Configure the Content Organizer
The Content Organizer is a SharePoint Server feature that facilitates the routing of documents. The goal is to ensure that files are stored consistently in the correct locations, freeing users from having to remember exactly where files should be saved. The Content Organizer works by using a library named “Drop Off Library”, which works like a queue. Users upload files into the Drop Off Library. Based on rules that you define, the files are routed and stored in various destination libraries. After a file is uploaded, users are provided with the link to the file in its newly saved location.
The Content Organizer is used on a website-by-website basis and must be enabled by activating a website-scoped feature. Here are the steps to activate it:
1. Navigate to the website where the Content Organizer will be used.
2. Click Site Actions ⇒ Site Settings.
3. In the Site Actions category, select Manage Site Features.
4. Look for the feature named Content Organizer and click the Activate button.
When this feature is enabled, a new library named Drop Off Library is created. Two new menu items are also created on the Site Settings menu that you can use to configure the organizer:
Content Organizer Settings Defines how the organizer works overall
Content Organizer Rules Defines the rules that route documents to their correct destination library
Configuring Content Organizer Settings
Here are the steps to configure Content Organizer settings:
1. Click Site Actions ⇒ Site Settings.
2. Under Site Administration, click Content Organizer Settings.
3. Check the Redirect Users To The Drop Off Library setting to prevent users from uploading files directly into a library that has an associated Content Organizer rule. When enabled, if a user tries to upload a file directly into a library, the file is redirected to the Drop Off Library and then automatically routed as defined by rules.
4. Check the setting Sending To Another Site to allow the Content Organizer to route files into libraries belonging to different websites in this or other site collections. By default, the organizer allows you to route only into libraries within the same website.
5. For Folder Partitioning, specify whether the Content Organizer should automatically create new folders once a folder has accumulated a certain number of files. This setting ensures that folders do not get too large, which can cause performance problems.
6. For Duplicate Submissions, decide how the Content Organizer should handle files with duplicate filenames. You can either add a new version to the file (this setting requires that versioning be enabled), or have random characters appended to the filename.
7. For Preserving Context, specify whether the original audit log entries should be kept after moving the file to its new location.
8. For Rule Managers, define which users have permissions to create and edit Content Organizer rules (covered in the next section). You can specify whether SharePoint sends an email to these users if no routing rule exists for an uploaded document.
9. Click OK to save the settings.
Creating Content Organizer Rules
Content Organizer rules define where documents are routed when they are uploaded to the Drop Off Library. Each rule determines how documents can be routed to one library. Here are the steps to create a Content Organizer rule:
1. Click Site Actions ⇒ Site Settings.
2. Under Site Administration, click Content Organizer Rules.
3. Click Add New Item to create a new rule. A new dialog window appears.
4. For Rule Name, enter a friendly and unique name for this rule.
5. For Rule Status And Priority, define the priority level (from 1 to 9, with 1 being the highest) for this rule. Priority is applied when more than one rule can be applied to an incoming document. The rule with the highest priority is the one selected for routing.
6. For Content Type, define the incoming document’s content type. This is the primary criterion that is used in document routing.
7. For Conditions, optionally enter one or more conditions that must be satisfied in addition to the content type for this rule to be applied. The properties that are available in the drop-down come from columns based on the content type selected.
8. For Target Location, select the library and folder to which this rule will route documents. This library must already have the content type that was selected in step 6. By default, you can only choose libraries from this current website.
To select a library from a different website, there are three additional steps that are needed before being able to select it:
a. You must activate the Content Organizer feature in the other website.
b. You must configure Content Organizer rules for the other website.
c. You must create a new Send To Connection from Central Administration (covered in Chapter 12).
With this in place, the Content Organizer stores the file in the Drop Off Library of the other website, where the other organizer rules in that website move the file where it should go.
9. Click OK to save the rule.
Once rules are created, they are applied automatically when you upload and check in a file to the Drop Off Library. However, if multiple documents are uploaded at once, a timer job for the web application called Content Organizer Processing will move these items. By default, this job is scheduled to run once a day. If you need these items to move more quickly, you can change the job’s schedule as described in Chapter 15, “Managing Auditing, Monitoring, and Analytics.”