Spell Check in SharePoint (MOSS No, WSS Yes)

Ok, unless I’m mistaken (and that happens precisely 1.5x per day), this is what I can make of ‘Spell Check’ in SharePoint.

Spell Check Support

• WSS 3.0 (free SharePoint) does not include Spell Checker functionality
• MOSS 2007 ($$$) does, with certain lists/components
• There is a 3rd party plug-in from Telerik – but it’s expensive
• http://www.telerik.com/products/aspnet-ajax/spell.aspx – $999/USD (expensive but it includes a nice suite of stuff … but also requires programming/implementation)

If you only have WSS, my recommendation would be:

1. Encourage staff to be careful and/or hire people who can spell 🙂
2. When creating lists in SharePoint, use more ‘fields/choices’ to capture information such as drop lists and checklists, pre-populated with information, rather than give people places to type stuff in (thus they are choosing, not spelling, which helps ensure consistency)