Not a new issue. I previously posted on this topic, but apparently the post
expired. I definitely sympathize with your apparent frustration, having gone
Œround and Œround with this on this list (probably getting MVP's upset),
with M$ Support (no help at all- they refused to consider even addressing my
request!), and finally, having to figure it out myself to make it work for
me. There is a server/client relationship established in Entourage for
shares, but the inner workings are Microsoft¹s little secret. Granted, this
is a powerful feature exclusively for Entourage users. However they should
be able to use it properly, and at least now, very little written detailed
how-to information exists (anyone listening at M$?).
Test your clients shares to be sure they are each properly subscribed to the
same shared file/folder- compare working to non-working. If something
happens and the shared file used by some members of the group is an older
one, in the same or a similar (but yet different?) location on your server,
the shared data they may see won¹t be the same as the currently shared data
everyone else updates.
How did this go on for so long at your installation? Because earlier shared
entries are there in some cases, users may not notice a problem for a while.
A user may have shared to a later file number unknowingly. A user may have,
for example, mistakenly set up a share on their local drive instead of
joining a share by subscribing to it on the server, so their entries would
be visible only to them (hence my warning in #1 below). Entourage doesn¹t
seem to update later share files to previous subscribers (hence my warning
in #2 below). Older versions of Entourage placed defaults in different
locations, so an upgraded user may been the cause.
The simplest fix is:
1. Scout the server location, date and time of the working shared file where
it¹s OK for some users. The Microsoft Entourage 2004 default location in OS
X- Œyour server machine¹>Documents>Microsoft User Data>¹name of shared
file¹[Œlatest version number¹]. Everyone has to use the same folder.
2. Only one user should ³Share² this common folder- the one who started it,
everyone else should ³Subscribe². Having more than one user Share gets you
in trouble (or at least that¹s how my troubles started). You¹ll note that
both Subscribe and Share are in the File menu. There are reasons for both,
and contrasts between them that are important to understand.
3. All data entered by the group members get copied to this server¹s file
location and can be mutually available to all the subscribed members.
4. There is a built in delay in Entourage between any user¹s entry and it¹s
appearance on the shared files. Do not freak out if your entry takes a bit
of time to appear everywhere. You can and should test this delay with two
users. Having wireless users and a wireless network is handy for testing,
even if only temporarily.
I¹d be interested in the details of your experience with these projects. My
email address follows.
