CodePlex: It's a SharePoint Gold Mine
Description
Time and again I have come across situations where I said to myself, where can I find something that will make my tasks easier and quicker. My first place to seek refuge is Microsoft TechNet Wiki, however, if I don’t find the answer I am looking for here then I look at CodePlex. In this article I am going to focus on the SharePoint related CodePlex projects. Also, CodePlex is a living, breathing website and hence so is this article. Over the period of time I will be updating this article with more and more CodePlex projects. I will also be adding links to other Microsoft TechNet articles which have referred to or described CodePlex articles in detail. ***I encourage other TechNet writers to add SharePoint CodePlex related information here.
What is CodePlex?
I'm not going to re-invent the description here since its home page does an outstanding job stating, CodePlex is Microsoft's free open source project hosting site. You can create projects to share with the world, collaborate with others on their projects, and download open source software. It is not compulsory for you to login to this site to gain access to these projects, however, it is best practice to do so. To make it easier you can log in using your existing Microsoft Account. In my case I use the same account I use to log into Microsoft TechNet.
So the description of CodePlex is pretty obvious, however, have you read through the code of conduct? If you haven't then I highly recommend that you do because it describes important and very meaningful terms such as Respect Others, Keep it Legal, Play Nice, Accept Responsibility, Uphold the Code, etc. You can read through the entire description at http://www.codeplex.com/site/legal/conduct.
CodePlex Projects
I decided to break the projects down into three separate sections, Power User, Administration (or Architecture) and Developer.
Administration
This is where all CodePlex projects are listed which are extremely useful for SharePoint administrators and architects.
SharePoint Manager
I had to start by first mentioning this project SharePoint Manager which is a SharePoint object model explorer. It enables you to browse every site on the local farm and view every property. This is a must have tool for every SharePoint administrator and architect. This tool will save you a lot of time analyzing in depth details for content types, fields, ETC.
You can also refer to Dimtri Plotnikov's TechNet article, SharePoint 2010 Manager.
The SharePoint Manager is available for Online, 2013, 2010 and 2007 version. The Online version is not available for free.
SharePoint Designer Custom Workflow Activities
This project takes aim at making it easier to create advanced workflows using SharePoint Designer by providing a set of custom workflow activities. Even though this project was originally designed to work in SharePoint designer 2010, some have tested and confirmed that it works in 2013 as well. The project is available at https://spdactivities.codeplex.com/%20
SharePoint Management PowerShell Scripts
This project site stores all the PowerShell scripts developed for SharePoint farms (WSS or MOSS) management. Each script is available independently and can be modified as desired. The project is available at http://sharepointpsscripts.codeplex.com/
SharePoint Log Viewer
SharePoint Log Viewer is a Windows application for reading and filtering Microsoft SharePoint ULS Logs. Some of the key features of this project includes View multiple SharePoint log files at once and Live monitoring for entire farm. This project supports SharePoint 2007, 2010 and 2013 and is available at http://sharepointlogviewer.codeplex.com/
Auto SharePoint Installer
Perfect for repeated Virtual Machine-based installs/tear-downs, etc., but also great for production installs where you want to guarantee consistency and minimize data entry glitches. The immediate value is for installing and configuring the first/only server in a farm, but also supports using either server-specific input files or a single, all-encompassing input file for running the script on all farm servers (with parameters - e.g. for the service apps - set according to your desired topology).
Installer - http://autospinstaller.codeplex.com/%20
GUI - http://autospinstallergui.codeplex.com/%20
SharePoint Column & View Permission
The author himself has confessed that the 2013 version of this project is not a full proof solution so please test this in your DEV environment
Here is the link to SP2013 - https://sp2013columnpermission.codeplex.com/%20
This 2013 version of this project includes important features such as
- Hide or Read Only Columns in a List Forms (New/Edit/Display)
- Hide Columns in Views
- Hide Columns in Alert Me Emails
- Specify the permission for Users, SharePoint Groups or Active Directory Groups
View Permission
- Disable Views
- Automatically Disable Views in Custom WebPart Zones
- Specify the permission for Users, SharePoint Groups or Active Directory Groups
There is also a SP2010 version available at https://sp2013columnpermission.codeplex.com/%20
SharePoint Formals Based Authentication
This project is A forms based authentication pack for SharePoint 2013 and 2010. It includes web parts for registering users, changing passwords and password recovery. It includes tools for managing users and roles and for approving registrations. The links are as follows
https://sharepoint2013fba.codeplex.com/
https://sharepoint2010fba.codeplex.com/%20
SharePoint warm up
Tired of waiting for SharePoint pages to load? Want something easy to support? That works on all versions? This use this project. This works for both SharePoint 2010 and 2013 and provides the option to add custom URLS.
http://spbestwarmup.codeplex.com/
Developer
This is where all CodePlex projects are listed which are extremely useful for SharePoint administrators and architects.
SharePoint - Hit Counter Web part
This web part is very simple, contains few lines of code, before adding the web part to the page
http://hitcounter.codeplex.com/%20
SharePoint Countdown Timer Web part
A SharePoint web part to display the real-time remaining time until a specific date or event using jQuery/JavaScript.
http://spcountdown.codeplex.com/%20
Jquery library for SP Services
SPServices is a jQuery library which abstracts SharePoint's Web Services and makes them easier to use. It also includes functions which use the various Web Service operations to provide more useful (and cool) capabilities. It works entirely client side and requires no server install.
https://spservices.codeplex.com/%20
SQL Server Reporting Services Product Samples
This project contains Reporting Services samples released with Microsoft SQL Server product. These samples are in the following five categories: Application Samples, Extension Samples, Model Samples, Report Samples, and Script Samples.
http://msftrsprodsamples.codeplex.com/
Reporting Services Samples on CodePlex (SQL Server Reporting Services SSRS) is an excellent wiki article written by Marianne Willumsen MSFT which best describes this project.
SharePoint CAML Query Helper for 2007, 2010, and 2013
Use this program to help build and test SharePoint CAML Queries (Collaborative Application Markup Language). Compatible with SharePoint 2007, SharePoint 2010, SharePoint 2013 and Office365, in one single convenient download containing two EXE files.
https://spcamlqueryhelper.codeplex.com/%20
Power User
This is where all CodePlex projects are listed which are extremely useful for SharePoint power users.
SharePoint 2010 Workflow demo
As the project name states, this contains workflow demos.
http://spworkflowdemo.codeplex.com/