Posted on

Solution: Microsoft Flow error “The field ‘…’ is not supported in query. The lookup list is in another web.”

flow1

Perhaps you, like me, built an exciting Microsoft Flow workflow and let it go into the wild without much additional thought. But at some point, you drop a lookup column into the mix and your Flow stops working. It tells you the field is not supported in query, even if that specific field isn’t being utilized in the Flow. I believe this has something to do with REST, but we won’t dwell on the cause – let’s get to the workaround.

The scenario I’ll be using is my cross-site publishing alternative using Microsoft Flow where I’m basically copying data from list items in one site collection to create new list items in a different site collection. This is helpful when someone does some sort of data entry once, and other people are then entering much of the exact same data. This copies all of the overlapping data to a new list item for the second site collection to reduce duplication of work.

It sounds simple but with a lookup column in the destination list we get the error. For this I’ll be using SharePoint Designer and Microsoft Flow (of course) in combination, though you could certainly try it all in Microsoft Flow. I just find parts of the process simpler in SPD. And while your origin data may be different (MailChimp, Twitter, etc.), and your exact scenario may differ, this workaround should still have value in concept.

Continue reading “Solution: Microsoft Flow error “The field ‘…’ is not supported in query. The lookup list is in another web.””

Posted on

Adjust SharePoint list column widths in classic view using jQuery

columnexpand

This is a popular request that I’ve recently modified, thanks to the recommendation of a colleague, to be responsive to different device or browser sizes. By default, SharePoint lists respond to their viewer’s size but once customized with a fixed pixel width will lose that feature. This solution utilizes percentages so you can create column widths ideal for any screen.

Update 6/18/19: I’ve recently shared how to adjust widths using CSS and it covers standard AND datasheet views, while the method below is written only for standard views (but could certainly be adapted for datasheet, I imagine).

Continue reading “Adjust SharePoint list column widths in classic view using jQuery”

Posted on

Remove select/de-select checkmark column, column headers, edit/new options, and border in SharePoint list view web parts

tooltiplinkedtitlesIn a recent post, I discussed hyperlinking URL title text and adding tooltips. I used the above screenshot which also illustrates what we’ll accomplish in this post which is to remove the select/deselect checkmark column, column headers, toolbar edit/new options and chrome border. This leaves us with a simple title and list. Pick and choose what you’d like to remove for your specific needs, and let me know if you run into any issues.

Continue reading “Remove select/de-select checkmark column, column headers, edit/new options, and border in SharePoint list view web parts”

Posted on

Creating hyperlinked titles with tooltips in SharePoint link lists using SharePoint Designer workflow

tooltiplinkedtitlesLet’s put those link lists to good use. I wanted one master or parent link list with a number of views. I would then use those views in different list view web parts across my site, removing the toolbar (view/edit/add options), column headers, chrome border and select/deselect checkmark column so that essentially I had a section of my page with a header/chrome title like “HR Forms” (removing default link to “parent” list) and then just a list of hyperlinked form titles with tooltips providing more info on each form as seen above. This post will cover how to get the hyperlinked title text with tooltip. Another post coming soon will cover the “clean-up” of the list view web part so that you’re left with a title and list items alone. Continue reading “Creating hyperlinked titles with tooltips in SharePoint link lists using SharePoint Designer workflow”

Posted on

“Server error: The version of Microsoft SharePoint Foundation running on the server is more recent than the version of SharePoint Designer that you are using. You need a more recent version of SharePoint Designer.”

servererror.png

Depending on your organizational setup, this message may be misleading. For me, this message is prompted when I change my password used to sign in to Office 365. My version of SharePoint Designer (SPD) is not, in fact, out of date at all. My organization regularly requires password changes so these steps get me back and running with SPD in less than a minute:

  1. After opening SPD, go to “Accounts” in the left hand menu
  2. Under “connected services” remove connections for whatever could be causing the issue
  3. Click “add a service,” then “storage,” then “Office 365 SharePoint”addservice
  4. Login with your new credentials. This should also link any OneDrive for Business account associated with your O365 account

If a password change isn’t what prompted your issue, try going to “Account” then “Switch Account” to make sure it’s attempting to connect to the correct account.

Posted on

SharePoint workflow if/then for people columns only allows “equals” and “not equals”

employeeequals

When doing an if/then statement within SharePoint Designer involving a people column, our only options are “equals” or “not equals.” If you want to be able to use “is empty,” “is not empty,” “contains,” etc. this article will show you how to get around this limitation without any scripting. We’ll basically be creating a workflow variable to use in place of the original column.

Continue reading “SharePoint workflow if/then for people columns only allows “equals” and “not equals””

Posted on

Replacing SharePoint’s double arrow icon in connected list view web parts

capture

Intro:

If you’ve created a dashboard and have multiple list view web parts that you’ve connected to one another so that they share parameters or filters, then you may be familiar with this default double arrow icon: doublearrow

You may have even found it to be located at _layouts/images/rbunsel.gif or _layouts/images/rbsel.gif (depending on whether it’s the “selected” or “unselected” icon).

And now you’re ready to replace it with something a little more fashionable. I recommend installing an icon package (free) on your site so that you can use icons from the set throughout your site to continue customizing various out of the box, and quite ordinary, icons. In this post, we’ll use FontAwesome. Check out their amazing set of icons at http://fontawesome.io/icons/ and even try searching for “open” or “expand” to see some good alternatives to the less-than-perfect double arrow default. For this example, let’s use fa-search-plus.

Ready to step up your icon game? Me too.

Continue reading “Replacing SharePoint’s double arrow icon in connected list view web parts”

Posted on

SharePoint workflow that creates a document based on a template

Outcome:

process

docoutcome

Intro:

Look at that workflow above – have you ever seen something so beautifully simple? I’m excited to share several solutions with you in this one post. This post should cover the following:

  1. Working with content types
  2. Creating a template for each content type capable of having merge fields
  3. Finding a way to merge list item info into a new document via workflow
  4. And if you’re super ambitious, expanding the workflow just a bit with an if/then statement to use different templates based on conditions in your list

But because this is a massive topic and could be tailored an infinite number of ways, I encourage you to comment or tweet me for additional guidance more specific to your scenario. So here we go!

Continue reading “SharePoint workflow that creates a document based on a template”