If you’re new to SharePoint, it’s a part of the Microsoft 365 family. It allows you to professionally manage documents and content. SharePoint is user-friendly enough, but whether you’re an end-user or an administrator, it’s best to have a working knowledge of the best practices for SharePoint.
Here are 7 tips for using SharePoint effectively.
- Copy lists and libraries quickly
It can take hours to make a list or library complete with adding all the required metadata and creating views. One thing you should know about SharePoint is that you can copy the list from any site on SharePoint if you have or know the proper access. This will save you time when you create new projects.
- Be consistent with file names
Given the nature of SharePoint and how it’s used to manage documents, you’ll be storing numerous documents when you use SharePoint. For this reason, you’ll need to ensure that you’re consistent in your file names.
Using consistent file names is important because some search results contain obscure file names. This can result in you wasting time opening multiple files to find the one you’re looking for.
- Know when to use site types
With SharePoint, you have 2 site template options: team site and communication site. Communication site is used for making announcements to your teammates. The ideal time to use communication sites is when you have more readers than you have contributors. Team sites are best when you have a small group of individuals working together and you have numerous contributors.
- Learn to restore data you’ve lost from the library
Accidently deleting data is awful—everyone’s done it once or twice. When you delete crucial data, however, your whole team can suffer. Luckily, data in SharePoint can be retrieved if deleted; you just need to know how to do it.
Your first task is to create a policy for data restoration in SharePoint and properly apply it. This restoration process will restore any data you lose during a certain timeframe. This will, however, mean you lose any changes made after your restoration process is set.
- Personalize your view
SharePoint also allows users to personalize their view within the program. This customization option allows users to toggle on the filters and management tools they use most frequently. What’s more, every member within a team can make their own personalized view that only they can access. Additionally, teammates that have similar requirements can use a public view to collaborate.
- Restrict library permissions
Allowing everyone to access the data library in SharePoint is a data security nightmare. To make things more secure, you should restrict access to the library to only those who really need it. For example, data that only HR needs access to should be restricted to only HR.
- Use the lock feature to secure documents
Security is important to SharePoint. For this reason, it doesn’t rely on just IT infrastructure admin to ensure data security. End-users have the option to lock their documents to keep any unauthorized users from changing shared files and other documents.
