Forum Discussion
Creating a new content type that will load metadata columns in a SPO Library
HI Steve,
I am not using a third party tool to scan. Do you have any sugestions?
Also what do we do with all the files we are moving over to the library from shared drives?
Thanks,
Joe
MicrosoftJoe...do a Bing search for "SharePoint document imaging" and you'll see a few partners at the top that have solutions.
For files coming from shared drives...this is where you want to put on you're information architecture hat and logically organize the files. Don't just drag and drop, you'll have the same mess in a different place. Here are some suggestions to lead you're efforts.
- Review the naming convention of the file…generally this will have metadata within it you can harvest.
- As you’re looking at the folder structure the file resides in, carefully review the naming convention and hierarchy. This will lead to valuable metadata as well.
- Group like documents together in a document library that has the required security boundary. For example…invoices should be separate from policies. Two different libraries.
- Once you have the metadata harvested, consider the applicability of creating a content type for enhanced re-use and also to strengthen you’re search experience. Remember, not everything needs a content type but talk yourself out of it, versus thinking you need one for every list/library.
- As you are considering metadata always ask the user/yourself…how would I search for it and what type of security needs to around it. This will yield metadata and the document library organization.
- When you’re talking to the various departments, look for patterns in the metadata. For example when talking to HR and Marketing you may determine that both need a site column for “department”. Create a lookup list on the root of the site, populated it, created a site column and then included that in the appropriate content type. A good example of how to properly structure an information architecture.
- When identifying a “taxonomy” of information, consider using managed metadata to accomplish this. This is a bit more tricky to spot but get a bill of materials in you’re head as an example. The hierarchical structure can then be used as a site column -> content type in you’re IA (information architecture)
Hi Steve,
Thanks for all that, but I already did my homework on the naming conventions, and pretty much all of what you pointed out. I thought I was going a bit overboard but now I see I'm not crazy, (even though my users do) :).
The idea of the required columns in the library are to make sure that every location has all the appropriate documents for that entity. Every one of our 100 + entities require a specific list of required documents that they need, which is a combination source and document type. So we are forcing everyone adding files to the library to choose source and doc type. I have a "Required Doc" list consisting of location, source and doc type. I created an SSRS auditing report to compare the "Required Document" list to the document library to make sure all required docs exist for the location, as well if they added a doc that doesn't belong to the location, or have an incorrect combo. I will create subscriptions that will go out the business leaders, for all the mistakes, so I am out of the middle.
I was trying to limit the amount of user mistakes by creating a cascading drop down to the library, but it doesn't look like I can do that. I was able to create a cascade in a custom list for "business" to "location number" but the same code is failing in the library. I followed this post which worked great in the list's new item form using a CWP. https://github.com/mrackley/HillbillyCascade/
I couldn't get it to work and someone suggested to use content types to load the required columns, but couldn't figure that out either so I was looking for some guidance on how to proceed.
Worst case here would be more and more audit reports to make sure the users are using the correct combos.
Thanks again,
Joe
- spucelik
Joe...this is a bit old but you could use JavaScript/jQuery to do this on the page. http://www.sharepointkings.com/2010/09/sharepoint-cascading-drop-downs-using.html. It's a page by page approach but keeps the data clean going in.
With regards to users thinking you're crazy for adding all the metadata. I find that I'm successful when I put together a proof of concept with a search experience that proves it's worth the time. Make sure to include a custom display template, refiners the whole experience. Then they will see the fruits of their labor.
Good luck!