Chris Hopkins' Blog - #makinitdostuff

The place where I post information about the products I manage; SharePoint, Yammer, Project and Visio and maybe from some that I don't!

Welcome new Visio MVP

The Visio MVP group recently added a new member.  Jesse Phillips-Mead was added to the team...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 07/18/2014

Creating an Icon Set Data Graphic

The Visio team posted a new article that outlines the process for creating an Icon Set style Data...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 07/07/2014

Display conversations from Yammer during your events

You have probably been to a convention and seen the large screen displays that show social activity...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 06/18/2014

Visio + OneDrive for Business

Today we posted another tip of the week video where I talk about saving and sharing your Visio...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 06/17/2014

Customize the ribbon in Visio to increase productivity

Take a look at this quick video where I show you how I maximize productivity my making a few simple...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 06/17/2014

Updated Open XML Package Editor now supports VSDX

For those of you that modify or create Visio diagrams using the VSDX file format you will be happy...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 06/17/2014

New Video for the Tip of the Week video series

I am working on releasing a series of short videos that demonstrate productivity tips and power user...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 06/04/2014

Complete mash up example for Visio Services

Attached to this article is a set of files that help demonstrate the basic capabilities that Visio...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 05/19/2014

Visio Services presentation at Tech Ed 2014

If you attended Tech Ed 2014 this week you may have attended my session on building dashboards using...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 05/14/2014

A new video showcasing the power of Visio + ShapeSheet + Automation

Saveen Reddy just posted a new video where he talks about unlocking the power of Visio via...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 05/09/2014

SharePoint Topology add-in for Visio

This tool has actually been posted for some time now but I failed to highlight it in my blog…until...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 04/02/2014

SP1 for SharePoint 2013

Download the SP1 package from this location...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 04/02/2014

Custom Images for Custom Ribbon Buttons in SharePoint 2013 SharePoint Hosted Apps

I was struggling to get my custom images loaded for use on my custom ribbon buttons that I defined...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 03/31/2014

Add Yammer as a Search Provider in Internet Explorer & Chrome

Internet Explorer Users Take a look at this article that shows you how to setup Yammer as a search...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 03/28/2014

Yammer – Leave an External Network that you created

Today I was asked, “How do I leave an External Network that I created?  I am the admin of this...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 03/27/2014

Yammer Notifier–switching networks

The Yammer Notifier is a desktop client that uses toast to popup notifications about activity on...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 03/27/2014

Integrating Project, Project Online, and Yammer to boost Project collaboration–Part 1

Today when you create a new project in Project Online or Project Server you are essentially creating...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 03/13/2014

Yammer Embed Configuration made simple

Here is a handy tool that will help you setup the code needed if you want to use Yammer Embed in...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 03/10/2014

Help for the ShapeSheet is here

Ever wish there was an easier way to work with the ShapeSheet when creating shapes?  Maybe you...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 02/27/2014

Getting Praises from your Yammer network

A few of you have been asking if it is possible to see a list of praises across your networks. This...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 02/24/2014

Showing the document version number on a Visio document

…without using code! You probably know that a document that is stored in a SharePoint document...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 02/24/2014

I installed Visio Professional but I don’t see the Data tab or Process tab in the ribbon

If you just installed Visio Professional but do not see the DATA tab or the PROCESS tab on the...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 02/24/2014

Updated Yammer App for SharePoint

I have had a few customers ask me why their Yammer App for SharePoint is no longer loading the...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 02/11/2014

UI Design Shapes

Here is a set of shapes for UI design that include various elements like controls, calendars,...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 02/06/2014

iPhone Application Design Shapes

I stumbled across a set of shapes dedicated to iPhone application design. Download here...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 02/06/2014

Image Quality from Visio Services

Visio Services renders your diagrams in the Visio Services Web part using the PNG file format....

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 01/30/2014

Converting ink to shapes in Visio 2013

Touch devices like the Surface device and large scale devices like PPI devices are making Visio...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 01/14/2014

Yammer Embed and SharePoint 2013

By Chris Hopkins Original Post...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 11/20/2013

Controlling AutoConnect

Visio displays additional controls next to certain shapes when you hover the mouse over them to help...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 11/06/2013

Touch support for Visio Services in Office 365

If you are an Office 365 subscriber using Visio Services then you will be pleased to hear that we...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 10/12/2013

Setting AssignedToId from JavaScript / JSON

Maybe someone already blogged about this but I could not find it. I needed to create new tasks in a...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 10/12/2013

Training Resources for Visio

Visio 2013 Editions Confused by the different editions?  This chart breaks down the three...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 10/03/2013

World’s Simplest OData service

Well maybe not the simplest…but very very simple. From time to time I need to do some testing...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 07/25/2013

WiX for Visio add-ons and content deployment

Since Visual Studio has deprecated the standard MSI setup project in favor of WiX or other third...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 07/08/2013

Turn up logging for Visio Services

As users start publishing Visio diagrams, especially data connected diagrams, to Visio Services you...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 07/02/2013

Using Visio with a touch device

Today Microsoft released a video that demonstrates the various touch controls for use when creating...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 06/24/2013

Automate moving data connected Visio diagrams

As many of you know, connecting data to Visio diagrams is easy and sharing them via Visio Services...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 06/10/2013

Mixing Visio versions and SharePoint versions…what works and what does not?

Following up on an article I wrote earlier about handling Visio 2013 files in SharePoint 2010, I...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 04/05/2013

SharePoint 2013 Updates ( as of April 2013 )

For those of you getting ready to update your SharePoint 2013 RTM farm to the March 2013 CU, here is...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 04/04/2013

Visio 2013 Developer Training Released

I am pleased to announce a comprehensive series of Visio Services training modules are now available...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 04/04/2013

If you add a column to your SharePoint list and set the type to Hyperlink or Picture… you can create...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 03/12/2013

New shapes for Office 2013

Today we released a set of shapes for Visio that will help you diagram your deployments for Office...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 02/27/2013

Working with Visio 2013 files in SharePoint 2010

If you are in a situation where you have updated your version of Visio to Visio 2013, but IT has not...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 02/14/2013

Supporting VB based COM add-ins in Office 2013

If you are building or maintaining COM add-ins that are based on Visual Basic 6 then this change to...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 01/09/2013

Upgrading VSTO project to Visual Studio 2010

In some cases I ( and my customers ) have run into build errors after upgrading VSTO based solutions...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 01/04/2013

Creating Custom Validation Rules in Visio 2013

Visio Professional 2013 contains a powerful diagram validation feature which allows users to check...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 01/03/2013

Using Custom Context Menus with VSTO

Context Menu, Right Mouse Action, call them what you want. When you right click on a Visio shape you...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 11/29/2012

Get the most out of Visio – Web Cast Series

  A series of webcasts on using Visio 2013 are now available.  Visit this link to sign up...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 11/19/2012

Retrieving refreshed page images from Visio Services 2013

Why would you want to retrieve page images from your Visio diagrams via Visio Services? Visio...

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 11/18/2012

Visio 2013 developer documentation released

Today the Visio product team released the developer documentation for Visio 2013....

Author: Christopher R Hopkins Date: 10/19/2012

Next>