5 WAYS TO MANAGE

DOCUMENTS IN SHAREPOINT
GREGORY ZELFOND

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@gregoryzelfond

About SharePoint Maven

I HELP ORGANIZATIONS TO UNLOCK
THE POWER OF SHAREPOINT

MIGRATION
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CONSULTING

TRAINING
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This presentation will

1. Explain 5 available options for document
management in SharePoint
2. List Pros and Cons for each method

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What are the Options?

In SharePoint, you have 5 unique
ways to store documents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Folders
Metadata
Folders + Metadata combo
Document Sets
Managed Metadata
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Which option is right for me?

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Lets take a look

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Option 1: Folders

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F O L D E R S

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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
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12 Reasons for NOT using Folders

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Usability
URL length limitation
Moving File URL
Security
User experience
File duplication

7. 1 Lonely View
8. Cant 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 post
http://sharepointmaven.com/12-reasons-folders-sharepoint-bad-idea/
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Option 2: Metadata

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Metadata organize data anyway you like

For more info and detailed instructions on how to

setup metadata, check out this blog post
http://sharepointmaven.com/document-management-in-sharepoint-withoutfolders-introduction-to-metadata/
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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
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Convinced that Metadata is the way to go?

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sharepointmaven.com

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Option 3: Folders + Metadata

+
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=
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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

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Folders + Metadata: Pros & Cons

PROS
Combines best of both worlds
Pacifier of sort for users who cant live without
folders

CONS
Might be confusing to end users
Taxonomy and administration are a challenge
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Option 4: Document Sets

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Document Sets explained

Document 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)

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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
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Option 5: Managed Metadata

+
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What did he just say?

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Managed Metadata requires high level of organizational

SharePoint and Collaboration culture & maturity
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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
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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)

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Managed Metadata Example

Type-ahead search/navigation
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Tag Selection
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Term Store Management Tool

Term Set

Term

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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
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GOT IT?

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sharepointmaven.com

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Need help with SharePoint?

SharePoint Site Configuration and Customization

Document Migration to SharePoint
SharePoint Implementation Strategy
SharePoint Training
SharePoint User Adoption
SharePoint Governance
SharePoint Project Management

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THANK YOU!
Get in touch if you have questions
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