Creating SharePoint Lists

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In SharePoint, you can get a lot of mileage out of something as simple as a list. This four=part article series shows you how. It is excerpted from Essential SharePoint 2007, Second Edition, A Practical Guide for Users, Administrators and Developers, written by Jeff Webb (O'Reilly, 2008; ISBN: 0596514077). Copyright © 2008 O'Reilly Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission from the publisher. Available from booksellers or direct from O'Reilly Media.

SharePoint lists are tables of data, much like Excel spreadsheets. In Chapter 2, I showed you how to create lists from spreadsheets. But lists can do a lot more than just store columns and rows of data—in fact, lists are like mini-applications in SharePoint.  

I’ve organized this chapter to follow the steps I use when creating new list-based applications for my clients:

1. Create a list using one of the built-in templates.
   
2. Add columns to collect additional data and calculate values as required.
   
3. Create supporting lists for lookups and master lists.
   
4. Add views to display required reports.
   
5. Enable email, versioning, and item approval as required.
   
6. Optionally customize the data entry forms.
   
7. Save the final list as a template and deploy it to other site collections.

That’s similar to the process I showed for creating sites: start with what’s provided, customize, get approval, and deploy. Don’t skimp on the approval part of that process—it’s a lot harder to change lists once they are deployed. Get agreement that the prototype you’ve created meets the stated needs before you save it as a template and deploy it across multiple sites.

This chapter builds on the Phone List sample we created together in Chapter 1. If you skipped that, you’ll want to go back and do it now. I also introduce the Problem Reports application, which is based on the Issue Tracking list template.

Next: Using Built-in List Templates >>
 

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This article is excerpted from chapter four of Essential SharePoint 2007, Second Edition, A Practical Guide for Users, Administrators and Developers, written by Jeff Webb (O'Reilly, 2008; ISBN: 0596514077). Check it out today at your favorite bookstore. Buy this book now.