March 24, 2008

Toni Saddler-French

Does the phrase "Too Much Information" apply to your working day? Is it documents, documents, everywhere, but not the ones you need? Or perhaps you retrace your steps because you can't find the item you need? Don't run screaming yet. Views can help you tune into the information that's most important to you on a SharePoint site.

Applies to
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

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Are you overloaded with the constant barrage of information from television, instant messaging, cell phones, blogs, RSS Feeds, and Web sites (oh my)? Some experts suggest that well over 200 megabytes of stuff is produced yearly in some form for every person in the world.

Do you feel the same overload when you visit some SharePoint sites? Does your information get buried amongst other information, that you, well, don't care as much about? Perhaps you need to update a report in your team's library, but oh my gosh, where is it?

Views can help you take control of information in lists and libraries. They provide ways to bubble up and organize information, such as filtering out the items you do not need to see, or grouping items in a way that's most meaningful to you.

For example, consider browsing for documents related to the Media Relations project, if dozens of documents are showing. One option is to group the documents by the type of project.

The following shows the difference between all documents showing, and a view that's grouped by project, with the Media Relations group expanded. Which one is less likely to make your head spin?

Another scenario might be working with a large number of tasks. Perhaps you just want to see tasks that are due today, or tasks that are assigned to you. This is easy to accomplish with views.

For example, the following would only show the tasks that are due today. You could also choose My Tasks, if you just wanted to see tasks assigned to you.

Views can filter and sort items, limit the number of items displayed per page, and specify which columns you want to display. If your list has start and end dates for each item, you can show it in a calendar or Gantt (visual project-tracking) view.

Views can also include calculations, ranging from a simple count of items, to a fancy-schmancy calculation that projects a delivery date that's 10 days from the current date.

So, where do views come from?

Some lists, which are based on list templates, already have some views set up for you, such as the tasks list that we just saw. If additional views are available, they are listed on the View menu

You can also create views. Anyone who contributes to a list or library can create and use their own views. If you have permission to design or own a site, then you can also create a public view, which you can share with your team.

Private view

This is a view that only you can create and see. Use this when you don't think others will need to see the same view or if you don't have permission to create a public view.

If you think others might benefit from this view, but you don't have permission, then give a shout out to the person who owns or designs your site.

Public view

If you are a site owner, or have the permission to manage lists, you can create public views. Anyone visiting the site can use the view you create. If you create a view that multiple people might find useful, you might want to let them a heads up.

Default view

What if you want to make a view you've created become the default view for everyone? For example, you might want to show everything grouped by project or department whenever people browse to a library.

When you create a view, you can opt to make the view become the default view. Just be aware that your team members might be surprised if you change views in midstream, and the view they are used to seeing suddenly changes.

Views + Web Parts = Cool Results

You can also use Web Parts (Web Part: A modular unit of information that consists of a title bar, a frame, and content. Web Parts are the basic building blocks of a Web Part Page.), which are building blocks for SharePoint sites, to display different views of the same lists or library on different pages. People might think you are pretty cool if you can make the most of views with Web Parts.

For example, on a main team site, you might show a library grouped by the contact for each file. Then, on a Media Relations subsite, you could show documents filtered by the Media Relations project.

Columns rule

Columns are the backbone of views. They provide information about your list items or files, such as the status, type, origin, ID number, and owner. They help you hone in on information, such as all the documents that belong to the Marketing department, or just the news releases written by Ray.

There is a downside, however, to going column crazy. If people feel there are too many columns to fill out, especially ones that most people don't use, they may become overwhelmed or irritated. Some people might be less prompt about keeping information up to date, or even accuse you of making their lives complicated.

The best strategy is to identify and prioritize the most important columns, and limit ones that aren't as important. If all the data is important, then it might help to educate people on why and how it's important, for example if other stakeholders need information for reports or planning.

If you have a lot of columns, you might even create a quick reference or cheat sheet, in case people might forget what everything means after a long weekend.

Another way of looking at things

Do you sometimes need to see things differently on the fly, but don't expect to need that view again? You can change the items that are displayed without creating an official view.

You click the arrow next to the column you want to use, and then filter or sort the items you want. For example, the following action would display only the documents in which Ray Chow is listed as the contact.

Using and creating views

The View menu is where the action happens. You can switch to a different view, modify the current view, or create a new view.

Do you want to know more? To learn how to create and modify columns and views, see Create or change a view. To learn how to display more or less data about your files and items, see Show or hide columns.

So, why couldn't I just use folders?

You might wonder whether it's be better to create folders, and move all your files into a folder hierarchy, instead of using views. When and how to use folders depends on how your team uses information.

Views are helpful when people frequently work across multiple departments or on "virtual" teams. For example, you may want to look at documents across several teams that belong to the same project. Other times, you might want to just see your team's or another team's documents.

Folders can be beneficial, too. For example, they can help organize and isolate distinct types of information. They also can help improve performance in lists and libraries with thousands of documents.

You might want to avoid getting too deep with folders and subfolders, though, to avoid documents becoming too buried. If you think you need to use both folders and views, don't worry, because you can use views to pull information out of folders in a flat view. For example, Ray Chow could create a view that pulls together documents that are assigned to him from various folders into a single list.

You can find more guidance on organizing documents and lists in the following:

• Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services: Organize files in a library
• Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services: Organize items in a list
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server: Organize files in a library
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server: Organize items in a list

You, or your IT team, can find information on using folders to manage performance in Plan enterprise content storage.

Thinking big? Tools to manage lists and libraries on a large scale

If you have a large site structure with lots of files, then you may want to arm yourself with some mega content management tools to ensure files are managed consistently.

Some tools to consider are site columns, in which the same column is used in multiple libraries and even sites within your site collection. That way, everybody is on the same page, which can be helpful for reports or consolidating information. This can prevent a mix-match of columns, such as Marketing Dept, Mkg Department, Mrktg Dpt, or any other version someone dreams up.

Another tool is content type (content type: A reusable group of settings for a category of content. Use content types to manage the metadata, templates, and behaviors of items and documents consistently. Content types are defined at the site level and used on lists and libraries.), in which you can set up different templates and sets of columns for different types of content. For example, you could require that no one can create a budget file without specifying the fiscal year, or that every article has to have the legal-schmegal disclaimer.

To learn more about content management on a large scale, see Introduction to document management.

About the author

Toni Saddler-French has been swimming in the waters of content creation for years, starting with Microsoft Word 1.1. She has worked with various Microsoft Office products, Internet Explorer, and server products and technologies. After hours, she engages in lively discourse with her preschooler about why Pluto was once a planet, whether the earth has an "Axisphere," and other scientific wonders.

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