Content Type as Metadata - Frequently Asked Questions

In this article I would like to emphasize Content Type as Metadata, the scenarios involved & frequently asked questions.

What is Content Type?

Content type is a reusable collection of Metadata (columns), workflow, behaviors, and other settings. Definition from MSDN:

"A content type is a reusable collection of settings that you want to apply to a certain category of content. Content types enable you to manage the metadata and behavior of a document, item, or folder in a centralized, reusable way. "

What are the advantages of Content Type?

Content Type provides the following advantages:

Centrally Managed We can define content type in a central location & this improves the Accuracy & Consistency.
Reusable We can reuse a content type across multiple libraries, sites, site collections & web applications. This reduces the repetition work.
Metadata Content Type allows us to create columns for the underlying data involved.
Behavior We can associate workflows for content types. This enables workflow to be started across various libraries that use the same content type. For example: A document of content type "Contract" requires an "Approval" workflow to be started.
Retention Policies We can associate Information Management Policies for content types. This allows global policy application for an entire document/item with specific content type. For example: We can set a document archiving policy for all "project" content type documents with an age greater than 3 years.
Content Standardization Since the content type is centralized & managed by authorized professionals, the Quality of Data will be improved.
Custom Forms We can associate custom forms with each content type. For example an Expense content type can have a custom form showing lookup values.
Hierarchical We can create new content type from existing content types. This allows reusing existing structure.

Can we assign Content Type to a List?

Yes. We can have Document content type & List content type.

Can a document library have multiple Content Types?

Yes. For an example scenario, we can have a project document library that contains a "Requirement" content type and a "Documentation" content type that is a different type of document.

Can a parent site's Content type be reusable in a child site?

Yes. Content type created in a parent site is available for sites & sub sites.

What is Content Type Hub?

A content type created in a Web Application can be made available in another Web application. Such a web application created for Content Type sharing is called Content Type Hub. We need to configure a Managed Metadata Service (MMS) for this purpose.

What is the difference between Site Content Type & List Content Type?

When you create a content type at a site level, it is a Site Content type. When you add the content type to a List level, it is copied & becomes a List content type.

Is Content Type Metadata?

Yes. Content Type can be called Metadata. Additional to Metadata, Content Type can have behavior, forms & retention policies.

When I should use Taxonomy Terms instead of Content Types?

If you wanted to classify the entire document & items, you can assign Taxonomy Terms.

What are the various Metadata infrastructures available?

I would say Columns, Site Columns, Content Types, Terms are those available in SharePoint.

Columns are the List/Library Columns, but Site Columns represent reusable Columns at the site level.

References

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms479905(v=office.14).aspx

Summary

In this article we have explored Content Type advantages & associated frequently asked questions.