5 Ways to Manage Documents in SharePoint & Office 365

sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond

5 WAYS TO MANAGE DOCUMENTS IN SHAREPOINT

GREGORY ZELFOND

sharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfondsharepointmaven.com @gregoryzelfond

About Me

Gregory Zelfond 10+ years of experience with SharePoint SharePoint advocate, blogger Love to solve business problems using code-free, out of

the box SharePoint configurations Owner of SharePoint Maven (sharepointmaven.com)

http://www.sharepointmaven.com/


About SharePoint Maven

I HELP ORGANIZATIONS TO UNLOCK THE POWER OF SHAREPOINT

MIGRATION CONSULTING TRAINING


1. Explain 5 available options for document management in SharePoint

2. List Pros and Cons for each method

This presentation will…


What are the Options?

In SharePoint, you have 5 unique ways to store documents

1. Folders

2. Metadata

3. Folders + Metadata combo

4. Document Sets

5. Managed Metadata


Which option is right for me?


Let’s take a look…


Option 1: Folders


F O L D E R S…


Folders: Pros & Cons

PROS Effortless Migration (just drag the files from

fileshare)

Minimum change management to worry about for end users from user experience standpoint

CONS Lots, see next slide


12 Reasons for NOT using Folders

1. Usability

2. URL length limitation

3. Moving File URL

4. Security

5. User experience

6. File duplication

7. 1 Lonely View

8. Can’t Sort & Filter

9. Change is hard

10. Lost documents

11. Navigation

12. Cost

For more info and detailed description on above reasons, check out this blog posthttp://sharepointmaven.com/12-reasons-folders-sharepoint-bad-idea/

http://sharepointmaven.com/12-reasons-folders-sharepoint-bad-idea/


Option 2: Metadata


Metadata – organize data anyway you like…

For more info and detailed instructions on how to setup metadata, check out this blog posthttp://sharepointmaven.com/document-management-in-sharepoint-without-

folders-introduction-to-metadata/

http://sharepointmaven.com/document-management-in-sharepoint-without-folders-introduction-to-metadata/


Metadata: Pros & Cons

PROS Greater control over documents

Sorting, filtering, grouping, custom views

CONS Change in user experience

Requires organization to “think through” taxonomy before migration can begin


Convinced that Metadata is the way to go?



Option 3: Folders + Metadata

+ =


Want to use folders & metadata together?

When creating a view, you can specify whether items are to be viewed with (inside of) folders or without


Folders + Metadata: Pros & Cons

PROS Combines best of both worlds

Pacifier of sort for users who can’t live without folders

CONS Might be confusing to end users

Taxonomy and administration are a challenge


Option 4: Document Sets


Document Sets explainedDocument Set = “folder” for related set of documents with its own “Home Page”.

Great for standardization (i.e. each document set [project] to have same templates)

In addition, Document Set Version History feature allows to capture set of documents (versions) at a point of time (i.e. going from one phase to next)


Document Sets: Pros & Cons

PROS Folder-type user experience Great for repeatable processes/projects,

standardization

CONS Might not be applicable to “non-project” type

usage Organizations must be “process and

methodology-oriented” for document sets to work successfully


Option 5: Managed Metadata

+


What did he just say?


Managed Metadata requires high level of organizational “SharePoint” and “Collaboration” culture & maturity


Managed Metadata definitions

Definition: Managed metadata is a hierarchical collection of centrally managed terms that you can define, and then use as attributes for items in across SharePoint

Term – a specific word or phrase that you associate with an item

Term Set - group of related terms

Term Store Management Tool – SharePoint functionality that allows administrators to centrally define terms and term set hierarchies


More on Managed Metadata

Taxonomy – a formal classification system. A taxonomy groups the words, labels, and terms that describe something, and then arranges the groups into a hierarchy

Folksonomy – an informal classification system. It evolves gradually as web site users collaborate on words, labels, and terms on a site (via tagging)


Managed Metadata Example

Tag SelectionType-ahead search/navigation


Term Store Management Tool

Term Set Term


Managed Metadata: Pros & Cons

PROS Promotes consistent terminology across

enterprise

Great for search and data filtering

Social aspect of “tagging”

CONS Requires high degree of collaboration within

organization


GOT IT?



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5 Ways to Manage Documents in SharePoint & Office 365