iPad and SharePoint: How to work with documents

Introduction
In my previous blog post I gave an introduction about two iPad applications, SharePlus and Documents to Go, that make it possible to work with SharePoint and the iPad. I want to show you another cool feature of SharePlus:




This picture shows that the calendar is presented with a monthly view. It is easy to change the views of lists and libraries. Just click on Calendar (it is called differently for other lists and libraries but just click on the button next to the half circle arrow) and choose a different view. For example the table view:



Pretty cool right? Now let's start talking about working with Office documents!

Working with documents
To edit or add Office documents you need to combine Documents to Go with SharePlus. Unfortunately it is not (hopefully soon) possible to edit documents in SharePlus. You need to open the document in Documents to Go and export it back to SharePlus. I will explain this process with the use of screenshots.




The above screenshot shows a document library with a Word document. Just click on the document and the follow screen will appear:



The properties of the document are being shown. Now click on the Word icon to see the content of the document:



Use these steps to view any Office document on the iPad with SharePlus. Now we want to edit the Word document. Click on Open In en choose DocsToGo. The Word document will now open in Documents to Go and is ready to be edited. Check my previous blog post about the editing options of Documents to Go. Add another line of text in the document. When you are ready to save the document back to SharePlus use the icon on the bottom left:



Click on Save As to save the document. The following screen will appear:



Always remove the (01) after the document title because we want to update the version of the SharePoint document and not create a new Word document.



Ignore this error and choose Yes. The main menu of Documents to Go will appear and open the Word document again. Now click on the same menu button for saving the document but now choose for Open In and select SharePlus:



The document has been saved to the temporary folder of SharePlus. Now go back to the Word document in SharePlus and edit the item:



Press the + before Select document and choose for Local Files:



The document we changed in Documents to Go is shown in the sidebar and now just click on it. Save and check the document if your changes are there:



The document has been changed and is viewable for other users (with SharePlus or browser)!

Conclusion
I am really excited about the features I just described. I also realize this can be a bit complex for some users but I really believe that after executing it a couple of times and supplying the users with a manual, every user can get the hang of it. Let's not forget that the iPad and the applications are relatively new. Until the Windows 8 tablets arrive this will probably be the only descent solution.

At this moment I really advice to keep creating Office documents in a local version of Office. Creating documents, for example a PowerPoint presentation, in Documents to Go does not work really great yet. I was not able to change the content of a slide but adding a note was no problem (maybe I am missing something). The Word version of Documents to Go does not contain any templates. It is just a blank empty document. You have to realise this before you think about implementing a solution like this. But! For managers or directors who only use the iPad to view content and make some small adjustments this is a great solution. I really believe this is going to get better and better!

Posted in: Documents to Go, iPad, Office 365, SharePlus, SharePoint 2010, SharePoint Online 2010