In Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003, areas provide a flexible way to both describe and find information on the portal site. Areas define the structure of the portal site as a hierarchy that can be used to intuitively organize and browse the content on the portal site.

Documents, lists, and other items on the portal site and in other Web sites or file shares can be associated with one or more areas by using listings. Users can find information by browsing or searching the relevant areas for those items.

Using areas to navigate the portal site

You can browse areas from links on the navigation bar of the portal site. By default, all top-level areas appear on the navigation bar, although users with the correct permissions can exclude specific areas from portal site navigation. Top-level areas on the navigation bar tend to be broadly relevant to all users. The default top-level areas are Home, Topics, News, and Sites.

Managing areas

Users with the correct permissions can view the entire area structure of the site in the portal site map, available from the Portal Site Content section of the Site Settings page, including areas that have been excluded from portal site navigation. Users with the correct permissions can also add, edit, move, or delete areas to change the view of the portal site for all users.

As a site administrator, you can add a user to the content manager site group. By default, content managers can approve or reject content requests and manage area settings. In addition, as a site administrator or content manager, you can target areas for viewing by one or more audiences.

Creating an effective portal site structure requires planning and some understanding of how others might organize the content. For more information about managing areas, see About managing content in portal areas.

Using areas in search

Areas are also used during search to more accurately return search results for search terms related to various areas. You can scope searches by the current topic or area, or by any area from within the advanced Search Results page. For more information about searching by areas, see About search.

Topics

Topics are a subset of areas used to organize content on the portal site. Topics is also the name of the top-level area that by default contains all the topics. For more information about topics, see About topics.

Topic Assistant

If your portal site contains a large amount of content, dividing it into areas can be a time-consuming task. To simplify the process, SharePoint Portal Server 2003 provides an automated tool called the Topic Assistant. After you have assigned a few representative items to each area, the Topic Assistant compares those sample items to the items that haven't been assigned and then automatically selects the best area matches.

Despite its name, the Topic Assistant is used to automate and simplify the organization of all areas on your portal site, not just topics.

For more information about the Topic Assistant, see Using the Topic Assistant.

Related Topics

Create or delete an area

Move an area

About managing content in portal areas

Manage security settings for an area

About topics