Content type and workflow planning (SharePoint Server 2010)
SharePoint Server 2010
A content type is a reusable collection of metadata (columns), workflow, behavior, and other settings for a category of items or documents in a Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 list or document library. Content types enable you to manage the settings for a category of information in a centralized, reusable way. A workflow lets you attach a business process to items in SharePoint Server 2010. This article describes content types and workflows and provides guidance about how to plan to integrate them into your SharePoint Server 2010 document management solution.
In this article:
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Content type overview
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Plan document content types
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Plan information management policies
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Plan list content types
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Plan workflows
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Worksheet
Content type overview
A content type defines the attributes of a list item, a document, or a folder. Each content type can specify the following:
Document libraries and lists can contain multiple content
types. For example, a library can contain both the documents and the
graphics related to a project. When a list or library contains multiple
content types, the following apply:
For example, if your organization uses a particular contract template, in the content type gallery of the top-level site in a site collection, you can create a content type that defines the metadata for that contract, the contract's template, workflows required to review and complete the contract, policies that enforce auditing of actions related to the contract, a retention period for the contract, and labels to insert in printed versions of the contract. Then, any document library in your site collection to which you associate the Contract content type will include all these features and will enable authors to create new contracts based on the template.
In sites that are based on SharePoint Server 2010, each default list item or library item, — such as Contact, Task, or Document, — has a corresponding core content type in the site's content type gallery. When you plan content types, you can use these core content type definitions as starting points and base new content types on existing ones as needed. Or, you can use core content types.
Content types are organized into a hierarchy that lets one content type inherit its characteristics from another content type. This inheritance enables classes of documents to share characteristics across an organization, and it enables teams to customize these characteristics for particular sites or lists.
For example, all customer-deliverable documents in an enterprise might require a set of metadata, such as account number, project number, and project manager. By creating a top-level Customer Deliverable content type from which all other customer-deliverable document types inherit, you ensure that required information, such as account numbers and project numbers, will be associated with all variants of customer-deliverable documents in your organization. Note that if the content type owner adds another required column to the top-level Customer Deliverable content type, the content type owner can propagate the changes to all content types that inherit from it, which will add the new column to all customer deliverable documents.
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Properties to associate with items of its type.
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Metadata to associate with items of its type.
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Workflows that can be started from items of its type.
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Information management policies to associate with items of its type.
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Document templates (for document content types).
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Custom features.
Note:
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You can also associate properties, workflows,
policies, and templates directly with a list or library. However, doing
this can limit these associations to the list or library and is not
reusable across your solution. In SharePoint Server 2010, site-level
workflows can be associated with multiple lists or libraries. |
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By default, the New command in that list or
library lets users select from all available content types when they
create a new item. Content type owners can configure the New command to display only certain content types.
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The columns associated with all available content types are displayed.
For example, if your organization uses a particular contract template, in the content type gallery of the top-level site in a site collection, you can create a content type that defines the metadata for that contract, the contract's template, workflows required to review and complete the contract, policies that enforce auditing of actions related to the contract, a retention period for the contract, and labels to insert in printed versions of the contract. Then, any document library in your site collection to which you associate the Contract content type will include all these features and will enable authors to create new contracts based on the template.
In sites that are based on SharePoint Server 2010, each default list item or library item, — such as Contact, Task, or Document, — has a corresponding core content type in the site's content type gallery. When you plan content types, you can use these core content type definitions as starting points and base new content types on existing ones as needed. Or, you can use core content types.
Content types are organized into a hierarchy that lets one content type inherit its characteristics from another content type. This inheritance enables classes of documents to share characteristics across an organization, and it enables teams to customize these characteristics for particular sites or lists.
For example, all customer-deliverable documents in an enterprise might require a set of metadata, such as account number, project number, and project manager. By creating a top-level Customer Deliverable content type from which all other customer-deliverable document types inherit, you ensure that required information, such as account numbers and project numbers, will be associated with all variants of customer-deliverable documents in your organization. Note that if the content type owner adds another required column to the top-level Customer Deliverable content type, the content type owner can propagate the changes to all content types that inherit from it, which will add the new column to all customer deliverable documents.
Properties integration with the Office 2010 release
In the Microsoft Office system, when a user edits a
document from a SharePoint Server 2010 document management server, a
Document Information Panel is shown at the top of the document. The
Document Information Panel displays an editable form of the document's
properties on the server.
SharePoint Server 2010 makes it easy to customize the property form for a content type. When you configure a content type, you can start Microsoft InfoPath 2010, which generates a default property form that is based on the properties of the content type. The default form includes the same controls, layout, and schema that InfoPath 2010 would use if no custom form were defined. You can then customize and deploy the form as you would any other InfoPath 2010 form. For example, you can add your company logo, fonts, and color scheme to a form; connect it to a custom data source; add conditional logic; and design form features that are available to users based on their roles.
Along with editing properties in the Document Information Panel, authors who use Microsoft Word 2010 can insert properties that are defined on the server into their documents. For example, if the document properties include a project manager name, this name can be inserted into the title page, the footer, or anywhere else the name is used in the document. If a new project manager is assigned to a project, the Project Manager property can be updated on the document management server. This updated project manager name will be reflected in every instance of this property that was inserted into a document.
SharePoint Server 2010 makes it easy to customize the property form for a content type. When you configure a content type, you can start Microsoft InfoPath 2010, which generates a default property form that is based on the properties of the content type. The default form includes the same controls, layout, and schema that InfoPath 2010 would use if no custom form were defined. You can then customize and deploy the form as you would any other InfoPath 2010 form. For example, you can add your company logo, fonts, and color scheme to a form; connect it to a custom data source; add conditional logic; and design form features that are available to users based on their roles.
Along with editing properties in the Document Information Panel, authors who use Microsoft Word 2010 can insert properties that are defined on the server into their documents. For example, if the document properties include a project manager name, this name can be inserted into the title page, the footer, or anywhere else the name is used in the document. If a new project manager is assigned to a project, the Project Manager property can be updated on the document management server. This updated project manager name will be reflected in every instance of this property that was inserted into a document.
Using metadata with content types
Metadata is information about a document that is used to
categorize and classify your content. Metadata is associated with a
content type as a column. Metadata can provide contextual information
about your document by associating it with an author, subject, audience,
language, and so on Unlike properties, metadata are stored as columns
and can be indexed and searched on by the SharePoint Search engine.
Metadata added at the site collection level can be associated with content types. By using metadata with content types, all later content types can inherit some or all of their metadata from the parent content type at the site collection level. Additional metadata can then be added at a lower level, such as an individual document.
Metadata added at the site collection level can be associated with content types. By using metadata with content types, all later content types can inherit some or all of their metadata from the parent content type at the site collection level. Additional metadata can then be added at a lower level, such as an individual document.
Column templates
Each item of metadata that is associated with a content
type is a column, which is a location in a list to store information.
Lists or libraries are often displayed graphically as columns of
information. However, depending on the view associated with the list,
the columns can appear in other forms, such as days in a calendar
display. In forms associated with a list or library, columns are
displayed as fields.
You can define columns for use in multiple content types. To do this, create them in a Column Templates gallery. There is a Column Templates gallery in each site in a site collection. As with content types, columns defined in the Column Templates gallery of a site are available in that site and in all sites below it.
You can define columns for use in multiple content types. To do this, create them in a Column Templates gallery. There is a Column Templates gallery in each site in a site collection. As with content types, columns defined in the Column Templates gallery of a site are available in that site and in all sites below it.
Folder content types
Folder content types define the metadata that is associated
with a folder in a list or library. When you apply a folder content
type to a list or library, the New command in that list
or library will include the folder content type, which makes it
possible for users create folders of that type.
You can define views in a list or library that are available only in folders of a particular content type. This is useful when you want a folder to contain a particular kind of document and you want views in that folder to only display columns that are relevant to the document type that is contained in that folder.
By using the SharePoint Server object model, you can customize the New command for a folder content type so that when a user creates a new folder of that type, the folder is prepopulated with multiple files and documents based on templates that are stored on the server. This is useful, for example, for implementing a compound document type that requires multiple files to contribute to a single deliverable document.
Document sets is a new feature in SharePoint Server 2010 that lets you use Microsoft Office 2010 to manage deliverables that span multiple documents. Document sets are special kinds of folders that are used to manage a single deliverable, or work product, which can include multiple documents in multiple locations. You create document sets by using extensible templates that are provided with SharePoint Server 2010. You can also customize Document Set templates to represent the work products that are relevant to your organization. Document sets also include version control, which lets you capture the state of the complete document set at various points in its life cycle. For more information about document sets, see Document Sets planning (SharePoint Server 2010).
You can define views in a list or library that are available only in folders of a particular content type. This is useful when you want a folder to contain a particular kind of document and you want views in that folder to only display columns that are relevant to the document type that is contained in that folder.
By using the SharePoint Server object model, you can customize the New command for a folder content type so that when a user creates a new folder of that type, the folder is prepopulated with multiple files and documents based on templates that are stored on the server. This is useful, for example, for implementing a compound document type that requires multiple files to contribute to a single deliverable document.
Document sets is a new feature in SharePoint Server 2010 that lets you use Microsoft Office 2010 to manage deliverables that span multiple documents. Document sets are special kinds of folders that are used to manage a single deliverable, or work product, which can include multiple documents in multiple locations. You create document sets by using extensible templates that are provided with SharePoint Server 2010. You can also customize Document Set templates to represent the work products that are relevant to your organization. Document sets also include version control, which lets you capture the state of the complete document set at various points in its life cycle. For more information about document sets, see Document Sets planning (SharePoint Server 2010).
Plan document content types
The first stage in planning document content types is to review each document type that is listed in your Analyze document usage
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=165873) worksheet to
determine whether an existing content type will work for that kind of
document. Each document content type should inherit its settings
directly from the core Document content type or from a content type that
is descended from the Document content type. This ensures that the
basic columns for your document types, such as Title and Created By, are
present and that you can associate a template with the content type. If
a core content type (such as Document) is sufficient, enter the content
type name in the Content Type column of the "Analyze document usage"
worksheet.
Plan information management policies
An information management policy is a set of rules
for a kind of content and is made up of policy features that provide the
details of each rule, such as whether items of the content type can be
printed or which actions on the item should be audited. You can apply a
policy to any custom content type. However, you cannot apply a policy to
a core content type. For more information about information management
policy planning, see Information management policy planning (SharePoint Server 2010). After reviewing policies and determining which policy features and policy templates are available, use the Content type and workflow planning
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=165878) worksheet to record
information about what policies to associate with document content
types, list content types, and document sets content types.
Plan list content types
The elements of a list content type include the columns of
metadata that are associated with the content type and workflows that
can run on items of that content type. Use a list content type to define
a kind of list item that is unique to your solution. For example, in a
customer call center solution, in which support professionals
investigate and resolve customers' technical issues, a list content type
could be used to standardize the data for each support incident and to
track the incident by using a workflow.
Plan workflows
Workflows implement business processes on documents,
Web pages, forms, and list items inSharePoint Server 2010. They can be
associated with libraries, lists, or content types.
In document management, use workflows to route documents from person to person so that they can each complete their document management tasks, such as reviewing documents, approving their publication, or managing their disposition. Also, use custom workflows to move documents from one site or library to another. For example, you can design a workflow to copy a document from one site to another when the document is scheduled to be archived.
SharePoint Server 2010 includes workflows that address the following document management needs:
To plan workflows for your document management solution, analyze each document content type that you plan to implement and identify the business processes that have to be available to run on content of that type. Then identify the workflows you will have to make available for that content.
The following is a sample table that analyzes workflows for a contract content type.
For more information, see Plan workflows (SharePoint Server 2010).
In document management, use workflows to route documents from person to person so that they can each complete their document management tasks, such as reviewing documents, approving their publication, or managing their disposition. Also, use custom workflows to move documents from one site or library to another. For example, you can design a workflow to copy a document from one site to another when the document is scheduled to be archived.
SharePoint Server 2010 includes workflows that address the following document management needs:
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Collect Feedback Sends a document for review.
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Approval Sends a document for approval, often as a prerequisite to publishing it.
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Disposition Manages document expiration and disposition.
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Collect Signatures Routes a document for signatures.
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Translation Management Manages the translation of a document into one or more languages.
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Three-state Manages business processes
that require organizations to track the status of an issue or item
through three different states (phases).
To plan workflows for your document management solution, analyze each document content type that you plan to implement and identify the business processes that have to be available to run on content of that type. Then identify the workflows you will have to make available for that content.
The following is a sample table that analyzes workflows for a contract content type.
| Contract Process | Contract Workflow | New? |
|---|---|---|
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Review drafts. |
Collect feedback |
No |
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Get approval from the manager and the legal counsel. |
Approval |
No |
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Resolve open issues. |
Issue tracking |
No |
|
Get signatures. |
Collect signatures |
No |
Worksheet
Use the following worksheet to record the information discussed in this article:Content type and workflow planning worksheet for SharePoint Server 2010 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=165878)
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