users should walk through SharePoint Monitoring options such as Timer Job Schedule and Diagnostic Providers.  An area that users should optimize is the search service application. By default all components are installed and running on one server. Therefore, users should use the following steps to aid in optimization. Since there are many areas that users can optimize, considering what intranet services they expect from SharePoint will help them prioritize the best path forward.

Want some more help with Sharepoint? 

Although the use of an intranet service like SharePoint can be intimidating it can help your business run effectively in the long run. Following these best practices helps to ensure little hassle when using the intranet software. If you need help Code A Site is only a phone call or email away.

Do you want Code A Site to help you with SharePoint?  

Contact Us Today To Discuss your SharePoint Requirements


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