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How to delete "Title" column in Sharepoint Lists

“Title” column could be very annoying and confusing esp. if you don’t have any Text based columns in your List (you cannot change datatype of this column) or else while updating lists programmatically. Let’s say you renamed “Title” Column to “Employee Name” (using list settings web interface) but when you try updating this column value programmtically you need to acces the column using its Original Name (”Title”) and not with its Display Name (”Employee Name”). Changing column name through List Settings Page will only update “Display Name” property of the Field.

listItem["Title"] = “Employee Name”;

There is no way to Hide or Delete “Title” Column from List Settings User Interface. You can hide it by deselecting this column in your View but then you cannot edit the item as you wouldn’t have any Column linked to edit menu.

The only way to hide the “Title” Column is by writing a Custom List Definition, remember every Custom List MUST have this column as this is included in the Global ONET.xml (for Type “0″ List).

The best way to hide this column is to include below fields in your List Definition.

<Field ID="{fa564e0f-0c70-4ab9-b863-0177e6ddd247}" Name="Title" ReadOnly="TRUE" Required="FALSE" Hidden="TRUE" SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3" StaticName="Title">
</Field>
<Field ID="{82642ec8-ef9b-478f-acf9-31f7d45fbc31}" Name="LinkTitle" Hidden="TRUE" SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3" StaticName="LinkTitle">
</Field>
<Field ID="{bc91a437-52e7-49e1-8c4e-4698904b2b6d}" Name="LinkTitleNoMenu" Hidden="TRUE" SourceID="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/v3" StaticName="LinkTitleNoMenu">
</Field>

Remember by doing so you have to implement Edit Menu for one of your required fields for users to be able to edit a List item.

Sync Outlook with iPhone & iPod Touch WITHOUT iTunes through Google Calendar

The quest for this started in an effort to be more organised and trying to have everything in one place. In my case it was my iPod Touch.

In our office I realised that we are restricted to install iTunes which would have made things pretty easy but continuous search for a solution gave me the exact steps required. I hope someone else will also be able to benefit from this, so here are the steps:

  1. First you need to install Google Calendar Sync from here :

    http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=89955
    (Sorry
    you might need local admin rights to your machine)

    When you install it like me you might get an error for Windows Time Zone not being right and that is where this link comes in handy: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_hu1

    (Just install the update on the second step of this link and dont bother going any further.)

  2. Once you have done that then follow these steps on your iPhone or iPod Touch:To set up Google Sync on your iPhone or iPod Touch device, please follow the steps below:
  3. Make sure your device has version 2.2 firmware or above. You can check your current version by going to Settings > General > About > Version. To upgrade, follow the instructions at http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/. Tip: If you have a Mac, make sure that Synchronize with Google in the Address Book app is OFF. Otherwise all of your contacts will sync to Address Book.Mail sync is not yet supported. You may receive error messages if you attempt to turn on Sync for Mail.
  4. Here is how you can Sync your iPhone and iPod with Google Calendar:

    So its  Outlook > Google Calendar > iPod / iPhone and reverse meaning you add anything to iPod calendar is added to your Outlook too :)

  5. 1. Open the Settings application on your device’s home screen.
    2. Open Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
    3. Tap Add Account….
    4. Select Microsoft Exchange.

    Enter Account Info

    5. In the Email field, enter the name of the account (anything you’d like).
    6. Leave the Domain field blank.
    7. Enter your full Google Account email address as the Username.
    8. Enter your Google Account password as the Password.
    9. Tap Next at the top of your screen.
    10. A new Server field will appear. Enter m.google.com.
    11. Press Next at the top of your screen again.

    12. Select the Google services you want to sync. Currently only Contacts and Calendar are supported.
    Make sure that you have uploaded your data before proceeding.

    13. Press Sync twice when warned about data loss.

    You’ve set up Google Sync for your iPhone. Synchronization will begin automatically if you have Push enabled on your phone. You can also open the Calendar or Contacts app and wait a few seconds to start a sync.

    Tip: If your business, school, or organization uses Google Apps, your administrator will first need to enable ActiveSync before you can take advantage of this feature.