Base Content Types

SharePoint offers a repertoire of content types that address the basic business needs. These are organized into groups according to their purpose. This section details each of these built-in content groups and types.

Business Intelligence Content Types

SharePoint 2007 introduces powerful features that organize, track, and display data from a variety of sources so you can monitor the status of your business. This section discusses the business intelligence content types, and Chapter 11 describes the useful set of business reporting tools included in this latest version of SharePoint. The content types in the following table are available as part of the Business Intelligence group. The indicator types contain columns that collect business intelligence information from a data source so it can be presented as a key performance indicator (KPI) or in a report. By creating a new content type based on one of these base content types, you can augment the information that is gathered by default. You can also customize the dashboard and report types to meet your needs.

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Content Type	Description
Dashboard	A special type of web page geared toward the display of business intelligence reports. This content type can be created from a Reports library.
Indicator using data in Excel workbook	A key performance indicator based on information stored within an Excel workbook. This type of indicator can be created from a KPI list.
Indicator using data in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services	A key performance indicator based on information stored within SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services. This type of indicator can be created from a KPI list.
Indicator using data in SharePoint list	A key performance indicator based on information stored within a SharePoint list. This type of indicator can be created from a KPI list.
Indicator using manually entered information	A key performance indicator based on information entered directly into an item in a KPI list.
Report	An Excel document page for the browser-based display of spreadsheet information. Content authors create content in this type by uploading a spreadsheet to a reports library or creating a new spreadsheet from the library.

Document Content Types

You’ll probably use the document types frequently in your SharePoint sites because the typical site functions as a document repository and viewing system for your team. The following document types are built into SharePoint, some of which will be explored throughout this book:

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Content Type	Description
Basic Page	A very simple web page containing a single rich text editor.
Document	The parent content type for many other collaborative content types including basic page, Dublin core columns, form, and picture. Possibly one of the most common and popular content types.
Dublin Core Columns	Based on the Document content type but contains many standard columns to conform with the requirements for the popular classification system known as Dublin Core.
Form	Based on the Document content type and is specifically designed to support the use of InfoPath. See Chapter 10 for more on forms.
Link to a Document	In some cases, a document may be stored in one location and linked from another library. This content type helps support such scenarios by creating a record or row in a document library that references the document located in the other location.
Picture	Based on the document content type and is the primary content type associated with a Picture library.
Web Part Page	A web page with a number of Web Part zones for the use of Web Parts. These web pages can come in a variety of layouts and templates.

Folder Content Types

You use this type for folders and discussion boards in SharePoint. Because individual discussions in SharePoint are stored within folders, it is appropriate that the base content type is affiliated with the Folder Content Types group.

The following base content types are available as part of the Folder Content Types group:

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Content Type	Description
Folder	Expanded in SharePoint 2007 to support columns and metadata like any other element stored within a list or library. Unlike other content types, the folder does not support workflow or information management policies.
Discussion	Based on the folder content type, supports workflow and information management policy settings as well as custom metadata. This type of content type is associated with a Discussion list, which was discussed in Chapter 2.

List Content Types

An important SharePoint 2007 feature is easily creating and storing information in lists. Lists can hold any information from a simple To-Do list, to a more complex resource tracking list. You can now take full advantage of content types by creating a base content type for each primary list template. Each content type in turn has a set of associated metadata columns that represent the information that will be stored in the list.

The following base content types are what SharePoint has to offer as part of the List Content Types group. This section also presents two Try It Outs that show how to create a new content type based on the SharePoint Issues content type. You basically tweak this content type so you can use it in your company. In the second Try It Out, you see what happens when you add a column to a parent content type.

You can apply the processes illustrated in this section to virtually every other content type in the chapter to make your own custom content types.

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Content Type	Description
Announcement	Based on the Item content type, is used for tracking simple news updates for a team. This content type is associated with an Announcements list, which was covered in Chapter 2.
Contact	Based on an Item content type and contains the columns required to share contact information. This content type is associated with the Contacts list, which was covered in Chapter 2.
Far East Contact	Very similar to the Contact content type but contains special columns related to Phonetic information. We do not cover this content type in this book.
Issues	Contains columns for tracking problems that may arise within a collaborative or work environment. This content type is associated with the Issues list, which was covered in Chapter 2.
Item	A parent content type of the Document content type and many list items. It is created by default with a single column for Title.
Message	Contains common columns required for content similar to that used in a discussion list item such as message subject, body, and email sender.
Task	Based on an Item content type and contains the columns required to share task information. This content type is associated with the Tasks list, which was covered in Chapter 2.

Try It Out-Create a New Content Type Based on Issue Content Type

Imagine that you work for a software company. The Issues content type contains many of the settings that you want to track bugs or problems in your software applications. However, each team has slightly different workflow processes to manage and respond to the issues that users report on the various software applications. To accommodate this, you create content types based on the Issue content type and customize the workflow processes associated with each to match the team.

In the following steps, you create a content type that has all the settings as an Issue content type. You accomplish this by setting the Issue content type as the parent type.

1. From the main page of your site, select Site Actions Site Settings.

2. Under the Galleries section, select Site Content Types.

3. Click the Create button from the toolbar.

4. In the Name field, type Technology Issues.

5. In the Description field, type Issues related to technology.

6. From the Select Parent Content Type From drop-down menu, select List Content Types.

7. From the Parent Content Type drop-down menu, select Issues.

8. From the Put This Site Content Type Into section, select New Group.

9. In the New Group field, type Divisional Issue Tracking.

10. Click the OK button to complete the creation of your new content type.

Try It Out-Add a Column to a Parent Content Type

Whenever you select a content type as a parent of a new content type, all site columns are automatically added to the new content type. Similarly, if you add a new custom column to the base Issues content type, you can optionally add that column to all content types inheriting from that type. For example, if you add a new column to the Issues content type for cost so that you can track what the expected costs of responding to the issue might be, you can also add that column to your Technology Issues content types. In this example, you create a new column on the base issue content type called Billing Information.

1. From the main page of your site, select Site Actions Site Settings.

2. Under the Galleries section, select Site Content Types.

3. From the List Content Types group, select Issues.

4. From the Columns section, select Add from Existing Site Columns. The Add Columns to Site Content Type window appears, as shown in Figure 6-4.

   
   Figure 6-4

5. From the Select Columns From drop-down menu, select Core Task and Issues Columns.

6. Select the Billing Information column from the Available columns field and click the Add button.

7. Ensure that Yes is selected for the Update All Content Types Inheriting from This Type value.

8. Click the OK button to complete the addition of the new column.

How It Works

The Technologies Issues content type that you create in the “Create a New Content Type Based on Issue Content Type” Try It Out, updates to include the Billing Information field.

Page Layout Content Types

One of the most significant advancements of SharePoint 2007 is the integration of Microsoft Content Management Server into the platform under the name Web Content Management (WCM). This great functionality allows users to create content for a site directly from the browser without having any special web development knowledge or skills.

Most sites have unique types of pages in them. For example, you might have a main page, a generic sub-page, and a newsletter page. Each page type, in turn, has specific content elements that make them unique to the site. For example, the Newsletter page likely has a Title, Newsletter Body, and Published Date. APage Layout content type defines these unique content elements by attaching site columns to your content type. You can later use this content type to create a Page Layout, which is a special type of template page that users can use to create new pages in a site. Figure 6-5 shows some of the default page templates that exist as choices when creating a new page from a Page Layout.

Figure 6-5

In essence, a Page Layout content type has the same relationship to a page in a site that a Document content type has to a document in a document library. It is a template combined with site columns and rules.

The following base content types are available as part of the Page Layout Content Types group:

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Content Type	Description
Article Page	Contains many of the common properties that a page should have, including elements used for publishing such as scheduling date and others that are used for content display such as page content. As shown in Figure 6-5, several page layouts exist based on the Article Page template.
Redirect Page	A page layout that is intended for the creation of pages that will redirect visitors and readers to another location.
Welcome Page	Contains a number of columns for the display and publishing of content.

Tip 

Chapter 13 discusses Page Layout content types in much greater detail, including how to make and manage these special components.

Publishing Content Types

Besides offering a feature for content approval, WCM lets you publish information both automatically via workflow and manually. Another WCM-related content type group in SharePoint 2007 is Publishing content types. The base publishing content types provide the structure for all major web publishing components. The following base content types are available as part of the Publishing Content Types group:

• Page:   A system parent content type uses the page layout content types (see the section “Page Layout Content Types”) as a parent. This content type contains many columns related to the creation of publishing content.

• Page Layout:   A system parent content type used for publishing content in the site collection.

• Publishing Master Page:   A system content type used for publishing content in the site collection.

Tip 

Page layouts are template pages that are explored in Chapter 13, as are Master pages. Because Publishing content types are the key to creating websites using SharePoint 2007, Chapter 13 discusses them in much greater detail.

Special Content Types

The content type group called Special content types allows users to upload documents regardless of content type to a library. It offers no special customization characteristics and is intended for use in situations where the content type is unknown or not important.