Mar 26 2020 09:02 AM
Hi,
We have a Sharepoint site which we use for product development. In the lack of a proper PLM system as yet we are storing all the relevant documents for hundreds of projects within this site.
We need a solution for the next couple of years to track project progress and I have been considering using the Tasks App. This would mean generating a new app for each of the projects in development which, as far as I understand, means adding a new custom list for each one. That would mean hundreds of lists within the site.
Is there a way to manage all of these lists? Put them in a folder or something? Otherwise the site contents is going to get very messy very quickly! Or a better solution within Sharepoint than using a custom list for each project?
Mar 27 2020 01:11 AM
Jun 11 2020 05:31 PM - edited Jun 13 2020 09:35 AM
@BangorKeith , I'm trying to do this, too. I actually have a solution for you, which you'll hopefully like, but I'll quickly pretend like I don't and say why / how I'm having the same or similar issue here.
By the way, this message system screwed up my numbered lists in here, and I can't be bothered to try to fix it / beat the system ... I'll try to come back and make everything look nicer later.
My Issues
I thought I could handle it by simply adding a managed termset with hashtags in the site that they're in, then have that column in the site contents. However I can't seem to get any more columns to add to the "site contents" after I've added the columns or termset.
Obviously (for me) the hashtag thing is ideal, because then the users gradually build the right metadata (with pruning from my team) to categorise the many lists contained within. But I can't even get any more columns to appear.
@Sudharsan K 's Solution
This would actually be pretty good on a small scale for a small company, which (forgive me for saying) it sounds like you are. But I haven't (in an admittedly brief search) seen how one would create a document set for lists. But it seems ideal.
There is maybe one shortcut to maybe a similar functionality to this, which would be the site settings, some site setups show a link to all of the site's lists. Perhaps something can be done there, especially if it's using a hidden content type or something.
First, Easy, Solution - A List of Lists
If you have multiple lists (and who doesn't, I can't believe there's no management of them by now) then this is a simple 5-step way to manage them, and add functionality to a site.
I've also created a listId/GUID to URL converter here that you can insert into your flow like I have:
Obviously you can complicate this however you want, and I apologise for my formatting being a little bland above, but I'm tired. Basically, this will maintain a list of all the lists that exist on your site, and you can then place that list on any site page, and link to it (or the page it's on) from anywhere in 365.
You might want to consider a next step of checking for lists that don't exist anymore, and certainly think about any alerting that you might want ... but I'll leave all that to you. ;)
My Second, Better Solution - Project management Hub Sites
Treat each product as a "project" and give it its own site. I believe that you've already said that you operate the Products as Projects, so this is really just an extension.
In case I've misunderstood. If you've thought of this, or I'm seemingly like I'm speaking down, I'm just trying not to assume anything, so apologies if that's the case ... anyway ... hear me out. ;)
Ideally, within SharePoint each project exists within its own site, in order to give it autonomy, and provide its own unique set of resources, which can include its own team (for project specific talk), planner (for project specific ... planning), and even mail boxes, and more.
To do this, one would ideally create a project hub site for all projects, then a theme/template for the sites that are created within that hub site. This allows you to control how each project is created, ensuring that each one has specific stuff in it.
You can shortcut this by using Power Automate (Flow from now on) until you're ready to start messing with all the site templates, etc. Luckily, there's also ways of snapping around the system to avoid using the dreaded/paid API connectors.
The only thing I haven't addressed here is removing the "Create site" button on the hub, but that's another groan for another day.
So ... Let's make a Product Hub (more images will come later, I'm just needing to finish this mega post!):
[Site URL]/_layouts/15/CreateGroup.aspx?hubSiteId=[Hub Site ID]
The Hub Site ID at the end is what we want here, so keep a copy in a notepad.
That's it! You've basically created a very simple governance / taxonomy / naming convention, as well as ensureed that sites are all made the way they should be (you can get super complicated if you like) and now each product has its own defined area.
Plus with your main products list that you've created, you can start using that to centralise a lot more information on the products.
It's obviously important not to take all of this literally, I'm not dictating what you do here, but hopefully this provides some inspiration. :)
Oh, and again ... sorry for the formatting, but I can't even with this thing.
Best
Eliot