Using CompanyWeb from within WSS 3.0

There's been a good deal of interest around installing WSS 3.0 on SBS.  As we've previously noted on this blog (here), upgrading CompanyWeb to WSS 3.0 is not supported.  There is a way, however, to display CompanyWeb (or any other WSS 2.0 site) from within WSS 3.0.  This post describes a rather simple manner to display your fax document library, existing document libraries, etc from within a separate WSS site.

Routing incoming faxes to a SharePoint document library is a unique feature of SBS 2003.  However, the SBS fax routing extension does not support storing fax TIF files in a location other than https://companyweb/:

WSS 3.0 has a feature called web part called the Page Viewer Web Part that allows you to display any HTTP site in-line from the WSS 3.0 site.  To add the Incoming Faxes folder, use the following steps:

  1. First, it is assumed that WSS 3.0 is intalled (exactly) according to the instructions in this white paper.  That is to say, a site collection should be defined and accessable before proceeding. 
  2. Connect to your new WSS 3.0 site and go to your document library.  Click on "Create" and choose "Web Part Page"
  3. On the New Web Part Page dialog, type a meaningful name for the library, choose "Full Page, Vertical" for the layout type, and select the appropriate document library:
  4. In your new page, click on "Add a web part" and then select "Page Viewer Web Part":
  5. Click on (1) edit and (2)  "Modify Shared Web Part" and make two changes - update the URL to the companyweb folder you want to link to (3), and change the default display height to something reasonable so that the page displays in the full context of your new page (4):

    Click apply and ok to save the changes.

 

One obvious limitation of this method is that you will see the original header for the CompanyWeb site displayed.  I don't consider this a huge blocking issue for most sites, but it does expose that you are displaying redirected content to the observant user.