Has anyone used Microsoft Sharepoint for Gaming Sites?

[Baaleos]

                I know this will sound weird.
Anyone who works in IT will probably know that Microsoft Sharepoint is a Web Based Application that can be used as a Wiki, WebSite, Team Discussion, and Bug Tracker all in one etc.

Highly customizable, and very powerful.
Mostly used in Corporate Networks etc.


Anyway, I've been re-selling Amazon Servers for about a month now, and I've discovered that I can host Sharepoint Servers too.

I've started setting one up for my Persistent World, to be used as a Bug Tracker System.

I was wondering if anyone has tried, or experimented with such a thing?
Or would anyone be in such a position that they might want to rent one?
               
               

               
            

[Baaleos]

               Incase anyone is interested in what it might look like?


               
               

               

                     Modifié par Baaleos, 23 juillet 2013 - 01:53 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_leo_x]

               I've thought a lot about setting up something similar using Redmine.  I think something like this is a /great/ idea even for very small teams, since bug reporting and issue tracking on a forum isn't very pleasant in my experience.  I'm pretty sure Elven (niv) uses github in a similar fashion for the PW he works on, not sure if he watches the forums here to share his experience with that.

How accessible is Sharepoint?  Do you think less tech savy players would be able to use it?
               
               

               
            

[Baaleos]

               Im playing with sharepoint right now, and I think its fricken awesome.
For the basic usage - its just like a media wiki - you just do [[PageName]]  to create a new page called PageName, then you edit its content, and any links you make in it via the [[]]  will go on to make more pages.

For more advanced stuff....
I've just taught myself how to create lists that are joint.

Eg: You can create a Bug/Issue list.
Then Create a List elsewhere that contains say, Subraces.

Then you can Create a Column in the Bug List called 'Associated Subrace'
And link it to the Values existing in the Subrace List you made earlier.
Eg: The dropdown entry field will have those values.

Even better, is that you can then go to the Subrace List, and add a column that links back to the Bug list, and it will automatically give you the option of reporting how many bugs are linked to each specific subrace.

I've done this so far on
1. Worlds
2. Quests
3. Subraces

Have a look at these new screenies.
I've also setup workflows to do e-mail notifications and automatic assignment of tasks etc for newly raised bugs etc.







Images might not be in right order, but you should be able to see examples of the linkage.

Its very user friendly, and because its a .Net web application, it seems to be very seemless and responsive.
Dont know if thats because its running on a fairly good server, or because sharepoints just are by default good and fast?
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Baaleos, 24 juillet 2013 - 03:18 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Thayan]

               I work for Microsoft *pauses for the chorus of boos and hisses* and I actually work in SharePoint technical support - so I'm very pleased to see it finding a use in my favorite game. '>

SharePoint really is very flexible and there is a lot you can do with it. As you get going, you can even setup workflows on your lists and have them send out e-mail notifications, or move fixed/completed list items (bugs) to a historical list, and bunches of other things as well (Edit: Just re-read your post and caught the line where you're doing that anyway - nice!). As it appears you are really focusing on lists, I'd just advise being aware of the fact that performance problems can start occurring on lists with over 5000 items in them - so if you think you ever may get any that large, start planning now for ways to try and break them apart.

I specifically support SharePoint Online, and there are $5/month subscriptions available where consumers (you and I) can have a public-facing SharePoint site accessibility anonymously, as well as an internal site for things like bug tracking/etc. I'm not trying to do a sales pitch - but if what Baaleos is doing here is of interest to anyone, you don't *necessarily* need to go through hosting on Amazon for your own SharePoint subscription.

If you run into problems or have questions on it, let me know. I wouldn't say I'm an expert on SharePoint...but after supporting it for the last 6 years I'm not too terrible at it. '>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Thayan, 24 juillet 2013 - 04:22 .
                     
                  

            

[Baaleos]

               Hey Thayan, perhaps you can help me?
I'm trying to get 2 workflows to run when bugs get inserted into my issues type list.
Workflows run, complete easily when I'm logged in, but I would like it to run workflows for Anonymous users too.

When an anonymous user adds a bug, I can see my workflows going into In progress status, but they never exit.

From what I can see, the only way I have been able to get around this, is to setup a scheduled task that executes a powershell script to trigger the workflows.
Even having the workflows inside an impersonation block didn't seem to make them run without the need for the powershell.

Can you recommend a solution?

Also- do know know of any free/easy to setup systems for user registration?
So far, this is being hosted on a Windows Server 2008 r2 server, and I'm having to manually create the users as users on the host system.
Is there a more efficient way to create sharepoint users?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Thayan]

               Unfortunately, you’re not going to (easily) get a workflow to run with an anonymous user. They need to run under a specific user context. But, with that said there are still some options. If you start playing with SharePoint Designer (previously known as FrontPage), you can have a very robust set of tools at your control to modify your site, as well as create complex workflows with custom solutions to address this problem, like described here (i.e. – assigning the workflow to run using the System account) -
http://social.msdn.m...sharepoint-2010

It sounds as though SharePoint is actually installed on your server, so you have access to SharePoint Central Administration? If so you’re working with the ‘On Premise’ version of SharePoint which has all the bells and whistles, so you could try a workaround to this, which is to use an incoming e-mail enabled list (this is not available in online versions of SharePoint) for someone to send in e-mail reports and that can also fire a workflow. Not as nice - but it allows for anonymous users to start a workflow. Incoming e-mail enabled lists are not available in SharePoint Online (where you do not have access to Central Admin), so this won’t be a viable option if that’s the case for you right now.

As for user admin, if you upgrade to SharePoint 2013 you can allow anyone with a valid e-mail (outlook.com, gmail, live, hotmail, etc) to request access to your site, or you can extend invitations to them. This site explains it in more detail -
http://office.micros...A103456596.aspx

Otherwise, with 2010, you can use something like FBA with a SQL (or SQL Express if you want it free) backend to setup users. But unfortunately, prior to SharePoint 2013, the methods to setup non-domain users for SharePoint access is not real admin-friendly - and I know you asked for easy, which this really isn't...
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Thayan, 25 juillet 2013 - 06:53 .
                     
                  

            

[Baaleos]

               Hi Thayan,
I saw that solution before, but I was not sure how/where I am meant to type the c# code.

Do I need to essentially make a custom Form for the NewItem.aspx in visual studio?

Would you happen to have a tutorial on this?
               
               

               
            

[Baaleos]

               Also - is there an easy way to migrate from 2010 to 2013 - I have a server starting up now with 2013 installed - I'd prefer an easy way to migrate the site content from 2010 to 2013 if one exists.

Eg: Transfer wiki, site collections etc, and Workflows etc
               
               

               
            

[Baaleos]

                In case anyone is interested in having a look at it.

http://asmodei.net/SitePages/Home.aspx


I think its setup to allow anonymous viewing.