Part 2 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview Series – Central Administration

ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES
Part 1 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview - A First Look
Part 2 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview Series – Central Administration
Part 3 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview Series – Initial Farm Configuration, Default Web Application and Site Collection
Part 4 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview Series – System Setup
Part 5 - Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Preview Series – Application Management

OVERVIEW
In Part 1 of the Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Preview Series, I covered the requirements and installation portion of the SharePoint 2013 Preview. In this article, we will look at Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Central Administration 2013 web site and it’s features.

SHAREPOINT 2013 START MENU
Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Preview adds a “Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products” menu to the start menu of Windows 2008 R2 or later . The available options in the menu include:

• SharePoint 2013 Central Administration Web Site
• SharePoint 2013 Management Shell
• SharePoint 2013 Products Configuration Wizard

SHAREPOINT 2013 PREVIEW CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION
SharePoint Central Administration site has always been the main command center of SharePoint software. You can access the Central Administration web site in SharePoint 2013 Preview by selecting Start –> Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products menu. If you are accessing this web site on the server where the SharePoint Central Administration web site is installed, you may receive a login prompt. Provide your user name and password and you will be logged on to the web site. Once the Central Administration web site is displayed, you will see a brand new user interface which looks much cleaner as compared to Microsoft SharePoint 2010 user interface.

 

The home page of the Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Preview Central Administration web site is discussed in depth below.

1. The title of the Central Administration site has been changed to “SharePoint” as compared to “Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Central Administration” title in SharePoint 2010 Central Administration web site. The Site Actions menu and related actions in the top menu have been removed from the interface below the SharePoint logo in SharePoint 2013 preview.
   
2. Next, you will notice the ribbon. Selecting “Browse” will not do a lot. In SharePoint 2010, the browse menu used to display the banner portion of the web site. Selecting “Page” will show you items in the ribbon which is hidden by default. In my opinion, it is a great improvement and will be less confusing for end users.
   
3. Next, on the top right corner of the web site, you will notice the following options:
   • User Account Menu: The available options include “My Settings”, “Sign out”, and “Personalize this page”.
     
     
   • Settings Menu : The famous “Site Actions” menu has been replaced by the Settings menu in this release of SharePoint. The available options include “Shared with”, “Edit Page”, “Add an App”, “View Site Contents”, and “Site Settings”. The option “Add an App” is new in SharePoint 2013 Preview and we will discuss this new option later.
     
   • Help Menu : Next you will see the help menu which displays “Central Administration Help” screen. This requires you to have an Internet connection to to work.
     
   • Give Feedback : The “Give Feedback” option allows you to give your opinion or feedback to Microsoft and will take you to an online Microsoft web site.
     
4. Next you will notice two more icons on the top right section of the web site.
   • Share : This option allows you to give others access to the SharePoint site and will display you the following screen.
     
     
   • Focus on Content : The “Focus on Content” option will hide the Quick Launch menu and will make the UI look cleaner. You can display the “Quick Launch” menu by clicking on the icon again.
     
5. Next you will notice the new SharePoint logo. If you click on the logo, you will be taken to the home page of the web site.
   
6. The Central Administration “Quick Launch” menu remains almost the same when compared to SharePoint 2010 Central Administration web site.
   
7. Application Management: This section allows you to manage site collections, web applications, content databases, and service applications.
   
8. System Settings: This section allows you to manage servers, features, solutions, and farm-wide settings.
   
9. Monitoring: This section allows you to track, report, and view the health and status of your SharePoint farm.
   
10. Backup and Restore: This section allows you to perform a backup or restore operation, or view history and status details.
    
11. Security: This section allows you to manage settings for users, policy, and global security.
    
12. Upgrade and Migration: This section allows you to upgrade SharePoint, add licenses, enable Enterprise features, and more.
    
13. General Application Settings: This section allows you to configure general application and feature settings including External Service Connections, SharePoint Designer, and Search.
    
14. Apps: This is something new to SharePoint 2013 Preview and allows you to purchase and install applications from SharePoint and Office Store. The Apps feature requires a new service application titled “App Management Service” to be configured in your SharePoint farm.
    
15. Configuration Wizards: The configuration wizards allows you to configure various settings in your farm including service accounts and service applications.
    

In the next article of this series, we will explore the Central Administration web site in more detail. Stay tuned!