Introduction to Social Networking Web Parts in SharePoint 2007

Colleagues Web Part: This web part helps users to present their colleagues to visitors. The colleagues list is a presentation of other organization members that the specified user works closely with in terms of organizational structure, interaction (that is, e-mail and instant messaging conversations) and memberships. Users can also manually add and remove colleagues.

Colleague Tracker Web Part: This web part enables organization members to privately view their list of compiled colleagues and to modify their views and inclusion in their colleagues list. The colleague tracker Web Part enables the presentation of recommended colleagues and enables the user to modify colleague tracking by profile information. For example, users can modify the colleague tracker to present updated colleagues when anniversaries, profile properties, authored documents, and blogs change. Additionally, scoping the presentation can occur when users choose to view colleagues specifically for the user’s workgroup or organization-wide.

SharePoint Sites, Links, and Membership Web Parts: Provide the ability for users to view their own Office SharePoint Server site, group and mail list memberships and links as well as those that they have in common with others. Additionally, visitors can view a user’s memberships, Office SharePoint Server Sites and distribution group memberships.

In Common With Web Part: Provides a summary view of information relating to the memberships, organizational managers and colleagues that a visitor has in common with the owner of a My Site.

Presence Information: When coupled with Office Communications Server and Exchange Server, presence information that indicates online instant messaging status, Out of Office messages and contact information is displayed whenever user information is presented (that is, colleagues and colleague tracker Web Parts, etc.).