User Profile Service common configuration tasks

The new User Profile service in SharePoint 2010 is still referred to as My Sites.  Although this maybe true, because of the improvements in SharePoint, users of 2007 often used My Sites just for personal content so it is still called the My Site area. In 2010 there are in fact three functions in the User Profile service of which Personal Site is one of them as well as the personal and social features.

So when we build the User Profile area (which can be a new Web App or part of an existing one now) then we also need to consider what we are going to switch on or off for users.  By default everything is on for All Authenticated Users but with any new implementation I would always consider limiting this to at least removing the Personal Site option. My current client has in fact turned this all off while they concentrate on SharePoint as a Portal solution first. To change these settings in Central Admin go to the User Profile service and access User Permissions.  From here you can control who has what functionality:

Also the other most common setting missed is ensuring there is a link back to the SharePoint main site or landing page for your Portal.  This is a common mistake I have found and is a simple one to fix.  In the User Profile service under My Site settings you can add one or more links under Configure Personalization Site:

Once added then from the users profile they will now be presented with the link back to the Portal.