SharePoint Term Store is a powerful tool that allows you to manage your organization’s taxonomy, ensuring consistency across your intranet, extranet, or internet site. With centralized management of terms, you can ensure that everyone uses the same language and terminology, making it easier for users to find content and reducing confusion.
To get the most out of SharePoint Term Store, follow these best practices:
- Define a clear taxonomy strategy: Before creating your term store, define what your organization’s taxonomy should look like. This will help you create a consistent and scalable framework that can be used across different parts of your site.
- Use a hierarchical structure: Organize your terms in a hierarchical structure to make it easier for users to navigate and find the information they need. Start with broad categories, then drill down into more specific subcategories.
- Create a governance model: Establish a governance model that outlines how term management will be handled within your organization. This includes who is responsible for creating and updating terms, as well as how changes will be reviewed and approved.
- Use managed metadata columns: When creating lists or libraries in SharePoint, use managed metadata columns to associate terms with specific content. This allows you to easily filter and sort content based on the term.
- Utilize the Term Store Explorer: The Term Store Explorer is a powerful tool that allows you to browse and manage your term store directly from within SharePoint. Use it to review and approve term submissions, as well as to check for inconsistencies in your taxonomy.
Some of the key features to use within SharePoint Term Store include:
- Term Sets: Create sets of related terms that can be used across different parts of your site.
- Terms: Define specific terms that can be used to categorize content. Each term can have a description, synonyms, and a hierarchy.
- Term Set Hierarchy: Organize your term sets in a hierarchical structure, making it easier for users to navigate and find the information they need.
- Approval Process: Establish an approval process for term submissions to ensure that only accurate and consistent terms are added to your taxonomy.
- Search: Use SharePoint’s search functionality to quickly find content that is associated with specific terms.
By following these best practices and utilizing the features within SharePoint Term Store, you can create a centralized management system that ensures consistency and scalability across your site. This will make it easier for users to find the information they need, reducing confusion and increasing productivity.