Here's a use case for the August contest. I've implemented this for three different companies now, so it might qualify as a classic and (like most classics) it's really simple. Here are the base requirements:
· Provide a searchable repository for signed agreements scanned in as PDF files
· Collect metadata for each agreement on upload including signatory, counter-party, and expiration date
· Notify signatory 45 days prior to expiration that the agreement is about to expire (for renewal).
SharePoint doesn’t include time-based alerts out of the box, but you could implement expiration notifications using a custom workflow. There are three reasons workflows aren’t ideal here:
1) Expirations may be in the distant future and though workflows can be very long-lived, changes to the farm configuration in the intervening years could break notifications.
2) Custom code needs to be tested, debugged, and maintained.
3) Changes (such as changing 45 days to 60 days) are difficult to roll in.
So the job calls for (ta-da) the Alert Plus web part. Here’s the basic set-up for the Agreements Repository:
The steps to set up the application are as follows:
1) Download and install the Alert Plus web part.
2) Create a document library for the agreements with the required columns, specifically: Signatory (Person), Expires (Date), Notify On (Calculated, “=[Expires] – 45”).
3) Create a Notify view that uses the following filter: “Notify On Is Equal To [Today]”.
4) Add the Alert Plus web part to a page on the site and configure it.
5) Add an alert to watch the Notify view created in step 3.
6) Upload some sample agreements to verify that the alerts are sent correctly.
The only “trick” is using a calculated column to control what appears in the view used by the alert. It’s very easy to change that calculation after this is deployed. It is also easy to enable or disable the alert, change the message sent, or who it is sent do – all things that are hard to do using workflows.
Good luck, and have fun. Jeff
