🧐 So, what's this all about?!

Metadata is a term that many people find confusing or think it's going to be too difficult to set up and actually use within their SharePoint Intranet site.

This couldn't be farther from the truth! (well, quite far anyway...)

While you can do some pretty complex stuff with metadata, you can also do some pretty simple stuff which will really help make content management within SharePoint Online super convenient!

In this post, I will provide a breakdown of the top 2 simple use cases for SharePoint metadata that you should take advantage of!

1. Organise and categorise your content

2. Use it to facilitate your business processes

But first...

What is Metadata??

Metadata is simply descriptive information that allows you to describe, organise and categorise something.

A real-world example of this concept that gets thrown about quite often is to imagine a book. If we wanted to categorise a book, we might use:

• The Title
• The Author
• The Published Date
• The Category

Fig. Book Metadata Example

These are all examples of metadata relevant to a book. If you imagine yourself standing in a library, you would search for a book based on its metadata. Just imagine a library with no metadata. You would have a pretty hard time locating a single book amongst thousands! 😭😭😭

Metadata in a SharePoint Online Site

In SharePoint Online, we use metadata in the exact same way.

Metadata in SharePoint allows you to associate additional information (think tagging 🏷️) with files, documents, or list items.

So applying metadata to your content will let you organise and categorise content which, in turn, will make finding and managing it easier than just relying on the file, list item or page name.

In SharePoint Online (or any version of SharePoint, for that matter), we add metadata to lists and document libraries through 'Metadata Columns'.

Then, when we add content, we have the option to fill in metadata for that content through a form (example below).

Fig. SharePoint Online list form where metadata is entered against a list Item

You can add as many metadata columns to a list or document library as you need (there are actually limits, but the vast majority of people will never hit them) in order to describe what you are storing in it. It's super flexible!

Word of caution... try not to go crazy with adding metadata columns to your lists and document libraries. If you have many of them, people will probably not be bothered to complete them properly! (Just saying!)

Anyway... there are different types of metadata columns depending on what type of information is to be captured. Below are a few examples to give you a taste:

1. Single Line of Text: A basic text field where you can enter a single line of text.
2. Multiple Lines of Text: This column allows you to input larger text, such as comments or descriptions.
3. Choice: Presents a predefined set of options that you can select from, using either a dropdown menu or radio buttons.
4. Number: Enables you to enter numeric values (both integers and decimals 🥸).
5. Date and Time: Allows you to input date and time values and provides a date picker for easy selection.
6. Lookup: Enables users to reference data from another list within the site, creating relationships between lists.
7. Hyperlink or Picture: Allows users to input a hyperlink or an image URL.
8. Yes/No: A simple checkbox column for users to indicate a binary choice (Yes or No).
9. Person or Group: Allows users to reference individual users or groups, often used to assign tasks or responsibilities.

Fig. Types of SharePoint Online metadata columns

And the list goes on, but I think you get the picture!

Once you have added the metadata columns you need to your list or library, you can then "tag" any content within with the appropriate metadata values.

Brilliant! 🎉

So now that we have that out of the way, let's get into the top 2 (simple) common ways to use metadata in SharePoint...

I've recorded a video explaining these uses here if you'd rather watch than read!

👉 Number 1 | Organise and categorise your content so you can filter, group and create views! (the obvious one!)

So above I talked about what metadata is and how you can apply it to SharePoint BUT, that didn't really tell you why you should do it.

Let's address that.

The short answer is, the more you tell SharePoint about your content (with metadata of course), the more options you have in terms of browsing and displaying it.

So by way of example, let's say we have a reading list within our companies book club.

The list is a SharePoint Online list, and within this list, each row represents a book.

To make the list more descriptive, I have added a number of metadata columns (see below)

Fig. SharePoint Online list metadata structure example

So, for every book that I add to the list, I am going to tag it with:

• Title (single line of text metadata column)
• Book Image (Image metadata column)
• Author (Single line of text metadata column)
• Published Date (Date and time metadata column)
• Summary (Multiple lines of text column)
• Category (Choice metadata column)

Now that I have this list structure, I can:

Filter on metadata values

By clicking the filter icon on the top right of the screen, I can choose specific values to filter on.

Fig. SharePoint Online metadata filters

As your list and libraries start to grow, being able to apply one or more filters makes it really easy to target specific types of content.

When we structure document libraries with metadata, being able to filter on any combination of metadata values offers a more flexible approach to document management than static nested folders. This is part of the argument for NOT using folders and, instead, using metadata as a sort of 'dynamic folder' ('Views' makes this very manageable - more on that later).

.Note: If you have a document library with folders and metadata, filters will only apply to the content within the folder you are currently in.

Group by metadata values

You can also group content by most metadata column types. This is specifically useful for choice-type metadata columns which represent categories or statuses.

Just click the dropdown arrow beside a column and select 'Group By'.

Fig. How to group by metadata

In the image below, I have grouped the books in the list by category:

Fig. Example of grouping by metadata

Create 'Views'

A 'View' in a SharePoint document library or list is essentially a way to save a set of applied filters or groupings so that you don't have to apply them every time you leave and come back.

To create a view, all you have to do is apply any filters or grouping you like, then click the view dropdown in the top right of the list or library and select 'Save view as'. You give it a name and click save.

Then, whenever you come back to the list or document library, all you have to do is click the view dropdown, and you will see any saved views. Just select the view you want, and the saved filters or grouping will be instantly applied!

Simple but effective!

Fig. Using list and document library views in SharePoint Online

Benefit from improved search performance

When you apply metadata to your content, apart from everything else, you provide more information to SharePoint about what it is. That means that you can then search by metadata value, and SharePoint will return any matching content.

This has really powerful implications when you start to use managed metadata across multiple sites (I wrote about managed metadata here) BUT, we're keeping this one simple so we'll leave that there. For now, just know that metadata will have a positive impact on the perceived performance of search. 😁

Now onto the second common way to use metadata...

👉 Number 2 | Facilitate your business processes

So while metadata is obviously great for the reasons stated above, it is commonly used to facilitate business processes.

Example 1: Think of a Task list.

A task list will commonly have the following metadata

• Task title - (typically created as a 'Single line of text' metadata column)
• Task Description - (typically created as a 'Multiple lines of text' metadata column)
• Task Status - (typically created as a 'Choice' metadata column)
• Assigned to - (typically created as a 'Person or Group' metadata column)
• Due Date - (typically created as a 'Date & time' metadata column)
• Comments - (typically created as a 'Multiple lines of text' metadata column)

If you structure a list with the above metadata, you can easily see how every item you add to the list could be used to track a specific task. Then, as the task progresses, the metadata can be updated to reflect the current state.

My post on how to manage news publications has a detailed walk-though of this concept.

Changes to metadata are stored within the items 'version history' so you get a built-in audit log of how the task progressed. Nice!

Example 2: Think of a simple Document Approval process

Imagine you have a document library used to store documents requiring approval. You could create a 'Document status' choice type column with the following options:

• Draft
• Under Review
• Approved

You could then update the metadata column to match the document's current state.

Couple this with an 'Approver' metadata column (typically created as a 'Person or Group' type column), as well as an 'Approved On' metadata column (typically created as a 'Date & time' type column), and you have the makings of a great way to track a document approval process.

I am using the simple process examples above to illustrate the point only. There are for sure many more advanced techniques and methods to implement both leveraging automation and integration with other Microsoft 365 apps such as MS Planner and MS Teams but metadata will always play a part in the solution as it is core to describing the 'thing' moving through the process.

Example 3: Using PowerAutomate to populate a private list from a public MS Form

A practical (and still) simple use of metadata in a process is any use case where you want to request information from somebody and you want to manage their response in a list.

Perfect for any type of request.

The process will typically have the following setup and high-level steps:

1. A request form is created with MS Forms and embedded within an Intranet site
2. An end user will access the form, fill it in and submit
3. A PowerAutomate flow will be in place to monitor the MS Form for new submissions
4. Once the flow has been triggered, it will submit the form response to a SharePoint List
5. The SharePoint List will be structured so it has a number of metadata columns, with each corresponding to a question on the form
6. So when a new item is added to the list via the flow, each metadata column will be populated with information submitted by the user
7. Now we have the responses entered into the list, do whatever we want with it. Try combining this with the structure in example one to track what happens next.

Demo of a request-based process facilitated by a SharePoint List, a MS Form and a simple PowerAutomate flow, where Metadata is key!

Keeping in line with the book examples used earlier, I have created a version of the above process in the context of new book submissions. Here's a quick walk-through:

✅ I have a clear call to action on the homepage of my Book Club site inviting visitors to submit book ideas

Fig. Using a button webpart as a call to action to kick off a request process

✅ When a visitor clicks the button, they are presented with a MS Form embedded on a site page

Fig. Book Request MS Form embedded on a site page

✅ A PowerAutomate Flow is set up to monitor the MS Form for submissions

Fig. A PowerAutomate Flow set up to record form responses within a SharePoint List

✅ When the form is submitted, the PowerAutomate will add a new item to the Book Club Reading list. The questions in the MS Form match the Metadata columns within the list, and PowerAutomate brings it all together.

Fig. Item added to a SharePoint Online list via a PowerAutomate FLow

✅ Now that we have a way to get submissions automatically into our reading list, we can add additional metadata columns to manage them.

💡Summary

So hopefully, you've made it this far (congratulations if you have!) and now have a solid understanding of how to use metadata within your SharePoint sites.

If you are starting your journey into the world of metadata, start slow. Create a test list or library and explore what I have written above. Reading about something is great, but there is no substitute for rolling up the sleeves and getting stuck in!

The rewards are many and great!

Until next time, Dan