View Multiple Document Libraries together

Iron Contributor

I have a large repository of media files on O365 Sharepoint Online  (about 30, 000 pictures), they were separated by year to be in separate Picture Library's by year so we would not have to deal with the 5000 item view threshold.  We should be able to to merge viewing the libraries using a "Data View Web Part" using Sharepoint designer so we can view and search the files "as one".  When I try to create the linked data source I get "data source file cannot be saved".  Any idea what the issue could be?

 

In the end I just want my Marketing team to be able to view and search through all the pictures easily.

6 Replies
Hello Bradley,

What version / edition of SharePoint are you using?
Based on the info you provided, a search webpart using a custom display template and refiners seems like a good solution if those are available in your environment.

Cheers,

Robert
Could you please tell us what SharePoint version are you using?

Sharepoint Online - Office 365

Then: why are you trying to use a Data View WebPart? I would recommend you either to user a Content By Search WebPart or some client side programming

To complete on what @Juan Carlos González Martín mentionned:

 

The approach I would use for this is to setup your image libraries with a few columns to add metadata to your images so they can be classified / found.

 

From there, I would use a Content search webpart (CSWP) to query the (multiple) image libraries and exclude all other content. An alternative to the CSWP would be to setup a result page in your search center.

 

On your CSWP or result page, you then need to configure the display template to suit your needs, either displaying the image directly or some info about it and having a thumbnail available on hover. The main advantage I see to the result page approach is that you can also setup a Refiner webpart that your users can use to reduce the number of results for a specific search.

 

The key to the success of this kind of project is to have a well thought of metadata architecture that your users understand.

 

Regards,

I tried something like this before, and quickly realized that saving pictures by Year, was not very helpful. Very few people can remember, or even know, when a photo was actually taken (is that picture from your kids 3rd or 4th birthday - only a Mom can remember that :)). Creating asset libraries for photos using something other than Date is more helpful in the long run.