Out-of-the-box Templates for SharePoint Document Library
Maximize efficiency with SharePoints new Document library templates - ensuring consistency, tailored content, and simplified document creation.
Introducing SharePoint Online’s Enhanced Document Libraries
SharePoint Online introduces advanced document library templates - a major upgrade aimed at saving users time and enhancing content management organization consistency. These ready-made templates consist of pre-designed structures, relevant content, metadata and content types, simplifying the process of creating document libraries.
Available templates now include a media library, invoices and learning among others. Additionally, users can generate a document library using an existing library from their site or other sites. Some templates further include a 'release date reminder', which sends an email three days before the date in the related column.
Within Microsoft 365, SharePoint Online is taking central stage in document-centric collaboration. Essential features like SharePoint content types are used to enforce standards such as custom metadata, document lifecycle, templates and more. These are key to Microsoft 365's ongoing content services' innovative efforts.
Modernized information lifecycle has been implemented with data governance labels in Microsoft 365, setting retention and record policies. However, until now, templates have been largely obscure and hard to use. That’s about to change.
Microsoft is introducing the ability to add document templates directly to SharePoint document library content types. On top of this, users can now edit the New menu, allowing them to add, hide or reorder new file options. In a modernized library, a template can be added directly to the document library via the New menu dropdown.
Users can also configure the New menu by selecting which templates to see and by using a drag and drop system to reorder the templates in the menu. For users who desire a modern panel, they can edit the template directly within the Office client, change the template's content type or delete the template.
This update will be rolled out to Targeted Release customers in early September 2018 increasing, amongst other things, the control for new templates loaded on top of existing content types. For more information, click here.
Going forward, the plan is to integrate the library settings functionality directly into the modern configuration experience for a cohesive management system.
The General Implications of the Enhanced Document Libraries
The updated document library templates by Microsoft is a welcome improvement to SharePoint Online users. Apart from saving time in creating document libraries, the update introduces a new level of convenience to its users by enhancing content consistency across the organization.
Moreover, this upgrade aims to simplify document-related collaborations within Microsoft 365 by enforcing standard procedures for custom metadata, document lifecycle, templates and more, by using SharePoint content types. This reveals their commitment to providing innovative content services to Microsoft 365 users.
Expected to roll out by early September, this update will significantly increase control visibility for new templates on existing content types. This implementation is only the beginning of Microsoft’s long-term plan to provide users with a comprehensive and efficient content management system in the future.
SharePoint: Out-of-the-box document library
Microsoft has introduced innovative canned templates for SharePoint Online. This documentation library creation is effortless, providing templates packed with context-appropriate content, structure, metadata, and content types - all tailored to conserve your valuable time.
The templates include:
- Media Library
- Invoices
- Learning
There is also an option of creating a documentation library from another library on your site or different sites. Some templates come with a "Release date reminder" feature that sends an email 3 days ahead of the assigned column's date.
SharePoint Online remains the core of document-focused collaboration in Microsoft 365. SharePoint content types are vital tools for managing bulk content. They can be used to uphold standards for custom metadata, document lifecycle, templates, and so forth.
Content types play a crucial role in the vision of delivering content services innovation in Microsoft 365. Microsoft is modernizing information lifecycles in Microsoft 365 with data governance labels to establish retention and record policies. However, templates have been challenging to use.
Hence, Microsoft has decided to introduce the ability to add document templates to SharePoint Online document library content types. They have also added the functionality to edit the New menu—to add, hide or reorder the new file options.
In a modern library, the user can add a template directly to the document library via the New menu drop-down. With the new feature, the default Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc. templates can be maintained along with any newly added templates and content types.
The New menu can be quickly configured in a modern panel. You can select (or deselect) the templates you wish to see and use drag-and-dropping to reorder the templates in the menu. The user can edit the template directly in the Office client, change the template's content type, or delete the template.
This experience fully integrates with existing templates created via content types and supports any existing ‘New’ menu configurations. The user can adjust the template for a single library without overwriting any other library’s templates from the same content type.
The content type of the template can be easily changed at any time as per requirements.
If queries like 'how does the new capability work?', 'will centrally defined content type automatically extend to local templates?' or 'what happens if the default content type changes or gets deleted?' come to your mind, then worry not! New templates are always mapped to the default content type. Any preexisting templates would be mapped onto the new default in case the default content type gets deleted. Every library requires at least one content type which cannot be deleted while still in use.
In the long-term, Microsoft plans to introduce additional features such as extending these capabilities to allow users to distribute and publish content types, associated templates, and metadata definitions to multiple site collections and libraries in a single transaction.
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