Step 11: Adding the SharePoint Site Address to Internet Explorer Security Zones

To assure proper authentication of the SharePoint installation, it is essential to add the SharePoint site address to the Internet Explorer security zones. Absent that, when attempting to access SharePoint from any client computer on the LAN (local area network ) or WAN (wide area network via a VPN connection), users will get an error message telling them that the site is not recognized or is not accessible. Adding the SharePoint site address this way is also essential to be able to map a SharePoint web drive.

It is very easy to add the site URL to the listed of trusted sites on each desktop that you want to assure can access the SharePoint installation. Here’s how we do it:

• Launch the Internet Explorer web browser (in this example, references are to menu and dialog screens in Internet Explorer 7).
• From the menu bar, go to Tools > Internet Options; then select the Security tab and click on the Local Intranet icon to select it, and then click on the Sites button:
  
• That triggers display of the Local Intranet dialog window. Be sure the “Automatically detect intranet network” is checked and then Click on the Advanced button:
  
• On the next dialog window, type in SharePoint site URL (in this example, http://gsa.tfplocal.net), click the Add button and then click Close:
  
• Click on the next two OK buttons. Done!

With these changes to the Internet Explorer security zones, IE users will have transparent but still secure local intranet access to the SharePoint site.

Next » Step 12: Configuring Firefox for NTLM automatic authentication

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