Empty SharePoint Recycle Bins Programmatically with PowerShell

Requirement: Empty recycle bin in SharePoint In a Database attachment method migration project, we decided to clear all the recycle bins to get some additional free space in databases. There were 3000+ site collections. Automation? SharePoint Automation = PowerShell :-) Empty SharePoint S…

Create Shortcut in SharePoint Document Library

Requirement is to create a Shortcut link inside SharePoint document library. OK, Tried uploading the URL shortcut (.url) file, and got the error message saying " The following file(s) have been blocked by the administrator: URL Shortcut.url ". Solution: Add "Link to a Document&…

Creating Dependent Features in SharePoint

In a recent project, had to create a feature which provisions bunch of Lists, Libraries and Pages with custom web parts. Those custom web parts also deployed as feature based solutions. So the requirement is: Activate the features which brings the custom web parts first, and then activate the fe…

Install Features Programmatically in SharePoint

Generally, we use STSADM command line to Install features by STSADM –o installfeature –name FeatureName . or Install-SPFeature PowerShell Cmdlet. At times, we may have to execute stsadm programmatically to install a Feature. Say for e.g. from console applications or from another feature activat…

How to Create Site Columns Programmatically in SharePoint?

Requirement: Add Site columns to the SharePoint site programmatically as part of a site provisioning code. Code to Add a New Site column to SharePoint Site:   using (SPSite site = new SPSite("http://sharepoint.com")) { SPWeb web = site.RootWeb; …

Deploy Custom List templates(.stp) as Feature based Solution in SharePoint

Requirement : Had a custom List template, and wanted to make it available in create page of all sites of the site collection. Solution:   How to deploy SharePoint list template? Create a WSP builder solution to deploy the .stp file to the List template gallery of required site collections! Jus…

Delete Attachments from SharePoint List Items using Powershell

Requirement: Delete Attachment from SharePoint List Item How to Remove Attachment from a List Item in SharePoint? There is a requirement to delete all the attachments named as "xyz.presales.document.docx" from a SharePoint List where 100's of list items already created with lot…

How to Add Web Parts to the Page Programmatically?

Requirement is to add OOTB and Custom web parts to a web part page programmatically via features. I'm sharing the code snippets: To Add Out Of The Box Web Parts: (E.g. Content Query Web Part, Content Editor, Page Viewer Web Part, etc): SPWeb web = properties.Featur…

SharePoint List Registration IDs Reference

Reference Table for SharePoint List Registration ID: ID Name 100 Generic list 101 Document library 102 Survey 103 Links list 104 Announcements list 105 Contacts list 106 Events list 107 T…

Event Receivers vs Workflows - Decide Which One to Use

As SharePoint Event Receivers & SharePoint workflows have a lot of similarities, Many people stuck on deciding which one to go with: Event Receiver or Workflow? event receiver vs. workflow in SharePoint is always tricky to decide. Main Differences Between SharePoint Event Receivers and Sha…

Get SharePoint Recycle Bin Storage Size using PowerShell

In a Database attachment method migration project, wanted to get the insights on how much space being occupied by SharePoint Admin Recycle bin for all site collections. There were 3000+ site collections. PowerShell Script to get First Stage recycle bin size: function global:Get-SPSite($url) …