Categorization in SharePoint – Intro

A SharePoint Online tutorial by Peter Kalmström

When you add more and more documents and list items to SharePoint it becomes increasingly important to have them categorized in a good way, so that users quickly can find the data they need.

In a few articles we will have a look on how best categorize files and list items in SharePoint. These are the categorization methods we suggest.

Move files into and out of folders. Generally Peter does not recommend using folders in SharePoint, but in some cases it may be necessary.
Create multiple document libraries. Peter recommends using separate document libraries instead of adding new folders to the default library, 'Documents'.
Create columns.. Columns can be sorted and filtered in various ways, so they are very useful for categorization.
Sort and filter columns.
Rate files in document libraries.
Tag documents with Enterprise Keywords. Such keywords can by used by the whole organization, and they are synchronized between all libraries and managed centrally in the Term Store.
Required Column Values. Make it mandatory to enter a column value to check in new documents.
Default column values. Use a static or calculated value that is added by default to each new document.
Term Store. Manage term sets for different site collections.