The Sharepoint Designer has a lot of great features. While we won’t discuss every one of them here, we will take a look at some of the most noteworthy below. The reusable workflow, Designer ribbon, customized out-of the-box workflows and workflow action prompts, are the ones we will look at more in-depth.

1. Reusable workflow: This is a new feature, added since the 2007 version of the system was released. This particular feature makes it possible for individuals to create workflows that can be applied to as many libraries and/or lists as required by the company. The SharePoint Designer workflow settings page can be used to attach the reusable workflow to the library or list. Reusable workflow also makes it possible to forgo building a check content type action right into the workflow. This is one less step for IT and makes life a bit easier for everyone involved.

2. The Designer Ribbon: The Designer Ribbon provides the user access to many of the tools necessary to create workflows. Instead of having to pull up commonly used commands, one-by-one most can be found on the Sharepoint Designer Ribbon, making the workflow creator’s job much easier, significantly speeding up the development process.

3. Workflow action prompt: This prompt allows users to input their workflow logic into the workflow. The workflow action prompt will automatically make suggestions that match the information a person is inputting. This helps speed up the process and improves efficiency.

4. SharePoint Designer and Microsoft Visio Premium 2010 Import/Export: This is a brand new feature. It allows individuals to build workflows using Visio and also those exported into the Sharepoint Designer. Users will have access to every condition and action found within the Designer when they use the Microsoft SharePoint Workflow template found in the template section (Flowcharts) in Visio. If a person has already developed workflows in Sharepoint Designer, they can import them into Visio.

Sharepoint Designer is tool for creating workflows. Sharepoint has added a number of excellent features since the 2007 version. Though there are many, we’ve chosen to highlight only a few. Workflow action prompts, Two Way Import/Export of Sharepoint Designer and Microsoft Visio Premium, the Designer Ribbon and the Reusable workflow feature are just a few the new ones offered in the 2010 version of Sharepoint Designer, which weren’t in the 2007 version. For a comprehensive listing of features, individuals will want to visit the product’s homepage. There, individuals will find a complete listing of everything that’s included