Hi
I have asked this question on a couple of Microsoft forums, however I usually get a suggestion to post on a different forum. I'm therefore coming from the Office 365 community forum.
My issue relates to Microsoft Publisher 2013 working in Office 365 and its inability to check in and check out files in a similar way to Word, Excel or Powerpoint.
I manage an Office 365 Enterprise E1 account (non-profits) for a charity and most work is carried out by volunteers with limited IT experience. As a result and as part of the office 365 implementation I have set up One Drive for Business with the different sites in SharePoint synchronised to Windows Explorer.
When users use Word or Excel, they have no problems as they are always asked about check in and check out and the versioning works as intended. They usually only access SharePoint through Windows Explorer.
However the same is not the case for Microsoft Publisher where we now have had multiple instances of work being lost. This lack of compatibility is proving to be an accessibility issue for retired volunteers who do a great job but are not familiar with the web interface for MS Office 365. They use Office Products such as Outlook for email etc.
My question is this. Are Microsoft going to add the check in / check out and versioning facility to Microsoft Publisher as an update?
Alternatively, Could Windows Explorer provide a check in check out button in the toolbar when in a synchronised SharePoint folder?
One solution is that I could go back to 'SharePoint Workspace 2010' where such a function exists, however as this is the first time the volunteers have used this technology, I'm reluctant to go back and teach them older software having purchased MS Office 2013.
In summary can you please advise on the following:
- Will Microsoft Publisher get the check in / check out and versioning implemented as an update in the near future?
- Would it be possible to add the check in check out features of Sharepoint Workspace 2010 to OneDrive for Business integrated within Windows Explorer?
- Due to accessibility difficulties relating to elderly volunteers using the browser interface, would you recommend that I install and teach users SharePoint Workspace 2010 as an alternative?
A solution is not to turn off versioning as it prevents much work being lost due to errors.
Document libraries in Office 365 have reduced my work as a volunteer considerably in that data from multiple computers can be stored and versioned in one safe secure environment and I'm a strong advocate of the software and platform especially for small organisations that do not own an on premises server.
Its just at the moment with the Publisher issues it is difficult to convince people of the technological innovation that is Office 365 as everything is not yet streamlined with regards to office products.
I would be most grateful of a response to the above and how I may overcome the difficulties described above.
Kind regards and many thanks
Martin