Site Columns

When you establish what type of metadata you want to collect for items and documents, more than likely there will be overlap even with different types of content. For example, if you are storing contracts in a document library and announcements in a list, you’ll probably want to gather what client both the contract and announcement were for. When adding columns to a document library, each column is separate and needs to be managed and maintained separately. If you created this client column at the document or list level, you would have to create it twice, and then when you add a new client, it would need to be updated twice. In this example, it may not be a big deal, but if you have hundreds of lists and libraries all using the metadata column, making an update is going to take a lot more time.

Site columns are scoped to the site collection level and are inherited by subsites. The name of a site column is also unique to the site collection. This is why you may have run into the scenario where you could not create another “Title” site column. This is because the name “Title” is already reserved. A site column can be made at a subsite level, but then only child sites would inherit that site column. For example, in Figure 3.14, if a site column was made on the Divisions site, then only the Divisions site and West site could use this site column; neither the Products site, Product A, Product B or top-level site would have access to use the site column. With this in mind, it’s important to plan where a site column will be used and create it at the highest level site possible, typically the root site of the site collection.

Figure 3.14. Site hierarchy diagram.


Site columns have several of the same choices for types of information as a column created at the library or list level. These columns have been described earlier in the chapter.

  • Single line of text

  • Multiple lines of text

  • Choice (menu to choose from)

  • Number

  • Currency

  • Date and Time

  • Lookup

  • Yes/No

  • Person or Group

  • Hyperlink or Picture

  • Calculated

The following are additional types of information available for site columns and are used for creating page content types.

  • Full HTML content with formatting and constraints for publishing. This allows you to place content on the page using HTML. The phrase “constraints for publishing” allows the page layout designer to apply formatting constraints in the design.

  • Image with formatting and constraints for publishing. This column is for placing images on the page and controlling them with formatting.

  • Hyperlink with formatting and constraints for publishing. Like the Image column, this allows you to place a hyperlink on the page and apply formatting to it.

  • Summary Links data. This column allows you the same functionality you have with the Summary Links Web Part but stores the links in the column as part of the page rather than a Web Part. This allows the designer to control where they are placed by the content author to control what links are shown.

Notice that the only column type not available from the list or library columns is the business data column. The business data column is not available to be created as a site column.

Exercise: Creating a Site Column

1.
Navigate to the site you want to create the site column on. In most cases, this will be the top-level site.

2.
Click Site Actions > Site Settings.

3.
Under the header Galleries, select Site Columns.

4.
Click Create.

5.
Fill in the Title, and select the appropriate column type.

6.
Select a group to put the column in. The grouping is for organizational purposes and makes it easier for your users to find the column when they are attempting to add it to the list.

7.
Set any additional column settings; all column types have the ability to set the description and whether or not they are required.

8.
Click OK.

After a site column is created, it needs to be added to a list or a library. Once added to a list, the site column can be edited at the list level, however, the changes are not pushed to the site column or to any other list or libraries using the site column. To make a change to all list or libraries using a particular site column, it’s necessary to go back into the site Column Gallery where the site column was created. The last option when editing a site column is whether or not you want to update all lists using the site column. This will override any changes made to the site column at the individual list level.

Exercise: Adding a Site Column to a List

1.
Navigate to the list.

2.
Click Settings > List Settings.

3.
In the Columns section, select Add from existing site columns.

4.
Select the desired site column.

5.
Click Add.

6.
Click OK.

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