Update: Document Sets in Modern Document Libraries

Microsoft

I am pleased to announce some updates on the plan and timeline for improving the Document Set experience in modern document libraries.

 

In January, we communicated a March delivery date for these improvements.  We apologize for missing that date.  We’re now planning on rolling out this change in May.  We will be making the official announcement to the Message Center very soon with exact dates.  Thank you all for your patience!

 

This change allows organizations to use the power of document sets to group related documents together with consistent metadata and structure without having to go back and forth between classic and modern experiences.  

 

DocSet2.gif

Document sets now look and feel like ordinary folders in modern libraries, and benefit from all the cool new features in modern.  This means that users can drag and drop content to upload to document sets, link to content that lives outside the document set, pin files to the top of the document set, start flows on document set items, and define conditional formatting on document set items.  It also means that the Document Set experience can be customized using SharePoint Framework Extensions, just like all other modern list views.

 

All the content management rules you can define on document set content types are still supported.  No business processes were harmed in the making of this change!  Document set metadata can be viewed and edited in the details pane while in a document set.  Shared metadata specified in a document set content type continues to work as it always has; values inside shared columns will be copied to items inside the document set.  Columns that are identified as Welcome page columns in the content type are sorted to the top of the details pane, so that users can find them easily.  Content and structure rules specified in the document set content type are also supported, including the default content and default view settings.

 

Document set versioning functionality will appear under the context menu on document set items in the modern list view, include “Capture Version” and “Version History.”  Other document set-specific actions from the Document Set ribbon are still there, but only in classic.  Just like any other modern list view page, you can click “Return to classic SharePoint” in the lower left hand corner to go back the classic document set experience back.

 

The one caveat is that customized document set welcome pages are not supported in modern.  This change will not affect document sets that use welcome pages that have been configured with custom HTML or web parts; those welcome pages will still be displayed in classic mode, as they are today. 

 

200 Replies

@lotz-hellerau and @Lincoln DeMaris 

 

This is the same, on my library. And a really bad behavior. With this, the modern sets will not work for us. Please review them again, to have all functions 1:1. Thank you.

 

BR,

Steffen 

@Lincoln DeMaris I think I detected a bug with the modern document sets.

 

How to reproduce : 

1- Create a new document set

2- In the new document set, click on "Edit all" in the right panel to edit the properties

3- Notice that the Name column contains a value

4- Click on the Save button

5- The process is blocked. The Name column is now empty and the error message "You can't leave this blank" is shown. The Name column is read-only so the changes can't be saved.

 

 

@Deleted Agreed.  The welcome page is a must for our customers. We use it all the time as a landing page for a particular case file or grant application.  Metadata in the side panel isn't going to cut it for us.

@osborn_amy 

 

It's quite strange that the welcome page is opening a new tab and is classic while the rest is modern.  I am pleased that we have this update even though it feels unfinished.  Our bigger concern is you still can't move these like other folders within SharePoint, You can only move them within the context of their respective library. 

@osborn_amysame here. Info at welcome page is most easy way for users to have an overview. Looking at the info panel doesn't give the same experience as a welcome page

@lotz-hellerau and @Lincoln DeMaris 

Another major issue:

If you had content types that were part of a document set, the modern experience has massively messed that up. Now the library and the document set seem to share content types. Within the document set if you go to New, the default is to re-add the document set content type, not other content types defined within a document set.

 

Another potential issue - in my case, the info panel doesn't display the MetaData associated with the Document Sets. I can see where the data is supposed to be but the area is just empty. These document sets do have a great deal of MetaData associated with them, but the info always displayed in classic just fine. It's not a timing issue either as I have given the pages several minutes to load. spdocsetmetadata.png

After you add the doc set based content type to a library it takes a while for library settings to be fully updated, and for the content types included in the document set to be available via the New button. Until then you see the default New menu content types. It took about 40 minutes for this to update.
I agree. I use doc sets extensively for one of my clients to manage job files. There are about 20 metadata, including job status, payment stages, and amounts. I use different views to filter and sort to cater for different purposes. In the doc set, only the primary half dozen most important metadata properties are displayed.
I agree about the inability to move doc sets. I'd like to be able to move doc sets from library to library.

@Lincoln DeMarisThat doesn't really answer the question I had.  Will the MS FLow icon at the top of a Document Set NOT disappear when you select the Document Set?  When you select a Document Set....also, will you be able to Trigger an MS Flow when a Document Set is created or one of the items in the document set is Modified to start an Approval Process.  That is the functionality we are looking for....same as what you can do in any List currently.

@Simon Rawson are you referring to the document set content type? Yes, that shows up at the library level under New as expected, but it also shows up within the document set. For example, I have a document set content type called "Case". In the library, I can go New--Case as expected to create the document set. 

docset.PNG

 

But once I'm inside a case document set, I only have the same options for the New menu that appears at the library level. But if I'm already in a Case I don't want to be able to create another Case document set. That makes no sense.

 

In my scenario I have a document-based content type called "Checklist" that is associated with the Case document set, not the library. Meaning the "Checklist" should show up under New when you are inside the Case document set. With this approach, different content types show up under New at the library level and also from within the document set itself. It works in Classic, but not in Modern.

docset2.PNG

 

Are you able to display different content types at the library level and inside a document set or do you only see the same options too? Just wondering if others have the same issue with content types inside a document set.

 

@rodieremix It's because the metadata/properties panel no longer shows up within the document set. It only shows up back at the library level. Which is a whole new thing for users who are used to Editing properties from within the document set. So essentially to see/edit the properties of your document set, you have to go back to the library level and select the document set [folder] to get the info panel.

Hi all, I'm sorry to hear that many of you are having problems with document sets in modern. 

 

  • Move To/Copy To on document sets.  The change that's rolling out does not enable any new move to/copy to scenarios on document sets.  We hear this feedback and this is near the top of our backlog to address.
  • Opening in a new tab.  Before this change, document sets would open in a new tab in classic mode.  After this change, they open in the same tab in modern mode.  If folks are seeing document sets opening in modern mode in a new tab, that's very surprising - let us know for sure that the new tab behavior is indeed the modern document set view (as pictured at the top of this thread) and we'll look into this.
  • Document set metadata.  Document set metadata should be appearing in the details pane when inside the document set.  If this is not happening, there's a bug we need to fix.  If this is happening in your environment, please message me with the field types inside the document set content type and we'll try to reproduce, although your best and fastest recourse might be calling support.
  • Document set views and content types.  Document set views and content types as configured inside the document set content type should be respected.  If this is not happening, we have a bug that we need to reproduce.  Please send me more information in a private message - like what views and/or content types are present in the document set content type settings.  A screenshot of the settings page could work wonders.

@osborn_amyI agree. Also without this, the only way to see Metadata set by the Doc Set, thus is common to all documents, is to add it to the view only to see it's the same for all documents. One of the great things about this feature is the reduced number of columns required in the view.

@Lincoln DeMaris 

 

The below issue you mention is happening with us to. We were just about to launch a large system using Doc Sets which is now on hold and it is effecting other systems. In addition I've had a complaint that users can no longer selct multiple documents and bulk publish (as a major version) anymore.

 

Document set views and content types.  Document set views and content types as configured inside the document set content type should be respected.  If this is not happening, we have a bug that we need to reproduce.  Please send me more information in a private message - like what views and/or content types are present in the document set content type settings.  A screenshot of the settings page could work wonders.

I'm aware that document sets being modernized is on the road end of May 2019. Any idea when they will actually be modernized? Right now there is some peculiar behavior within flow regarding document sets. For instance, if i create an approval flow and I submit one document set, i get an approval for the number of documents within the set and an additional approval for the document set item itself. I have opened a ticket and I hope to see a solution to this issue soon as my business process heavily depends on the document sets for several key financial approvals. Is there a workaround available? Folders don't seem to be an option either. I've even gone so far as to create a manual flow and place a json button directly in the library. We are exiting a company and we need a solution asap before they shut down our on prem servers.

I opened a ticket 

  • Case #: 14584840 (initial ticket)
  • Created on: Wednesday, May 29, 2019 4:45 PM
  • Description: Document sets within SharePoint Online are creating multiple approvals each time a new document is added.

they sent it to the flow team? 119052922003785 looks like a (mindtree) ticket this is what happened the last time i opened a ticket.

 

@Lincoln DeMaris 

@Heather P 

Sounds like inconsistent behaviour. I'm seeing different content types on the New menu at the library level and the New button within doc sets, as per the settings. It took a while (about 40 minutes) for the New button settings to flow through and be available within the doc set, and until then all I saw was the default menu you get if you aren't managing content types in the library.

 

The only other factor I can think of is that I configured the library and doc set content type yesterday, rather than it already being an existing library and content type.

 

At the library level:

Library.JPG

...and within the Doc Set:

Doc Set.JPG

Here are the Document Set settings:

Doc Set Settings.JPG

I agree completely, @Dudditz. Have you added these 2 suggestions to user voice? If so can you send a link so we can vote for them.

@Simon Rawson 

 

Please consider voting for moving & Copying of modern Document sets.  You can find the suggestion here in the user voice.

 

I also added a user voice for replacing the classic welcome page with a modern one when creating new document sets however it still has not shown up, will check back tomorrow.