Tips for International Users

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Like any site on the World Wide Web, a Web site based on SharePointâ„¢ Team Services from Microsoft that is hosted on the Internet may be accessed by users all over the world. When the language of a user's computer doesn't match the language of the Web server, some features may work in unexpected ways. The tips in this article are to help you work with SharePoint Team Services across language barriers.

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Tips for users working in all languages
Tips for users working in Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, or Traditional Chinese

Tips for users working in all languages

The following tips apply to users working in any language.

Matching names and URLS

The name of a list, discussion board, document library, survey, view, column, or file does not necessarily match its URL, depending on whether you restrict names to alpha-numeric ASCII characters (upper- and lowercase A to Z, 0 to 9) with no punctuation or spaces. Your choice of characters to use for names depends on whether or not it's important to you that names and URLs match.

Names and URLs match exactly If it's important to you that the names of your lists, discussion boards, document libraries, surveys, views, columns, and files appear the same in the URL of the site as they do in text on pages, then restrict the names to alpha-numeric ASCII characters.

Names and URLs don't match If the URL and the name don't need to match, you can use any characters that are supported by the operating system of your Web server. These include ASCII characters that are "reserved," such as punctuation marks and the word space, and non-ASCII characters, such as characters in non-English writing systems. When SharePoint Team Services creates a URL based on a name that uses such characters, the URL does one of the following:

  • Uses the escape code for a reserved character.

    For example, the URL for a document library called My Library is rendered as My%20Library.

  • Removes the reserved or non-ASCII character from the URL.

    For example, the URL for a document library called My-Library is rendered as MyLibrary.

  • Creates a new name to use in the URL.

    For example, the URL for a view called ?! is rendered as Viewn where n is incremented to prevent duplicate naming.

    In all cases, even though SharePoint Team Services may render a URL differently than the name of the associated list, discussion board, document library, survey, view, column, or file, the name that appears on pages in the Web site displays the reserved or non-ASCII characters. For example, a document library called My-Library would have a URL of MyLibrary, yet would display in the Quick Launch bar as My-Library.

Searching in other languages

If your Web server is running a localized version of Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS), then you can use the SharePoint Team Services search feature to search text that's in the language supported by IIS. You cannot search in multiple languages, unless you are searching for English text on a localized version of IIS.

Tips for users working in Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, or Traditional Chinese

Besides tips that apply to users working in any language, there are some tips that apply specifically to users working in Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, or Traditional Chinese.

Using double-byte characters

Whether you use East Asian (double-byte) characters in the names of lists, discussion boards, document libraries, surveys, views, columns, and files depends on whether your Web server is configured to use the same writing system (code page) as the users' computers. In an intranet where all the users are in the same country/region, this is more likely to be the case than on the Internet or in an international intranet, where users may be accessing the server with different language settings.

Different code pages on client and server If your Web server computer is configured to use a code page other than the one used by users' client computers, it's best to use ASCII characters for names. You may have no way of knowing the configuration of your Web server, so if you're experiencing difficulty using double-byte characters, try restricting names to ASCII characters (upper- and lowercase A to Z, 0 to 9).

Same code page on client and server If your Web server computer uses the same code page as users' client computers, you can use double-byte characters in names, but be sure that your Web browser is sending URLs in Unicode.

  • In Microsoft Internet Explorer in the Tools menu, click Internet Options, and on the Advanced tab under Browsing, select the Always send URLs as UTF-8 check box.

    Note: Your server administrator must also configure the Web server so that it is expecting to receive requests for URLs in Unicode. The registry key FavorDBCS must be set to the value 0 in the following registry path for Microsoft Internet Information Services:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/InetInfo/Parameters

**Long names** If you use double-byte characters for the names of columns or survey questions and a name is long, then the name may be lost when you select the information type for the column or question.
  • To avoid retyping the long name, choose the information type first and then type the name in the Name box.

Using Internet Explorer 4.5 for Macintosh

If you use Internet Explorer 4.5 for Macintosh, you can browse to your SharePoint team Web site, but you cannot contribute content. To contribute content using an East Asian language on a Macintosh, you must use Internet Explorer 5.