sharepoint folders vs. metadata best practices
TRANSCRIPT
SharePoint Folders vs. MetadataBest Practices
What is Metadata?
Metadata is information that describes, classifies or identifies a piece of information. Metadata is typically described as a set of attributes that help to describe or classify an object.
This is Metadata…
This is Metadata…
What is a Folder?
Container of files and other folders within a Document Library
A folder has a name and a URL location.
A folder is a familiar metaphor for most people –from the physical world (e.g. file folders, cupboards, buckets, etc.) and the digital world (file shares, email, etc.)
Folders vs. Metadata: FoldersImagine you have to categorize documents in three ways: Department, Year, and Publishing Status. This is what a traditional folder structure looks like to categorize across MULTIPLE metadata elements.
Finance
2011
Draft
Published
2012
Draft
Published
2013
Draft
Published
2014
Draft
Published
Information Technology
2011
Draft
Published
2012
Draft
Published
2013
Draft
Published
2014
Draft
Published
Why did I pick Department first?
Lots of repetition
No way to filter easilyMultiple clicks to find the right files
We have used this approach historically because we had no better alternative…and we migrated from a physical metaphor.
Folders vs. Metadata: Metadata Site Columns
In SharePoint, we can assign multiple metadata attributes using independent site columns.
My Document
Department
•Finance
•Information Technology
•Operations
Year
•2011
•2012
•2013
•2014
Status
•Draft
•Published
Each attribute acts as a “tag” or “property” of my document.
I can filter, sort and view based on any combination of attributes
I can pick multiple values to tag per attribute (e.g. my document could be BOTH finance and IT)
Moving from Folder to Site Column (e.g. Metadata Attribute in SharePoint)
Change Folder to a Site Column
Advantages of Site Column over a Folder
Site Column definitions are re-usable across document libraries where folder hierarchies have to be recreated each time.
Site Columns can be added to Content Types to define types of documents
Site Columns are can be used by search to filter search results
Metadata values can be validated (e.g. must be a date, a number, a user, etc.) where folders can be any text value as a label
Document can have multiple selected choices instead of a single folder (e.g. document can be tagged as both finance AND information technology)
Document can have multiple metadata attributes (instead of being locked into a single folder hierarchy)
Site Columns can have default values
Site Columns provide filtering and sorting including filtering by more than one column (e.g. show me only items that where department = finance and language = English)
Site Columns can be hidden or displayed in views (folders are always visible)
Moving a document means the URL changes – changing a metadata property value keeps the URL the same.
Deep folder structures mean long URLs
Some Reasons why Folders Can Still be Useful
Easier to create a folder than metadata structure and easier to adopt
Folders are security boundaries – can set permissions on folders
Easy containers to drop in large volumes of files
You can set default metadata values for each folder
SharePoint limits number of files in a view to 5,000 so folders can be helpful if you have large numbers of files
File names in SharePoint must be unique – folders can avoid name collision
Conclusion Plan out your taxonomy before organizing your documents – use re-usable site
columns to standardize how documents are classified, tagged or categorized across the organization.
Use Site Columns in SharePoint to store metadata instead of folders, in particular for categorizing, tagging, searching and filtering documents
Folders should be used only for specific reasons where they are still helpful containers
Configure your search to leverage the metadata you have invested in creating!