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How-To: Create Navigable OneNote Headings in Word

By Chris Range | Published: June 11, 2013
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A How-To Article from OneNotable

Summary

Creating a collection of headings in Word that corresponds to native OneNote styles enables OneNote pages and sections to be saved as navigable Word documents.

Applies To Office 2010 and 2013

This article applies to both OneNote and Word 2010-2013 versions. It was created from an OneNote draft and saved as a Word document with custom styles applied according to the instructions of the How-To itself.

Demonstrates How-To

  1. Create a set of styles in Word that correspond to OneNote styles.
  2. Save these styles as navigable headings in the Word Gallery.
  3. Save pages and sections from OneNote as a Word document.
  4. Use the new styles in the Word Gallery to make exported OneNote content navigable.

Introduction

Microsoft Word and Microsoft OneNote are both powerful applications for communication. Yet their overall purposes are different and this is reflected in their tools. OneNote is geared towards knowledge management and note-taking. It is great for gathering unstructured information in a fast and fluid manner while working on daily tasks. It is designed for rapid organization and accessibility for organically gathered knowledge.  The ability to save OneNote pages and sections as Word documents gives it a strong capability as an outliner. However; when doing this it is easy to notice some shortcomings that tease the intuition.

While OneNote does have an easy to apply set of headings, these are not navigable in the way that headings are in Word. So in a sense they are not true headings. They are just styles. There are two ways this can be improved. First, one can simply highlight a list of OneNote styles in Word and replace them with headings chosen from the menu. Alternately one can preserve the style of an OneNote page in Word while simultaneously making it navigable. This is done by creating a collection of headings in Word that match OneNote heading styles. Then OneNote pages and sections can be saved in a way that is primed for them to be navigable as Word documents.

Create a OneNote Styles List for Word

Before working with the styles in Word, example text needs to be prepared in OneNote. There are 12 native styles built into OneNote. The first 11 styles are available to be applied from the styles section in the ribbon. These include 6 Heading styles, and 5 styles for body content; Page Title, Citation text, Quote text, Code text and Normal text. There is one more consistent style in OneNote for date and time which can’t be applied from the ribbon but may be useful to make navigable for exported content. Here’s how to make these styles useful in MS Word.

In OneNote

1. Create a full list of examples in plain text (Normal style) on a blank OneNote page.

  • Give the items in the list the same name as the style it represents.
  • For example; the first text item representing Heading 1 will be that same term.

2. Select each line of text and apply the corresponding OneNote style.

  • You can apply the styles using the drop-down in the Ribbon under Home.
  • Or you can use keyboard shortcuts if you are familiar.

Example Starting Style List

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In Word

Paste the list of examples into a blank Microsoft Word document and save.

OneNote Styles to Headings: First Method

Whether or not you create a custom set of OneNote styles in Word, you can always convert OneNote styles to Word headings from existing style sets. To do so:

  1. Paste the OneNote text style list from part 1 of this tutorial into a Word document saved or exported from an OneNote page.
  2. Select a text style such as Page Title and right-click.
  3. Choose Additional Actions.
  4. Click on Select Text with Similar Formatting

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    Figure 1: Example of Select Text with Similar Formatting

  5. In the Word Ribbon, click on Title and the Page Title style is changed to a Word style.
  6. Do this with each OneNote style from the list.
  7. The OneNote styles in the exported page are now navigable Word headings.
Figure 2: OneNote styles converted to navigable headings in MS Word

Figure 2: OneNote styles converted to navigable headings in MS Word

OneNote Styles to Word Headings: Second Method

Convert Native OneNote Styles to a Custom Word Style Set

This method is a little bit fancier. It yields a nice result if you want to preserve the appearance of OneNote pages saved in Word while also making them navigable. It requires two sets of steps. First is to create a navigable OneNote style set in Word and save it as a template. Secondly is to apply the navigable OneNote style set to pages saved in Word.

I: Creating the Custom Styles

To create the custom OneNote styles in MS Word, follow these steps:

  1. Paste a list of text with OneNote heading styles into a Word document.
    1. Use the same technique as in the first part of this tutorial.
    2. Skip the selection of text with similar formatting.
    3. You should only have the list of OneNote styles and no other content.
  2. Highlight and right-click on one of the examples, such as Heading 1.
  3. In the ribbon, right-click on the corresponding Word heading.
  4. Click Update Heading 1 to Match Selection

    Figure 3: Updating a Heading Style in Word

    Figure 3: Updating a Heading Style in Word

  5. This technique can be used for the OneNote Page Title style and Headings 1-6
  6. For a Quick Style: Highlight an item from the list such as “Citation”.
  7. In the ribbon, click on the drop down for styles.
  8. Choose Save Selection as a New Quick Style
  9. Name the new style the same as in OneNote

    Figure 4: Saving a new Quick Style

    Figure 4: Saving a new Quick Style

II: Saving the Styles as a Set in a Word Template

Once each style has been altered or created, you can save them as a set in a Word template.

  1. In the ribbon choose the Change Styles drop-down.
  2. Under Style Sets, click Save as Quick Style Set.
  3. Give your new style set a convenient name such as OneNote Style Set.
  4. Save the document as a Word template with a convenient name.

Your OneNote quick style set is now available to be applied to Word documents saved from OneNote pages. By applying the new style set from the template, you can convert OneNote headings to navigable headings in MS Word while preserving the original look and feel.

 

 

 

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SQL Server Management Studio Query Templates

By Kevin Wentzel | Published: May 28, 2013
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A while back I was doing some research for a client on how to pull or configure SQL Server Database Mail through the use of scripts rather than the GUI provided by SQL Server Management Studio.  What I came across at the bottom of the “Configure Database Mail” page on MSDN was an extremely useful nugget that I can’t believe I didn’t know about before: SSMS Template Explorer.

I don’t know about you, but it’s pretty common that I have to fall back on Google searches for quick syntax lookups for seemingly simple queries and functions that I haven’t used in a while.  So, when I saw what happened when I followed the instructions and clicked the View menu, then Template Explorer (or Ctrl+Alt+T) in SSMS, I was astonished.

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 It had been hiding in plain sight all along.  All I did was drag and drop the “Simple Database Mail Configuration” script from the template explorer and I had a perfect sample syntax.  The sample was even well commented and parameterized for re-use.  Here is a capture of the top portion:

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I decided that I wanted to see if I could leverage a similar technique to my last blog post (Create Custom Visual Studio Item Templates) and add my own templates.  Seeing that the icon has the familiar .sql extension data type icon, I searched for the first script in the list “Create Aggregate” and added “.sql”.  The results showed that these template files actually exist in directories to support both SQL Management Studio and Visual Studio:

SQL Management Studio

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE\SqlWorkbenchProjectItems\Sql\Aggregate

Visual Studio

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\SQLDB\Extensions\SqlServer\Items

Naturally, I assumed that I could add my own template scripts, so I dropped my favorite “ReIndex All Databases.sql” script into the SSMS Index folder and restarted the SSMS application.  With no surprises, here is what I found:

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Now I have a method to have easy access to all of my favorite queries and create my own templates.  What templates will you add to your collection?

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Fitbit Flex – The Impact of Feedback

By Andrew Kurtz | Published: May 20, 2013
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In my last blog I talked about the importance of providing feedback to everyone in the company. Specifically, I pointed out that, “without it, without some indication that certain actions are having a positive, negative or neutral impact, human nature assumes that current activity is correct.”

Today I wanted to provide a non-business example of this concept in action.

I’m a relatively active person. I like to hike and backpack. I play ice hockey and I road cycle on weekends (as long as weather, travel soccer or attending fall football games don’t conflict). I even do Insanity workouts, completing the entire program more than once. And on the consumption side, I try to keep a rough eye on my eating habits in an attempt to keep my calorie intake in line with my expected calorie burn. This target calorie burn was based on the average for a relatively active person my age.

Enter FitBit Flex.

FitBit is all about providing feedback. Through scales, activity trackers and dashboards, FitBit provides insight into how your activities are truly impacting your goals.

I had been tracking the release of FitBit Flex for several months because I wanted a device that could just be part of my normal dress. My pre-order arrived 10 days ago and I’ve been wearing it religiously. So, in 10 days, what have I learned?

I learned that, because of my job, I’m not as active as I thought. I tend to hit and exceed my targets on weekends, but during the week, day-after-day, I find it challenging to get in 10,000 steps. As I pointed out initially, without feedback, “without some indication that certain actions are having a positive, negative or neutral impact, human nature assumes that current activity is correct.”

But, with this feedback, I can now make changes. I can adjust my daily actions to positively impact my target results. I plan to start walking to more nearby meetings, the bank and mailbox and sometimes walk to lunch. Then, if I haven’t come close to my target, I plan to walk when I first get home from work. Now that I have near real-time visibility into the impact of my actions, I know to change them.

Similarly, delivering feedback in your business will have the same results. If you have the right team, they will want to meet their personal, team and business goals. But they need feedback, as close to real-time as possible, to know if they are succeeding. If provided, the right team will self-adjust behavior and improve.

The key is delivering timely feedback.

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Professional Services KPIs

By Andrew Kurtz | Published: May 14, 2013
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Imagine you’re in a car, it is pitch black and you have no dashboard. You hit the pedals on the floor. You’re taking action, doing what you think you’re supposed to do in a car, but you don’t even really know if those actions are having the impact you desire. Perhaps, without realizing it, you’re standing on the brake and going nowhere.

I owe a friend for giving me this simple illustration of why everyone in every position needs feedback. Without it, without some indication that certain actions are having a positive, negative or neutral impact, human nature assumes that current activity is correct.

This is the core of our Business Insight practice, and, I thought I’d share how we are trying to apply this concept to our own company in the hopes that it will foster ideas for you and your own organization.

ProActive is a professional services firm built around three core “practices”: Application Development, SharePoint and Business Insight (BI). Here are some of the key roles required to successfully deliver these services:

  • Practice Manager – a person who manages the practice from a P&L standpoint
  • Project Manager – a person who focuses on managing project resources and communication to a successful completion
  • Developers/Administrators/Quality Assurance – team members (resources) who design, code, configure and test solutions

Some of the key data points:

  • Estimated project hours – Our estimate of the hours required to complete a project
  • Project invoicing cap – Agreed upon maximum invoicing amount
  • Billable time – resource time charged against a project
  • Unbillable time – resource time charged not against a project
  • Average cost per hour – average total cost per hour worked by resources. This is designed to include all overhead and provide a simple practice cost.
  • Invoicing – invoices generated and sent to customers

So what are examples of how are these variables deliver meaningful data to the different roles?

  • Practice Manager Goal(s) and KPIs
    • Utilization
      • Practice: (Total billable time charged against all practice projects)/( (Total billable time charged against all practice projects + Total unbillable time for all practice members)
      • Individual: (Individuals billable time)/( (Individuals billable time + individuals unbillable time)
  • Project time compare to estimates
    • A list of each project showing the number of hours remaining on the project (total hours estimates – sum of all time against the project)
    • A list of each project showing the percentage of the project that should be complete based hours and estimate (sum of all time against the project/total hours estimates)
  • Backlog
    • (Total of all practice project invoicing caps – total invoicing against all practice projects)
    • Sum of all practice project hour estimates – (sum of all practice project hours, but capped for each project at the project hour estimate)
  • Practice Profitability
  • NOTE: Calculating profitability for a practice is challenging because when time is incurred it doesn’t always match when time is invoiced. Therefore, we know the date when each billable time item is invoiced.
    • Practice Period Revenue – Revenue is calculated using three items:
      • (+) Actual invoices during the month
      • (-) Time from before the period start invoiced this period
      • (+) Time from before the period end that has not been invoiced
    • Practice Period Expenses
      • (Sum of all non-overtime by employees during the period + sum of  all time by contractors during the period) * Average cost per hour
    • Practice Profit (Loss) – Practice Period Revenue – Practice Period Expenses
    • Project Managers
      • Project time compare to estimates
        • A list of each project showing the number of hours remaining on the project (total hours estimates – sum of all time against the project)
        • A list of each project showing the percentage of the project that should be complete based hours and estimate (sum of all time against the project/total hours estimates)
        • Developers/Administrators/Quality Assurance
          • Individual Utilization: (Individuals billable time)/( (Individuals billable time + individuals unbillable time)
          • Average Utilization: (Individuals billable time)/( (Individuals billable time + individuals unbillable time)
          • For every project on which the team member has charged at least 8 hours in the past month:
            • A list of each project showing the number of hours remaining on the project (total hours estimates – sum of all time against the project)
            • A list of each project showing the percentage of the project that should be complete based hours and estimate (sum of all time against the project/total hours estimates)

 

As you can see, our goal is to put relevant feedback in front of each team member. For this we use SSRS, Excel PowerPivot and SharePoint. Some of these metrics are unique to a role, but many are shared with, perhaps a slight variation.

Ultimately, the goal is to provide the dashboard so our team members aren’t driving in the dark. We want everyone to know the actual impact of their actions because a good team will self-adjust. The key is knowledge, or as we call it, Business Insight.

I encourage you think about meaningful dashboards for your team and each of their roles.

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SharePoint 2010: Six Ways to Recover Lost Content

By Kim Ryan | Published: May 7, 2013
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If a document is lost or overwritten, do you know how to recover it? Even more importantly – if it’s business critical, how quickly can you get it back? In this blog post, we’ll examine six different ways to recover lost content in SharePoint 2010, starting with the quickest way and ending with the most time-consuming method.

Quickest Way: Restore a Previous Version

Method #1: Restore to a Prior Document Version

If versioning is turned on in the document library, then you’ll be able to revert to a past version of a document in no time. In SharePoint 2010 libraries, there are three version options:

(1)     No Versioning

(2)     Major Versioning (whole numbers assigned to document versions, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc.)

(3)     Minor Versioning (whole number with a decimal, example, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.)

To configure versioning

(1) Navigate to the library in SharePoint.

(2) In the ribbon, under the Library Tools group > Library tab, click the Library Settings button.

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(3) Under the General Settings heading, select Versioning settings.

3(4) On the next screen, select a versioning option and optionally limit the number of versions to retain.

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When satisfied with this screen, click OK to save the settings. For more information on document versioning, see Enable and configure versioning for a library, http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-foundation-help/enable-and-configure-versioning-for-a-library-HA101853103.aspx.

 

Assuming versioning is enabled in a library, it is possible to roll-back to an older version of a document. For example, if a user accidentally overwrites a document, you can restore a previous version and recover the document.

To revert to a previous document version

(1) Check out the document, for example:

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Note: For complete instructions on checking out a document, see Check out a file, http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-foundation-help/check-out-check-in-or-discard-changes-to-files-in-a-site-library-HA101849698.aspx?CTT=3#_Toc258239254.

(2) Click OK when asked to confirm.

6(3) Next, click the down-arrow to the right of the document title and choose version history.

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Version history is displayed.
8(4) Select the version you want to restore.

9(5) Click OK when asked to confirm.

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The version you restore becomes the latest version.

(6) Remember to check in the document when done.

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For more information on using document versions, including how to restore or delete previous versions, read the following articles:

 

Fairly Quick: Restore a Recycle Bin

Method #2: Restore from the Recycle Bin

In order to provide maximum recoverability, SharePoint has two (2) recycle bins:

  • Stage One Recycle Bin – When a user deletes a document, SharePoint sends it to the First Stage Recycle Bin, where it remains for the number of days set by the SharePoint Administrator (default is 30 days). This the End User Recycle Bin. After the allotted time has passed, SharePoint moves the document to the Stage Two Recycle Bin.
  • Stage Two Recycle Bin – This is the Site Collection Recycle Bin. Only a site collection administrator can restore items from the second stage recycle bin. Important Note: If an entire site is deleted, SharePoint sends it to the Stage Two Recycle Bin, provided Service Pack 1 has been loaded. If your SharePoint farm is not running SP1, you will need to restore the site from an unattached content database (explained later) or a full farm backup.

Stage One Recycle Bin

To restore an item from the Stage One Recycle Bin

(1) Navigate to the site of the item that needs to be restored.

(2)Select the Recycle Bin option, typically shown on the left side of the screen in the Quick Launch area.

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A list of items that have been deleted is displayed.

(3) When you find the deleted item, select the checkbox to the left of the name and click the Restore Selection link.

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SharePoint removes the item from the recycle bin. If you cannot find the item in the Stage One Recycle Bin, check the stage two (Site Collection) recycle bin.

Stage Two Recycle Bin

To restore an item from the Stage Two Recycle Bin

(1)On the top-level site, click the Site Actions menu and select Site Settings.

(2)On the Site Settings page, under the Site Collection Administration heading, click Recycle bin.

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Two options appear on the left side of the screen: End user Recycle Bin items and Deleted from end user Recycle Bin.

(3) Select Deleted from end user Recycle bin.
16(4) When you find the item to be restored, select the checkbox next to the item(s) and then click Restore Selection.

For more information on restoring from the recycle bin, read this article: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/restore-a-deleted-object-from-a-sharepoint-recycle-bin-HA102655219.aspx#_Toc294595527.

Recycle Bin Configuration

To configure recycle bin settings

SharePoint Farm Administrators can configure recycle bins in Central Administration differently for each web application. By default, Recycle Bins are turned on in all the site collections in a Web application and set to 30 days for stage one recycle bin, with items remaining in the stage two recycle bin until a percentage quota is reached. This article describes how to configure Recycle Bin settings for a Web application:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc287766(v=office.14).aspx

Why would an item NOT appear in a recycle bin?

  • Were you the one who originally deleted the item? The recycle bin is limited to documents, items, lists and libraries that you have deleted and not someone else. You cannot see content deleted by other users.
  • Was the document originally in a folder that was also deleted? You cannot restore an item that was in some sort of a container (i.e., a library or a folder) if the container has been deleted. First, restore the container, and then you can restore the item.

Note: In the Stage Two Recycle Bin (i.e., the Site Collection Recycle Bin), all contents are shown, regardless of who deleted them. However, you must have Site Collection Administrator rights to access this recycle bin.

 

Very Quick if You’re Comfortable with PowerShell: Use a Script to Restore Deleted Items, Sites, Site Collection

Method #3: Use PowerShell

To use PowerShell to restore an item from the recycle bin, first find the item’s GUID. The basic procedure is to use the RecycleBin.Restore property of SPWeb. See script here: http://maplpro.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-restore-from-sharepoint-2010.html.

Although PowerShell is optional in many situations, to restore an entire site collection requires PowerShell. Note that this only works if SP1 has been loaded.

The command, as explained in Microsoft TechNet, is as follows:

Restore-SPDeletedSite [-Identity] <SPDeletedSitePipeBind> [-AssignmentCollection <SPAssignmentCollection>] [-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]] [-ContentDatabase <SPContentDatabasePipeBind>] [-WebApplication <SPWebApplicationPipeBind>] [-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]]

See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh286319(v=office.14).aspx for complete instructions.

 

Not Fast, but Easier than Restoring the Farm: Recover Data from Unattached Database

Method #4: Restore from an Unattached Content Database

SharePoint 2010 provides a really useful feature: If you have a backup of the content database, you can restore it somewhere and browse its contents from inside Central Administration.

Note: This method may not work if the content database was using a different version of SharePoint. It definitely will not work if the content database was using SharePoint prior to SP1, and the current version of SharePoint is on SP1 or later, as SP1 alters the schema of all content databases.

Also note that SharePoint uses the Farm Account to log into the database. If the Farm Account does not have access to the database, this method will not work.

To restore from an unattached content database

(1) In Central Administration, select Backup and Restore.

18(2) Under Granular Backup, choose Recover data from an unattached content database.

19On the next screen, enter the database server name and database name. Choose the authentication (Windows or SQL – if SQL, enter account name and password), and then select an operation: Browse content, Backup site collection, or Export site or list.

20(3) Click Next.

On this screen, you can select the site collection, site, list, and operation (backup or export).

21(4) Optionally select a different Site Collection, Site, or List by clicking the drop-down. Choose Backup site collection or Export site or list, and click Next.

In this scenario, we will assume you selected Export.

(5) On the next screen, for filename, provide a UNC path plus a filename with *.cmp extension (this is the typical extension SharePoint uses for exports). Optionally select Overwrite existing files and/or Export full security. For the Export versions, you can select All Versions, Last Major, Current Version, or Last Major and Last Minor.

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(6) Click Start Export to begin the export process.

SharePoint shows export progress on the screen. Periodically click Refresh to force the screen to update. If the export succeeds, a Succeeded message displays across from Previous Job.

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In the path provided earlier, you will find two files, the exported data (*.cmp) and a log file, example:

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To import this data into SharePoint, use the PowerShell command Import-SPWeb as explained here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff607613.aspx. Example:

Import-SPWeb http://intranet.sharepoint.com/somesubsite/anothersite –Path export.cmp –IncludeUserSecurity –UpdateVersions Overwrite

For more information about restoring from an unattached database, see this article:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh269602(v=office.14).aspx

 

Not Fast, but May Be Preferable for Users: Restore to an Alternate Farm

Method #5: Restore to an Alternate Farm

For various reasons, it may be preferable to restore to alternate farm and allow the users to view the content and determine what needs to be restored. Of course to use this option, you will need an alternate farm (usually Test), or you may be able to restore to a VM – possibly a developer’s machine. In any case, the alternate farm needs to be on the same version as SharePoint, ideally with all patches and language packs the same.

To restore to an alternate farm

  1. Retrieve the backup. You can backup a farm in PowerShell, Central Administration, and by using SQL Server tools (see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee428316(v=office.14).aspx).
  2. Restore the backup on the alternate farm. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee428314(v=office.14).aspx.
  3. Create a new site collection that points to the content database. The PowerShell command to target a specific database is explained here: http://www.sharepointassist.com/2011/02/19/creating-one-content-database-per-site-collection-in-sharepoint-2010-using-windows-powershell. Example:

New-SPSite -name “TempSite” -ContentDatabase WSS_Content_Temp-url http://intranet.sharepoint.com/Temp/ -OwnerAlias “mydomain\accountname”

Alternatively, you can create a temporary web application / site collection first, drop the existing database, and then use the “Mount” PowerShell command as explained here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff628582.aspx.

Mount-SPContentDatabase “WSS_Content_Temp” -DatabaseServer “SomeServer” -WebApplication http://temp

Method #6: Restore the Farm from a Backup

Restoring the entire farm is usually only necessary after the entire farm fails, when it is impossible to restore only part of the farm. If you must restore the entire farm, first make sure SharePoint is on the same version. If SharePoint must be re-loaded, then re-apply all language packs, cumulative updates, and service packs. Likewise, if you had a three-tier farm, then make sure all tiers are available; you cannot restore a multiple-server farm to a single-server, stand-alone farm and vice versa. For detailed instructions, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee428314(v=office.14).aspx.

Also, when using SQL Server tools to restore, the Configuration and Central Administration databases may be backed and restored, but they cannot be restored using SQL Server. See this article for instructions: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc512725(v=office.14).aspx. Additionally the search index is not stored in SQL Server, so you must perform a full crawl after the restore.

 

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