SharePoint Thing a Day 003 – Information Architecture

Folders are evil

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#spthingaday 003 – Information Architecture. Folders are evil. Use metadata. #SharePoint, #Office365.. On a fileshare, all you have is path and filename. That's the only axis by which you can classify your stuff. So you nest folders, within folders, within folders. Then you pack the filename with extra bits of information – like the initials of the last editor, or the version number. You don't need to do this in SharePoint. Use metadata. Add columns to your libraries. Text columns, number columns, choice columns, managed metadata columns. Each file can have several of these values simultaneously. But a file can only live in one folder at a time. Use metadata. #microsoft #microsoftoffice #microsoftsharepoint #microsofttraining #officetraining #freetraining #trainingvideos #contentmanagement #enterprisecontentmanagement

A post shared by JFDI Consulting #spthingaday (@jfdiconsulting) on Dec 3, 2017 at 2:51am PST

On a fileshare, all you have is path and filename. That’s the only axis by which you can classify your stuff. So you nest folders, within folders, within folders. Then you pack the filename with extra bits of information – like the initials of the last editor, or the version number.

You don’t need to do this in SharePoint.

Add columns to your libraries. Text columns, number columns, choice columns, managed metadata columns. Each file can have several of these values simultaneously. But a file can only live in one folder at a time.

Use metadata.