Bobby Chang
@bobbyschang
Bobby Chang
Senior Consultant with Deloitte
Contact Info
• slideshare.net/bobbyschang
• @bobbyschang
• linkedin.com/in/bchang
• bobbyspworld.com
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Provide Your Users with Value-Add
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Photo Credit – Matthew Keagle & Creative Commons
• SharePoint appends all folders into URL
• URL encoding applies, e.g.: Space = %20
http://mycompany.com/sites/TeamAlpha /ProjectDocuments/Project%20SOW/Proposal/Draft%20Copiesfrom%20Team…
/MyPersonal%20Original%20Copies/I%20Very%20Much%20Like%20Subfolders /My%20Favorite%20Document.docx
Team
Alpha Site
Project
Document
Library
Project SOW
Proposal
Draft Copies from Team
My Personal Original Copies
I Very Much like Subfolders
My Favorite Document.docx
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Reason # 1
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• Requires drilling down to sub-folders
• Rigid structure leads to difficulty in finding content
• Can be inefficient during file upload
2
1
3
4
6
5
7
# of user clicks
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Reason # 2
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• Every file HAS to belong to a folder
• Cannot account for file that falls into multiple categories
Company A
Company B
Document for
Company A & B Merger
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Reason # 3
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Your links don’t work!!
SharePoint is broken
I HATE SharePoint!!!
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Reason # 4
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• Folder is directly correlated with URLs
– Deep Folder Structure = Long URL
• System Constraint
– MS Office restriction of 259 characters max for URL links
– User may not be able to save, open, or update the files
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• Renaming folder may result in Threshold Error
• Generally occurs when total number of files in all
sub-folders are greater than 5,000 files
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Solution
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Picture listening to a song in iTunes
What do you see?
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1. Linear folder structure
2. Inability to account for multiple categories
3. Risk in broken links upon document move
4. Higher chance of running into error
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Demo
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Reason # 5
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• Folder presents only 1 way of document grouping
• Users have various preferences on structuring info
>
>
>
vs.
>
>
>
You’re at mercy of the person
who created the folder structure
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Demo
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Demo
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Reason # 6
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• Synonyms are typically appended
• E.g.: “Status / Progress Report / Project Team Update”
• Folder names cannot contain special
characters (e.g.: /)
• Adding Synonym
Folder Name Change
URL Change
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Demo
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Reason # 7
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• Contributors have too much control
– Able to Create, Delete, or Move folders
– Able to Rename folders
• Folder structure can be altered by any team member
”Is she changing our spectacularly
designed folder?”
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Photo Credit – Creatas/Creatas/Getty Images
• With folders, contributors have free reign
over taxonomy management
• Reserve capability for selective individuals
– i.e.: Content Manager or Site Manager
• Avoid the Wild Wild West scenario
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Demo
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Reason # 8
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Demo
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Reason # 9
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2012
Southeast
Project Status
Team A
Weekly Status Reports
MANUAL COPY PROCESS
Team B
Team C
2012
2012
Southeast
Inconsistent
Team D
Status Reports
Status
2012
Project Status
Weekly Status Reports
ProjectReports
WeeklyProjectStatus
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• Foundation of SharePoint Content Management
• Even if you’re not aware of Content Type, you most
likely have already interacted with it
• Provide standardization:
• Consistent set of tags or metadata
• Ability to attach standard document template
• Associate automated business workflow process
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Demo
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Reason # 10
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Demo
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Should I NEVER use folder?
No. Not necessarily.
But Folder should be the Exception
NOT the Rule
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Questions?
Feel Free to Contact Me
Bobby Chang
twitter.com/bobbyschang
slideshare.net/bobbyschang
linkedin.com/in/bchang
bobbyspworld.com
@bobbyschang
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• People are comfortable with folders
• Metadata is a Huge Mind Shift
– Expect Resistance & Initial Uphill Battle
– Requires Continuous Education and Training
Meta
data
Nice to
meet you
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• Permissions can be set at the folder level
• Documents residing in a folder would
inherit the permissions of that folder
• Fantastic for complex permission
requirements within a single repository
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1. SkyDrive Pro
2. Drag and Drop Feature
3. Open with Explorer
What do they have in common?
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Just uploaded
TONS of files
Where do I tag??
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• Content Type unsupported in Datasheet/Quick Edit
• In SharePoint 2010:
– Managed Metadata unsupported in Datasheet View
– Content Type unsupported in Inline Editing
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• Combine Folders with Metadata
• Utilize “Common Default Values”
– Metadata value can be automatically assigned
– Each folder can have different default values
• Create “Without Folders” SharePoint View
– Hides folder structure when displaying documents
– Eliminates hierarchy issue when browsing
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• Different options for different audience
• Display Folder View for Contributors
– Potentially more efficient for upload
– Auto-assigns tags via Common Default Values
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• Display Non-Folder View for Visitors
– Removes reliance on navigating by folders
– Leverages power of metadata
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