SharePoint Discussion Board as well as the other Lists such as Contacts, Calendar etc. do not have 'Print' functionality and you have to use the browser's 'Print Preview' function and then print. This article examines the options available to use custom 'Print' features.

Using Javascript Print Window Function

As mentioned in the earlier paragraph, one can use the browser's print function. Why not make it intuitive by adding a single line of code to invoke the print function?

Add the following code to the list - <a href="javascript:window.print()">Print This List</A> Where to add this? One can add this to the 'Content Editor Web Part' directly without using Sharepoint Designer.

• Ensure that you are in the 'List' page to which print functionality is required
• Select Site Actions > Edit Page
• Click 'Add a Web Part
• Select 'Content Editor Web Part' and click the 'Add' button. Note that the Web Part is added
• Click 'edit' pop-list in the content editor web part added and select 'Modify Shared Web part'
• Click 'Source Editor' button. This displays a window to which code can be inserted
• Add the code given above to this page. One can add also use the img src attribute to add a print icon, example: <img src="/reference/../../Shared Documents/print1.jpg"> <a href="javascript:window.print()">Print This List</A>
• Click 'Save'

When 'Print This List' is clicked, it opend the 'Print Windoow' - change to Landscape mode if required and print.

Print from Excel Spreadsheet

The list items can be exported to 'Excel' and then printed. This gives an option to customize the list to one's needs as well. However, the disadvantage of this method is the 'Excel' output cannot be printed directly without additional formatting. Hence, any time an export is made, additional formatting may be required before you print. The following are the steps:

• Select Actions > Export to Spreadsheet
• Format the list in Excel
• Print

Custom Print Feature - Some Elegant Solutions

There are couple of solutions to have custom print feature in SharePoint. Refer to the following sources for details:

1. CodePlex - List Print Templates
2. Easily Print SharePoint Lists
3. Using Print List Feature

Know of an additional resource? Use the 'Comments' form to share your thoughts.

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written by KIT , September 17, 2008

This was very helpful. Thank you.

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written by Amy , June 26, 2008

Printing services for SharePoint has that.
www.sharepointprinting.com

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written by Sam , May 17, 2008

Also look at Printing Services for SharePoint:
www.sharepointprinting.com

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written by tsc , February 19, 2008

Also refer to Printing web parts
http://www.referpages.com/refe...parts.html

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