SharePoint Content Types and Metadata

This post is adapted from a piece originally published on UnderstandSharePoint.com June 28th, 2011.  

The goal of this (4 part) series of blogs is to help you maximize SharePoint’s features and functions to fulfill your business needs.  Initially, we’ll go over some basic features that are essential to configuring a sensible hosted SharePoint environment.  As the series continues, we’ll take a look at some of the more advanced SharePoint 2010 features.

For now, a good place to start is with planning content types – and using them to store metadata.

What is a SharePoint content type?

According to Microsoft, a content type “defines the attributes of a list item, a document, or a folder.”  In Microsoft SharePoint, every list item, document, or folder is associated with a content type.

This post is part two of a series.  Here is SharePoint Content Types and Metadata Part One.

Now that you have a basic understanding of what content types are, let's look at creating them. 

From the root site of the Site Collection, click Site Actions > Site Settings.

This is part three of a four part series.  Read the past SharePoint Content Types and Metadata posts.

Okay, so we’ve created three content types: AccountingBase, ARInvoice, and ARPurchaseOrder. Now we need to associate these content types to a document library. 

1. Navigate to the document library.
2. We’ll use the AccountsReceivables document library in our Accounting site.
3. Once in the site, click the Library tab in the ribbon bar. Click Library Settings.

Before we can associate a content type, we need to configure the document library to allow management of content types. If we don’t do this, we won’t be able to add a content type.

This is the last of a four part series. If you haven’t read parts 1-3, please check out the complete SharePoint Content Types and Metadata series.

Okay, we’re almost finished! We have our content types created. We added our content types to the document library. Now let’s look at adding a document to a library and adding metadata:

1. In the document library, click the Documents tab on the ribbon bar.
2. Click Upload Document.
3. Use the Browse button and locate the document you want saved. Click OK.

After the file has been uploaded, you must now apply metadata. Notice the Content Type drop-down. You have the option to choose from content types currently associated with the library.