Managing Metadata and Content Types in SharePoint 2010 : Metadata as a Navigation Aid

Metadata navigation is a powerful tool available in SharePoint Server 2010 Standard or Enterprise, and involves the configuration of hierarchy fields, key filters, and the management of column indices to facilitate browsing for specific types of content within a document library and creating filters to limit the results.

The terminology is a bit confusing, so the best way to understand how it works is to experiment with it. The following example walks through the process of creating a new document library, enabling content types, adding a content type to a document library, and then configuring the metadata navigation settings:

1.	Create a new document library by accessing the Site Actions drop-down menu and clicking New Document Library. Tile the library Metadata Navigation Library.
2.	After the document library is created, click Library Settings from the Library tab on the Ribbon.
3.	Next click Advanced Settings in the General Settings section. Click Yes under Allow Management of Content Types. Click OK to save this setting and return to the Document Library Settings page.
4.	Scroll down to the Content Types section and click Add from Existing Site Content Types.
5.	From the Add Content Types page, as shown in Figure 1, change the content types to Document Content Types in the Select Site Content Types From drop-down menu. Select Basic Page and click the Add button. Click OK to add this content type and return to the Document Library Settings page. Figure 1. Adding a content type to a document library.
6.	Click the Metadata Navigation Settings link in the General Settings section.
7.	Content Type should be highlighted in the Available Hierarchy Fields area, so click the Add button to add it to selected hierarchy fields. Note Other fields can be selected in the Available Hierarchy Fields section. Besides Content Type, Single-Value Choice Field and Managed Metadata Field can also be selected.
8.	In the Configure Key Filters section, in the Available Key Filter fields, click Modified By, and then click the Add button. The screen should now match Figure 2. Figure 2. Selecting hierarchy fields and key filter fields. Note A variety of fields can be used as key filters. These include Content Type, Choice field, Managed Metadata field, Person or Group field, Date and Time field, and Number field.
9.	Leave Automatically Manage Column Indices on This List checked. Click OK to save the changes and return to the Document Library Settings page. Note Leaving Automatically Manage Column Indices on This List selected will improve the performance of queries when the Navigation Hierarchy and Key Filter tools are used. There are a maximum of 20 columns that can be indexed in a list or library, so on rare occasions, the administrator might need to decide which 20 are indexed.
10.	Click the name of the document library in the breadcrumb to return to the library itself. The library should now have the hierarchy fields in the Quick Launch area on the left, and below it the key filter fields. Test these tools by creating several folders and uploading several documents to the library and assigning them to the Document and Basic Page content types during the upload process.

Figure 3 shows the navigation hierarchy after several folders have been created, and where the user has clicked the Basic Page content type, as well as the key filter section where the user has entered ABC\User1 and the filtering criteria for the Modified By field of metadata. This very intuitive navigation tool enables users to quickly navigate to folders and subfolders and to see only certain content types or other fields, such as managed metadata fields.

Figure 3. Navigation hierarchy and key filters in a document library.