A SharePoint extranet is a large task indeed.

Here is some code for your username web part...


Imports Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls

Dim empNTname As String
Dim web As Microsoft.SharePoint.SPWeb =
Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.SPControl.GetContextWeb(Me.Context)


'Render this Web Part to the output parameter specified.
Protected Overrides Sub RenderWebPart(ByVal output As
System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter)


'get user name as "DOMAIN\name"
empNTname = web.CurrentUser.LoginName
'remove DOMAIN\
empNTname = empNTname.Remove(0, (# of letters to remove))

output.write("Hello " & empNTname)

I can’t provide any web part advice, but I can throw in my two cents about your page content…

Have you outlined the following for your extranet?

- Target Audience

- Purpose

- Main Goals

- About the entry page:

- Is it just a stepping stone to the content they really need?

- Does it have a goal to deliver information and recent news and events?

- Is it supposed to be a place to find training, tech support and group contact info?

- What is the expected time spent on the entry page?

Once questions like these are answered, you can better determine content. My thoughts on what you listed:

- web part for team site listing

GREAT!

- password expiration reminder web part

How often does the password expire? If it is only every few months or so, this may be wasted real estate on such a high profile page as the entry page. It could be pushed down to the bottom of the page or pushed off as a link in the navigation somewhere

- targeted news web part –

If the purpose is to spread info and news, then this is a good idea but you may run into frustrations targeting the news and it will require more content maintenance. You could try a general news list to begin with and see how well that is used before launching into targeted news.

- SharePoint related training

This will only be good for first-timers. After that it may be wasted screen real estate. Definitely worth having, but maybe as a navigation link instead.

I would recommend you put some mockups together and pass them around to some coworkers and get some feedback about what they would like to see and what they think.

I am working on the mock up now and have been meeting with focus group members individually to get their input.

I like your idea about the purpose and main goals. I will ad those.

The portal page will be just a door way. It is a closed system so the users will only be able to get to the content that they are assigned as opposed to our Intranet site being open to all domain users in some instances. So there will be no links that they know of to search for. That is why we are using the teamsitelisting web part so that they can just go directly to the site that they have access to.

We are going to use audiences to target news. We will not have any need for general news since the Extranet will mainly be used for communication between contractors and other business partners. The expected time spent on the entry page may be 5 minutes or less.

The password expires every 60 days. Since the contractors are not on every day having this web part is essential and it will allow them to change their password directly from the Extranet. It is at the bottom of the page so it is not very intrusive.

Training is very important piece since a lot of the users are not familiar with using SharePoint so it has to be on the front page so that they can find it easier. Down the road we might find the need to have a page just for training but for now the little wmv file is suffient.

I agree with all but one point … The password reminder. I think it’s essential to include somewhere in a prominent location so that the user can be warned when their account is going to be locked out. (A slightly different perspective on password expiration.)

That being said, I think the message should be null (empty) unless their password expiration is eminent … say in the next two weeks.

I personally get hammered by an automatic system via email that reminds me every day starting out two weeks in advance. In our case having one is not vital, in others it certainly can be.

I just got done working with a vendor that has a product that does just that. Check out the Dotnetfactories Password manager.

Ok i will slip back in the corner again

Check out my Change Password Web Part:
mindsharp.com/.../BarracudaToolsChangePassword.zip