Revolutionise how you work with documents using SharePoint Views and Metadata

Audience

This article is intended for users who use Microsoft SharePoint for document management.

Introduction

SharePoint views and metadata help you manage and organise documents. With metadata, you can assign attributes to documents, such as document type, business area, and review date, which allow you to easily search, sort, and filter your documents. In this article, we will take a closer look at how SharePoint views and metadata work will revolutionise the way you work with SharePoint - once you understand them.

Video Tutorial

The contents of this article are all covered in the video tutorial below.

Background 

SharePoint views allow you to display your documents in different ways. By default, SharePoint will display all the documents in a document library, but you configure views to display only the documents that meet certain criteria. For example, you can create a view that displays only policies or a view that displays all the documents by business area.

Understanding Metadata

In SharePoint, "metadata" is used to assign attributes to your documents such as document type, business area, and review date. By assigning metadata to your documents, you can make it easier to find and organise your documents.

SharePoint allows you to create custom metadata "columns" (aka "Fields") to capture specific attributes that are important to your organisation. For example, you might create a metadata column called Document Type, where you can assign values like Policy, Procedure, or Form.

Using Metadata to Filter and Sort Documents

Once you have assigned metadata to your documents, you can use that metadata to filter and sort your documents in SharePoint views. For example, you can create a view that displays only documents where the document type is equal to Policy. You can also sort your documents by attributes like review date or approval date.

Best Practices

When creating SharePoint views and metadata, it is important to follow best practices to ensure that your documents are well-organised and easy to find. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Use descriptive names for your views that accurately reflect the filter criteria.
• Create metadata columns that capture attributes that are important to your organisation.
• Assign metadata to all your documents to make it easier to find and organise them.