The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/230349
• Interactive search refiners, making it possible to hone in on a specific piece of content by refining the search by author, document format, time period, etc. • Counters, showing the number of times a document has been viewed within search results Query Rules: In the past, keywords and "Best Bets" were used to refine search results. In SharePoint 2013, query rules are used to create promoted results. Promoted results allow search administrators and site owners to set rules upfront correlating specific keywords to relevant results. For example, if an attorney were searching for a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), the site owner could set a query rule to promote the NDA template because that document would have the highest likelihood of being the most relevant. Users can also reconnect with prior search history quickly, as past queries are remembered and recalled as query suggestions. Continuous Crawl: In addition to full- and incremental-crawl strategies, SharePoint 2013 adds a third crawl mechanism into the mix: continuous crawl. In a continuous crawl scenario, indexing content becomes a multithreaded process, improving search performance. Multiple continuous crawls can occur simultaneously, maintaining the most up-to-date content. This new feature runs every 15 minutes, but the time interval can be changed as needed. Similar to earlier versions, content connectors allow content to be crawled from various sources. This functionality further supports powerful enterprise content management (ECM) opportunities. With a less-than-stellar user experience in SharePoint 2010 and an equally lukewarm adoption, it is no surprise Microsoft spent considerable resources overhauling its search capabilities. Search in SharePoint 2013 is now a serious contender among enterprise search solutions. COLLABORATE WITH THE CLICK OF A BUTTON Collaboration is where SharePoint really excels, so further improvement in this area will continue to help law firms be more productive. Whether you want to share a single document or an entire site, you can do so quickly by clicking the "Share" button and populating the "recipient" field with the appropriate email addresses. You'll also have the ability to drag and drop documents without having to open the SharePoint library, and these capabilities are also supported on mobile devices. Permissions remain secure with only the site administrator granting site access, but now anyone can have the authority to invite new users if needed. BETTER INTRANET AND EXTRANET CAPABILITIES Intranet and extranet capabilities also get an upgrade. While the overall design is flat, extensive branding capabilities are available with basic skills such as HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. Intranet and extranet sites can be fully customized, making it easier for smaller firms with limited IT resources to implement a fully branded experience. With the introduction of Device Channels, this experience is now compatible with mobile devices, adapting to the on-the-go mentality and culture of the legal profession. With enhanced out-of-the-box apps, firms can now customize their intranet portal to: • Build a company newsfeed • Collect feedback • Create communities • Announce milestones and birthdays • Distribute firm calendars NEW WAYS TO CREATE AND VISUALIZE WORKFLOWS Creating and managing workflows will be a major improvement for both developers and end users with Workflow Manager. Workflows are now based around ASPX pages rather than InfoPath forms, although InfoPath and the SharePoint 2010 workflow engine remain supported. In addition, the workflow engine is now separated from SharePoint and runs as a separate service. New workflow features include: • Visual designer • Stages, which reduce complexities by grouping logical sections • Copy and paste functionalities • Increased scalability • Looping (until a specific criterion has been met) 66 Peer to Peer