Finding Empty User Profile Properties In SharePoint 2013

SharePoint 2013 is a powerful collaboration platform that allows organizations to effectively manage their content and empower teamwork. One of the key features that it offers is the ability to manage user profiles.

In SharePoint 2013, each user profile property plays a crucial role in providing valuable information about the users. However, sometimes these properties can be left empty, which hinders the effective utilization of the platform's capabilities. In this article, we will explore the methods to find and manage empty user profile properties in SharePoint 2013.

Understanding User Profile Properties

SharePoint 2013 allows administrators to define custom user profile properties. These properties can store additional information about users, such as job title, department, or contact information. Furthermore, SharePoint 2013 provides a user profile synchronization service that can import user profile properties from external systems, such as Active Directory.

Finding Empty User Profile Properties in SharePoint 2013 (SharePoint 2013 Solution Series Book 5)

by Steven Mann(Kindle Edition)

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Language	:	English
File size	:	390 KB
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Print length	:	8 pages
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Having accurate and complete user profile properties is critical for various features and functionalities in SharePoint 2013, including search, audience targeting, and user information display. Therefore, it is essential to regularly monitor and update these properties to ensure data integrity and maximize the platform's benefits.

Identifying Empty User Profile Properties

SharePoint 2013 offers several ways to identify empty user profile properties. One method involves navigating to the user profile service application in Central Administration. Once there, administrators can access the user profile properties management page, which displays all the defined properties and their corresponding values.

By examining the property values, administrators can identify the empty ones and take necessary actions. This method is suitable for a small number of user profile properties. However, it becomes cumbersome when dealing with a large number of properties or a substantial user base.

To efficiently handle large-scale profile property analysis, SharePoint 2013 provides PowerShell cmdlets that allow administrators to query and manipulate user profile properties programmatically. These cmdlets, such as Get-SPProfileProperty, can be used to retrieve and filter user profile properties based on criteria, such as empty values.

Automating the Process

To streamline the identification and management of empty user profile properties, it is recommended to automate the process. This can be achieved by developing custom SharePoint solutions using technologies like SharePoint Designer, Visual Studio, or third-party tools.

A custom solution can leverage PowerShell cmdlets to retrieve and filter user profile properties efficiently. By developing a scheduled task or timer job, administrators can automate the process and receive regular reports on empty profile properties, allowing them to take appropriate actions, such as notifying users to update their profiles or updating the properties programmatically.

Optimizing User Profiles

Empty user profile properties not only hinder the functionalities of SharePoint 2013 but also impact user experience and engagement. It is essential to optimize user profiles by ensuring that all necessary properties are populated with accurate and up-to-date information.

Encouraging users to complete their profiles and providing them with guidelines on the significance of each profile property can significantly improve the overall usability and effectiveness of SharePoint 2013. Administrators can also consider implementing validation rules to enforce the completion of critical properties or schedule routine reminders for users to update their information.

In SharePoint 2013, user profile properties play a vital role in providing valuable information about users, enabling various platform features and functionalities. Identifying and managing empty profile properties is crucial to ensure data integrity and maximize the benefits of SharePoint. By using SharePoint's native tools and PowerShell cmdlets, administrators can efficiently identify empty properties and automate the process to optimize user profiles. Encouraging users to complete their profiles and providing guidelines can further enhance the usability and engagement of SharePoint 2013.

Finding Empty User Profile Properties in SharePoint 2013 (SharePoint 2013 Solution Series Book 5)

by Steven Mann(Kindle Edition)

4 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	390 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Print length	:	8 pages
Lending	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported

FREE

This guide steps through SharePoint PowerShell scripting that may be used to loop through your User Profile properties in SharePoint 2013 and identify missing information. User Profiles contain information about your users in SharePoint. There are many properties that may or may not be populated. With missing information, it may be hard to find someone or get the proper People search results.

While you may use the same code to find any user profile property, the example outlined in this guide finds all people that do not have their PictureURL populated, that is, the user does not have an associated picture in SharePoint.