Smart Document Management Process Using Content Types and Metadata Tagging

Introduction

Hi guys, let’s explore a useful metadata-tagged document management process in a particular modern library for establishing higher-end and sharper presentation capabilities by implementing the below concepts:

Content types
Meta Data Managed Tagging
Folders
Document Sets
Views
Content Highlight Web Parts
Search Experience

Content Types

As we all know, an item template can be reused for a sharper, intelligent classification.

Examples of content types: Metadata, Document in Library, Item in a List, etc.

You can always create your required content types by following this path >> Go to Site Settings >> Web Designer Galleries >> Site content types >> Create under some suitable Default Group OR create your own Specific Group

For example, I have created a new group named Special content types with the below list of content types:

Folder

A folder can be easily created using the standard option. It’s used for high-level document classification. However, here we are following the same process to create a FolderContentType.

Add from existing Site Columns.

Add/Remove for your specific tagging, as shown.

Now, go to Site Settings >> Advanced Settings >> Allow Management of content types.

Make a new folder and set it to Yes.

Enable the Yes option under 'allow items from this document library to appear in search results' for direct support of a search experience that comes up with some default filters.

Use Quick Edit (for different types of tagging). The Bulk Edit option (for the same type of tagging) can be used for the Docs that are uploaded inside the Folder.

For the entire Content-Type Path to be shown, just enable 'Display the Entire Path to the Term in the Field'.

Add content types to your library.

Now try to create a folder content type using the +New option.

Add another document inside the created Folder with all Metadata Values and Content Types using the Quick Edit option.

You can Edit the Menu of the +New option of the Library to select/deselect only the specific Templates to be available for the End User while they use it for Document Management.

You can also add your own Specific Standard Documents/ PPTs/ PDFs and save them as Templates using the same option to promote Reusability and sharper Document Management.

You can have some default + specific standard custom documents + folder content type for reusability while the end-user is working with a couple of documents in the Modern Library.

You can only have the standard specific custom document content types by deselecting the remaining options.

Document Set

One more creative idea is to promote the document Set.

The Document sets allow us to see the version of each item from the version history we can restore the recently deleted item. The SharePoint folder is simply a view in a document library that we cannot customize. Howeverm the document set is a content type where we can apply unique permission to each document set.

Best Use Cases for Document Sets

The following examples are usually the best applications for document sets:

Small projects (with each folder being a small project)
Specific Classified Collected Documents
Financial assets Documents (with each document set being a mutual fund)
Client documents (with each document set being a client folder)
Legal Documents (with each document set being a legal case)

Go to Site Settings >> Site Collection Features >> Activate Document Set

Go to Library Settings >> content types >> Add from existing Content Types >> Add Document Set

For a smarter approach, you can also include the default content type Settings without manually adding them separately while uploading your documents on the Document Set by following the below process:

Library Settings >> Column Default Value Settings >> Select the Column >> Set the Default Value to your specific Default Managed Metadata content type >> Follow the same process for all required metadata-managed columns that help us with effective tagging of the documents.

Changing the default column values is a cool way to define the default column values for any document before uploading it to the document library. This process includes content types tagging that comes with the metadata-mapped navigation coming from the Term Store created from the Admin Centre. It’s a cool way to save time and promote smart management of documents on Modern SharePoint Online.

Upload your Documents now on the created Document Set: Medical Section Set

You can also go with Multiple Bulk Edit Properties for all the documents in a Document set at a time to set their respective Metadata Managed Tagging.

Similarly, create one more Document Set: Life Insurance Section Set & Upload Multiple Documents using Bulk Editing Properties & Click Save.

View

Views also help with filtering/sorting/grouping the available documents in a library.

Note

Sorting is not supported on Calculated Columns, and Metadata Managed Content type columns.

Now let’s create 4 Views to classify the related documents and document sets accordingly view wise using a simple filter condition based on your 4 Classifications, as shown below:

Life Insurance Benefits View with Filtering has Benefits:Life Insurance
Medical Benefits View with Filtering has Benefits:Medical
Vision Benefits View with Filtering has Benefits:Vision
Dental Benefits View with Filtering has Benefits:Dental

Content Highlight WebPart

Content Highlight Modern Web Part is for highlighting the Most Recent Documents/Content Hub wise, Site wise, Library wise and other specifications for a Smarter Presentation and Management purpose.

So let’s create multiple content highlight web parts using above Classification Filtering Conditions to showcase them on the Site Home Page

with same above 4 Filtering conditions applied.

Search

Search Experience is an Inbuilt MS Graph API integrated Continuous Crawling Service throughout all the Modern Sites and Modern Experience.

Let’s search for a Keyword: Dental with specific Filters

Use File based Filtering for Word,PDF,PPT and other formats

Similarly, search for other content type Key words like Vision, Medical, Life Insurance etc. to have the Documents specific Classified Modern Search Experience.

Finally we have used the content types, Meta Data Managed Tagging, Folders, Document Sets, Views, Content Highlight Web Parts to establish the best way of Content Managed MetaData Tagged Document Management Process on a Particular Modern Library with a refined filter-based search experience.

I have exclusively provided the same process with many snapshots in detail in a zipped Folder along with this blog. Feel free to download and go through a deeper understanding if required.

Thus, the above article promotes high-end document management in a Modern Library! Cheers!