How to Implement Metadata Navigation in SharePoint 2010

How to implement Metadata navigation in SharePoint 2010

  1. Open your site
  2. Verify that no navigational hierarchies or key filters are displayed in the left-hand column below the Quick Launch control.

    MtDtShr1.jpg

Plan the Navigational Hierarchies and Key Filters

Part of the implementation of metadata navigation is planning the fields to use for hierarchies and filters, which requires an understanding of the user's requirements and the content.

  1. Navigate to the Library Settings page for the document library and click on the Library ribbon tab.

    MtDtShr2.jpg
     
  2. Click the Library Settings ribbon button.

    MtDtShr3.jpg
     
  3. Click the Metadata navigation settings link located in the General Settings column.

    MtDtShr4.jpg
     
  4. Review the list of available hierarchy fields. Remember the navigation hierarchies should be broader in scope than the key filters.
  5. Determine the fields to configure as navigational hierarchies. In this lab we configure the following four navigational hierarchies:

    • Geography
    • Product Category
    • Project
    • Vertical Industry

    These four columns are broad categories that are effective in limiting our queries to a smaller set.
     
  6. Review the list of available Key Filter fields. The Key Filter fields are narrower than the configured hierarchies and are used to narrow the number of results viewed.
  7. Determine effective Key Filter fields. In this lab we configure six key filters:

    • Company Size
    • Content Type
    • Deal Owner
    • Exec Sponsor
    • Product Manager
    • Sales Lead

These six Key Filters enable us to narrow our results down to an acceptable size for our queries.

Configure Metadata Navigation

  1. Select Geography located in the Available Hierarchy Fields list box and click the Add button.

    MtDtShr5.jpg
     
  2. Select Product Category located in the Available Hierarchy Fields list box and click the Add button.
  3. Select Project located in the Available Hierarchy Fields list box and click the Add button.
  4. Select Vertical Industry located in the Available Hierarchy Fields list box and click the Add button.
  5. Select CompanySize from the Available Key Filter Fields list box and click the associated Add button.
  6. Select Content TypeSize from the Available Key Filter Fields list box and click the Add button.
  7. Select Deal Owner from the Available Key Filter Fields list box and click the Add button.
  8. Select Exec SponsorSize from the Available Key Filter Fields list box and click the Add button.
  9. Select Sales LeadSize from the Available Key Filter Fields list box and click the Add button.

    MtDtShr6.jpg
     
  10. Verify that Automatically manage column indices on this list is selected.

    MtDtShr7.jpg
     
  11. Review your Navigational Hierarchy and Key Filter selections.
  12. Click OK to finalize configuration of the Metadata Navigation feature.
  13. In the Library Settings page, scroll down below the list of columns and click the Indexed columns link to view the indexed columns.

    MtDtShr8.jpg
     
  14. Review the indices created for the list by the Metadata Navigation feature.

Configure Metadata Navigation

You have just configured metadata navigation in the document library. You can now use metadata navigation to locate content in the document library.

  1. Using Internet Explorer navigate to the documents library
  2. Verify the Navigational Hierarchies and Key Filter controls display in the left-hand column below the Quick Launch control.

    MtDtShr9.jpg
     
  3. Select Documents from the Navigational Hierarchy control.
  4. Select Sales Contract Content Type as the Key Filter and click Apply to view all sales contracts in the document library.

    MtDtShr10.jpg
     
  5. Click the Geography hierarchy to expand the locations.

    MtDtShr11.jpg
     
  6. Select North and Central America. This list view displays only sales contracts located in North and Central America.

    MtDtShr12.jpg