10 reasons to avoid folders in sharepoint

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10 Reasons to Avoid Folders in SharePoint Bobby Chang @bobbyschang

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Maximize your SharePoint investment and find out why you need to avoid folders and start leveraging the Enterprise Content Management features in SharePoint. This presentation outlines the shortcomings of folders and explore such alternatives as Custom Columns, Views, Key Filters, Managed Metadata, Content Type, and Document Set. View a recording of the session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tDmGhIljmQ

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Page 1: 10 Reasons to Avoid Folders in SharePoint

10 Reasons to

Avoid Folders

in SharePointBobby Chang

@bobbyschang

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2 | @bobbyschang | linkedin.com/in/bchang | bobbyspworld.com

About Me

Contact Info

• slideshare.net/bobbyschang

• linkedin.com/in/bchang

• @bobbyschang

• bobbyspworld.com

Bobby Chang

SharePoint Consultant at Planet Technologies

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NO FOLDER FOR YOU !!

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Provide Value to Your End Users

Photo Credit – Matthew Keagle & Creative Commons

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7 | @bobbyschang | linkedin.com/in/bchang | bobbyspworld.com

Folder = Physical Location• SharePoint appends all folders into

URL• URL encoding applies, e.g.: Space =

%20Team Alpha Site Project

Document Library Project SOW

Proposal

Draft Copies from Team

My Personal Original Copies

I Very Much like Subfolders

http://mycompany.com/sites/TeamAlpha/ProjectDocuments/Project%20SOW/Proposal/Draft%20Copiesfrom%20Team…

/MyPersonal%20Original%20Copies/I%20Very%20Much%20Like%20Subfolders/My%20Favorite%20Document.docx

My Favorite Document.docx

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Linear Structure

Reason # 1

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A Linear Structure• Requires drilling down to sub-folders• Rigid structure leads to difficulty in finding

content• Can be inefficient during file upload

Number of clicks

1

2

34

56

7

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Forced Grouping

Reason # 2

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Multiple Categories?• Every file HAS to belong to a folder• Cannot account for file that falls into multiple

categories

Company A Company B

Document forCompany A & B Merger

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Moving Document = URL Change

Reason # 3

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Your links don’t work!!

SharePoint is broken

I HATE SharePoint!!!

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Higher Chance of Running into Error

Reason # 4

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15 | @bobbyschang | linkedin.com/in/bchang | bobbyspworld.com

Deep Folder Structure• 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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16 | @bobbyschang | linkedin.com/in/bchang | bobbyspworld.com

Threshold Error• 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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Metadata / Document Tag

Solution

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Picture listening to a song in iTunes

What do you see?

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Recap Reason #1 thru #41. 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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Metadata / Document Tag

Demo

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Lack of Flexibility in Display

Reason # 5

Photo Credit - Mind Yourself

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You’re at the mercy of the

person who created

the folder structure

• Folder presents only one way of grouping info

• Users have different preference to consume info

• Provides for a taxonomy challenge

Lack of Display Options

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Region > Year > Project Phase > Document Category

vs.

Year > Document Category > Region > Project Phase

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Custom Filters & Key Filters

Demo

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SharePoint View

Demo

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Inability to Track Synonym

Reason # 6

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Limitations with Synonym• Synonyms are typically appended

• E.g.: “Status / Progress Report / Project Team Update”

• Folder names can’t contain special characters (e.g.: /)

• Adding Synonym Folder Name Change URL Change

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Managed Metadata

Demo

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Lack of Control Over Taxonomy

Reason # 7

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”Is she changing our spectacularly designed folder

structure?”

• Contributors have too much control– Create, Delete, or Move

folders

– Rename folders

• Folder structure could be altered by team members

Contributors and Folders

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31 | @bobbyschang | linkedin.com/in/bchang | bobbyspworld.com

Governance Concern• 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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Termstore Management

Demo

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Loss of Office Integration Functions

Reason # 8

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Document Information Panel

Demo

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Quick Parts

Demo

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No Standard or Reusability

Reason # 9

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2012

Southeast

Project Status

Weekly Status ReportsTeam A

M A N U A L C O P Y P R O C E S S

2012

Status

ProjectReports

WeeklyProjectStatus

Southeast

2012

Project Status

Weekly Status Reports

2012

Status Reports

Team B Team C Team D

Inconsistent

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Content Type• 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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39 | @bobbyschang | linkedin.com/in/bchang | bobbyspworld.com

Weekly Status Reports Content Type

Team A Team B Team C Team D

A U T O M A T E D

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Content Type

Demo

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No Folder Workflow or Automation

Reason # 10

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Document Set

Demo

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No. Not necessarily.

Should I then NEVER use folder?

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Why You May Consider Folders

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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

Risk of Low User Adoption

Nice to meet you

Metadat

a

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Varying Permission Model• 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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47 | @bobbyschang | linkedin.com/in/bchang | bobbyspworld.com

Bulk Upload Native Tools

1. OneDrive for Business sync client err… Document Sync

2. Drag and Drop Feature

3. Open with Explorer

What do they have in common?

Page 48: 10 Reasons to Avoid Folders in SharePoint

48 | @bobbyschang | linkedin.com/in/bchang | bobbyspworld.com

Where do I tag??

No Metadata SupportJust

uploaded TONS of

files

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More Bulk Update Limitations• 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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How to Use Folders Effectively

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Using Folders Effectively• 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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52 | @bobbyschang | linkedin.com/in/bchang | bobbyspworld.com

Contributors vs. Visitors View• Different options for different

audience

• Display Folder View for Contributors– More efficient for upload– Auto-assigns tags via Common Default

Values

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Contributors vs. Visitors View• Display Non-Folder View for Visitors

– Removes reliance on navigating by folders

– Leverages power of metadata

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Should I NEVER use folder?

No. Not necessarily.

But Folder should be the Exception

NOT the Rule

Page 55: 10 Reasons to Avoid Folders in SharePoint

linkedin.com/in/bchang bobbyspworld.com

@bobbyschang

© LoveToKnow Charity

Questions? Feel Free to Contact Me

Bobby Changtwitter.com/bobbyschangslideshare.net/bobbyschang