Step 1, create a custom list called StatusLookUp and add an item for each status you want to have. The items in the list will be used as statuses in the “Status” column via a lookup column.

Step 2, create the list you want to use to track your tasks, for this example I am calling it ProjectStatus. If you already have a list this will work as well, you will need to migrate your status column data though. After you have your list setup, create a column called StatusLookup. It will be a Lookup column type and you will use the StatusLookUp list as your input. After creating this column you will need to migrate your current Status column data to this column if you already have a list, if not create a few test items and set their status using this column. This will be a small burden to migrate the statuses of each item but well worth it. I recommend doing it programatically via .Net as a console app or ASPX page. The code for that will simply loop through your list and set the new column data as the current column data with the exception that you will need to format that data to fit into a lookup field type.

This is my basic list with 4 projects that I am tracking and what the status is of each. Note that the StatusLookup field is a lookup of the StatusLookUp list and not the OOB Status field.

Step 3, create a new Lookup column in your StatusLookup list. Call the column Count and reference the column that you just created in your ProjectStatus list. Be sure the column contains “(Count Related)” in the name. Now that you have created your new Status field in your list and migrated the data over, go back to your original StatusLookup list and create a new column that is a lookup of the column that you just created as a lookup to this list. It sounds like a crazy loop but when you do this it returns a count of the number of occurrences instead of the same data.

Step 4, add the chart web part to the page and connect it to your Status Lookup list. Set the Count as your Y axis and the Title as your X axis. Finally, customize your chart to be a pie graph and set your data to display as you wish. Viola! Since this post is about the data and not really about the pie chart I skimmed this part but trust me, you can totally just add the web part and walk through the setup wizard and get the data you need.

Hope this helps, enjoy.

– Tim Ferro

<style>
BODY #s4-leftpanel { DISPLAY: none }
.s4-ca {MARGIN-LEFT: 0px }
</style>

Done. Simple. However, what if you want the ability to show and hide that on demand? Then you will need this handy JavaScript script code. Just like before, add a content editor web part to the page but this time don’t hide it. Add the following code and you will be able to show and hide the left navigation on demand:

<script language=”javascript”>
function toggle() {
var ele = document.getElementById(“s4-leftpanel”);
var s4 = document.getElementById(“MSO_ContentTable”);
var text = document.getElementById(“displayText”);
if(ele.style.display == “block”) {
ele.style.display = “none”;
s4.style.marginLeft = “0px”;
text.innerHTML = “show”;
}
else {
ele.style.display = “block”;
s4.style.marginLeft = “155px”;
text.innerHTML = “hide”;
}
}
</script>
<a id=”displayText” href=”javascript:toggle();”>Show</a> <== Click Here

Now you have two easy options for temporarily or permanently hiding the left navigation in SharePoint 2010.

There are a number of enhancements to this code that can be made to make it even more useful. The first is the bug that requires 2 clicks to get it working and the second would be setting the user’s selected preference in a cookie so that it always remembers the state that it was in the last time the user logged in. I may work on these in the future but feel free to post that code in the comments section or contact me directly and I will post an update or link to your blog!

– Tim Ferro

1. Download the latest version of jQuery from their site: http://jquery.com/ and upload it to your server.
2. At the bottom of the page add a content editor web part and make it hidden.
3. Add the following code:

<script src=”your-server/jquery-1.6.1.min.js”></script>
<script language=”javascript”>
$(“span:contains(‘Error’)”).hide();
$(“div:contains(‘Access denied’):not(:has(div))”).hide();
</script>

The first line is a reference to the latest version of jQuery on your server. Please remove “your-server” and replace with the correct folder (don’t use absolute references). Make sure this reference works. (It is also possible to link to a Google hosted version of this file however I always use a local copy.) The second line is the beginning tag for writing JavaScript. The 3rd line finds all the “span” elements on the page that contain the word “Error” and then hides them. This might work too well so you need to make sure nothing else on the page is hidden as well that you don’t want hidden. The fourth line finds all the “div” elements that contain “Access denied”, but do not contain any other “div” elements, and hides them. This is crucial as I was unable to hide a “span” and had to use a “div” find and hide. However, since “div” tags are nested throughout this page without the caveat that makes sure the “div” tag doesn’t contain any nested “div” tags, this would have hidden most of the items on the page. The fifth line closes the script tag.

– Tim Ferro

– Tim Ferro

“Microsoft Tuesday revealed Windows 7 at its annual Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles. Windows 7 is designed to replace Windows Vista as the main operating system for Windows-based PC users.

With Apple’s OS X Snow Leopard also under development, we met up with Ian Moulster, Windows Live Commercial Lead for Microsoft to talk through some of Microsoft’s key ideas and discover what the next-generation of operating systems aim to offer both Mac and PC users.” – Source

“Officially, Microsoft has been saying “the first half of 2008″ whenever the company is asked to put a date for the release of Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3). However, various sources have been expecting the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build to become available in the second half of April. Now, according to tech site Neowin, Microsoft’s release schedule for XP SP3 is as follows…” – Source

“No more betas, release candidates, or other test builds for Windows Vista SP1. Microsoft is pushing the final version of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 out the door. You can download standalone installers for X86 and X64 systems from Microsoft starting today.” – Source

“Microsoft has released the first public beta of Internet Explorer 8 for download by willing testers, which debuted this week at the Mix conference in Las Vegas. Intended for developers and designers only, IE8’s most intriguing new feature so far is “Web Slices,” which lets you monitor a single section of a web page, like an eBay auction (similar to Leopard’s Web Clips.) Web developers will be excited about better standards compliance.” – Source