Configure digest authentication in SharePoint 2013 web application

We can configure digest authentication in SharePoint web application zones. Zones are the logical paths for access to a web application. We can create five different zones for each web application in SharePoint. We can use IIS Manager Console to configure digest authentication one or more zones in SharePoint web application.

Digest authentication encrypts user credentials to increase the security. We can send user credentials in MD5 message digest. Digest authentication will use challenge/response protocol for authentication process. To authenticate the use client needs to send MD5 message digest in a response contains secret password string.

To configure digest authentication,

Go to IIS Manager (Run -> Inetmgr) and Expand Sites node and select the web application to configure digest authentication In features view double click on the authentication located in IIS section

Right click on the digest authentication and select enable option to enable digest authentication in Authentication section.

Right click on digest authentication and select edit option to provide Realm value. We have to provide Realm value as IPAddress of the DNS domain that uses the credentials for authentication against internal domain.

Configure document synchronization for all document libraries in SharePoint 2013

In SharePoint 2013, users can synchronize all the files saved in document library to the local machine and local machines to SharePoint document libraries. Windows sync in SkyDrive will performs the synchronization between SharePoint document libraries and local machine. Users can take the documents or files and work on them and will sync with SharePoint after reconnecting to SharePoint. We can allow restrict the file synchronization.

We can manage the Synchronization settings for SharePoint site collection by navigating to Site settings and click on the Search and Offline availability in Search section. By Selecting Yes/No option for Offline Client Availability we can specify the site to available for offline clients.

We can add and remove synchronizations using following PowerShell scripts,

To add Synchronization we need to make Offline Client Availability setting to Yes for all the sites in SharePoint using the command below,

Get-SPSite -limit all | get-SPWeb -limit all | Foreach { $_.Title = $_.Title; $_.ExcludeFromOfflineClient=1; $_.Update() }

To remove Synchronization we need to make Offline Client Availability setting to No for all the sites in SharePoint using the command below,

Get-SPSite -limit all | get-SPWeb -limit all | Foreach { $_.Title = $_.Title; $_.ExcludeFromOfflineClient=0; $_.Update() }

Assign Catalog item page and category page to a term in SharePoint 2013

To show structured content in a site, we can use category pages and catalog page layouts. This can be viewed to show catalog content on a site using managed navigation. We can assign a category page or catalog page to all terms or specific terms in a term set. We have to configure category page or catalog page.

To assign a category page and a catalog item page to a term,

Navigate to Site Settings and click in Term store management in Site Administration section.

Click on the term to assign a category page and catalog item page in Term Store Management tool page Taxonomy Term Store section.

To assign category page, click on TERM DRIVEN PAGES tab select Change target page for this term check box in the Target Page Settings section and need to enter URL of the category page that to assign to the term. To assign category page for child terms, we have to select Change target page for the children of this term check box and enter URL of the category page to assign to the term.

To assign catalog item page for catalog items we have to select Change Catalog Item Page for this Category and need to enter the URL in catalog item page. To Assign catalog item page for catalog items tagged with the child terms of current term, select Change Catalog Item Page and need to enter URL of the catalog item page. 

Cross Site Publishing in SharePoint 2013- Part III - Connect publishing site catalog in SharePoint

To display the content from a list or library that is shared as catalog, we have to connect the publishing site collection to the catalog. To connect the publishing site collection catalog, catalog content and term set should be integrated to the publishing site collection and friendly URL need to create for the item details page.

We can connect the publishing site to a catalog by the steps below,

Navigate to publishing site setting page and click on Manage catalog connections link in Site Administration section.

Click on Connect to a catalog in Manage catalog connections page.

Click on connect button to connect the catalog. We can search specific catalog by searching in catalog name search field.

In Catalog Source Settings page Connection Integration section, to make the content available to the publishing site and to integrate catalog tagging term set to publishing site navigation we have to select Integrate the catalog into my site option. To make catalog content only available for publishing site, we have to select Connect, but do not integrate the catalog option. By selecting this option, we can use content from library to create individual catalog items.

We can specify the terms for catalog tagging to integrate the publishing site navigation terms in Navigation Hierarchy section. To integrate the catalog tagging term set from a different term, Click on Browse for a valid choice, Next to the Root term of hierarchy box. We can see Select: Add Terms dialog box that corresponding to the catalog tagging term set and click on OK. Select Include root term in site navigation check box to integrate the root term to the parent of selected term.

By specifying the terms in publishing site term set in Navigation position section we can set where the catalog tagging term set should be integrated.

In Navigation pinning section, by selecting Pin terms to site navigation check box we can made the changes in catalog tagging term set to be updated.

In Catalog Item URL Behavior section, By selecting Make URLs relative to this site option, we have to specify the catalog item URL to display the item details page in search index section.

In Catalog Item URL Format section, to use the field that specified primary key for shared library or list as catalog select Use the default URL format provided by the catalog source option. By selecting manually define a URL format option we can define the format for the URL manually. To construct custom URL based on the catalog properties we have to select Construct a URL format from catalog properties option and click Add button by selecting max five fields in Available Fields list.

In Category Page section, click on Create a new page to SharePoint 2013 server automatically create new category page for catalog content and select master page. Page will be automatically added to Pages library. By selecting Use an existing page, we can use already created category page.

To create new item in catalog content click on Create a new page and select master page. To use existing page select Use an existing page and specify the location. Click on OK.

Configure Search in cross site publishing

Cross site publishing depends on the search to create a content source and to manage crawling for SharePoint cross-site publishing. In SharePoint, content source will specify crawling in SharePoint farm. By default, after creating the search service application content source will be created in SharePoint farm.

We can re index content source that contains the catalog for changes to be added to the search index. We can re index the catalog content by using the steps below,

Navigate the library/list and go to settings page. Click on Advanced settings in General settings section.

Click on Reindex List link in Advanced Settings Page Reindex List section. And click on Reindex List to confirm to the catalog to be reindexed during the next crawl, click on Ok.