This is the fourth post in my series about a sample Marketing Intranet site. In this post we are going to be covering an example for storing common marketing brochures. In my example, my content is just pdf files that could be referenced by others. We want users to be able to easily see the most recent content, as well as provide a way for them to review the materials from previous releases. We are doing this by creating a document library within our site. We will use metadata columns to tag and classify the data so that it is easy to find in the future. We will also be implementing the Managed Metadata Navigation to allow for easier filtering within the list.
To get started, here is a screenshot of our home page. We have added the document library web part to the home page and have limited the view so that only the most recent items are displayed on the home page. If users want to see additional or legacy items they can click on the link in the Quick Launch menu.
Within the library we have created 3 columns that we are using to tag and classify the data.
- Year: This is a single line of text field that allows the team to classify what year the content was used. We went with single line of text vs. any type of calculation because we wanted to have more control over adding legacy data from previous years.
- Quarter: This is a choice dropdown that lets us select the appropriate quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4).
- Brochure Type: This column is a Managed Metadata column with a local term set. This term set is also open so that users who are adding content will be able to add classifications as needed (an example of this is below).
When a user (one that has permission to add content, likely someone within the marketing department) adds new content to the library, they will be able to use the metadata to classify the content:
Since we are using the Managed Metadata column type, we should take a few minutes to review the extra functionality available to the users who are classifying the data. If they select the icon next to the text field they will open an additional menu that allows them to select the value they want.
From these menus they can easily find the value in the tree structure or they can even add a new item if they don’t see what they need. The value they add then becomes part of the term store so that other users can reference it. Keep in mind; this is configurable, so if you don’t want them to be able to add items, you can simply make it a closed term set. This is the beauty of SharePoint – you can customize it to fit what you need it to do, where you need it to do it. The tools are just a way for you to implement your process.
The final configuration that we are using in this example is Managed Metadata Navigation. By enabling this on the library we are able to display some additional filtering navigation elements that users can use to help filter and refine their view of the brochure library.
When a user selects the various filters in the navigation pane, the list view will be filtered to match the selected criteria.
Multiple filters can be selected at once, which simplifies the search for the users.
So there you have it. In this blog post we covered a simple example for storing content. On the home page we wanted to make our users aware of the most recent content. When they opened the full library, we gave them additional functionality to help them quickly locate the content that they were looking for.
Jennifer Ann Mason 