Balancing your MOSS Content Types

I have found that the following two issues can be critically important when architecting a catalog style WCM site:

1. The intention to use the Content Query Web Part (CQWP) to roll up lower level detail pages to higher level summary pages can have a major effect on your “Content Type Architecture” The CQWP has the ability to query across multiple sites by Content Type. In a “catalog” style site where one is drilling down to detail pages, the ability to roll up across many different Pages libraries by Content Type can be a crucial functional detail

2. Another important detail is the fact that a content type can have many layout pages. Often the authoring team wants to be able to switch between layout pages for the same content. You can do that by simply making sure the layout pages share the same content type, and that the fields that each layout page shares line up properly.

The first issue encourages the site architect to create more content types to make it easier to roll-up the content. The second issue encourages the site architect to create fewer content types each having multiple layout pages so that the authoring team can easily switch between layouts.