Automatic Metadata in SharePoint with Smart Folders

Have you ever wonder how to add metadata in SharePoint to folders in a document library so that metadata can be applied automatically to all the documents created in the folder? This blog entry shows you step by step how to create a folder content type, add metadata to it, create a folder using the new content type, and create a document in the folder that has metadata applied from the folder content type.

Create a new site content type

1. Click Site Actions, click Site Settings
2. Under Galleries, click  Site content types
3. On the Site Content Types page, click Create
4. On the New Site Content Type page, enter a name and description for the new site content type
5. Select Parent Content Type by choosing Folder Content Types then Folder from the drop-down lists
6. Choose a group for the new site content type then click OK

Add your new site content type to a library

1. Click on the library where you want to add the new content type
2. Select the library that you want to add the content type
   1. Click Library under Library Tools menu
   2. Click Settings
   3. Click Library Settings
3. Under General Settings list, click Advanced settings
4. Choose yes option when asked “Allow management of content type?” Then click OK at the bottom of the page
5. You are directed to the Document Library Settings page, under Content Types, click Add from existing site content types
6. Select the new site content type we just created and click Add, go to the bottom of the page and click OK

Add metadata to be used in the content type by adding columns

1. On the Document Library Settings page, under Columns, click Add from existing columns.
2. Select the columns, add them, then click OK
3. You can see a list of columns used in the content types on the Document Library Settings page. You can add a new column, edit or delete the existing columns here:
4. Select the library to go to the library browsing page, click Documents under Library Tools, then click New Document, click Customized Folder
5. Enter folder name, description and other information then click Save
6. On the All Documents page, click the folder we just created
7. Go to Documents under Library Tools, click Add document or New Document in the Ribbon
8. You can edit the document properties(the columns added in the previous steps) in the Word program and save the document directly to your SharePoint site:
   

Congratulations!

Now you’ve created a folder content type, added it to a library, added metadata (columns) to the content type, created a folder in the library using the new content type and created a document inside the folder.

If you would like to take further advantage of the managed metadata features and other document management functions in SharePoint 2010.