Introduction

Microsoft has started another transition. Previously, SharePoint was a product designed for only the largest enterprises. Then, Microsoft shifted SharePoint to the cloud and made it available to any size organization for as little as $5 per month. Now, Microsoft is transitioning SharePoint once again to simplify it and make it more accessible to smaller organizations. What does this mean? It means that getting started with SharePoint is easier than ever. And when you are ready to dig deeper into the more advanced features of SharePoint, they are still available, too.

This book covers SharePoint Online as of the calendar year 2021 and also touches on the SharePoint Server product. You can think of SharePoint Server as a snapshot of SharePoint Online that is designed to be installed by large IT departments at your organization. SharePoint Online, on the other hand, is the online service–based version of SharePoint that Microsoft delivers to you over the Internet. SharePoint Online is constantly changing. SharePoint Server is a glimpse of SharePoint Online at a specific point in time.

It is important to note that if your organization uses an on-premises version of SharePoint, you need to check what version you are running. On-premises means your IT team members have installed the software and they are the ones who manage it for you. It’s common for an organization to be running an older version of SharePoint when it is installed on-premises. So be sure to check what ...

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