Document management default settings (Office SharePoint Server)
Applies To: Office SharePoint Server 2007
This Office product will reach end of support on October 10, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see , Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.
In this article:
Capabilities of document management
Site content types
Versioning settings
Default workflow settings
Customize setting for Approval workflow
Customize setting for Collect Feedback workflow
Customize setting for Three-state workflow
Document management in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 focuses on the storage and organization of documents, to support active work in progress, including content creation and sharing within an organization.
Capabilities of document management
Store, organize, and locate documents for the Document Center site.
Ensure the consistency of documents by using content types.
Manage metadata for documents.
Help protect documents from unauthorized access or use.
Ensure consistent business processes (workflows) for the way documents are handled.
Site content types
A content type is a group of reusable settings that describe the shared behaviors for a specific type of content. Content types enable organizations to organize, manage, and handle content across a site collection. Consistency of documents can be ensured by using content types. A content type can be defined for each type of document or information product that your organization creates to ensure that these different types of documents are handled in a consistent way.
Content types are organized into a hierarchy. This hierarchy enables a content type to inherit its characteristics from another content type. In this way, classes of documents can share characteristics across an organization. However characteristics can be tailored for particular sites or lists.
New site content types are based on a parent content type. When you create a new site content type, you must choose an existing (parent) site content type on which you want to create the new site content type. The new site content type that you create inherits the attributes of the parent. The attributes that can be inherited from a parent content type include:
Document template
Read-only setting
Workflows
Columns
Extensible attributes added by other applications
After creating a new site content type, you can make changes to it, such as adding or removing columns. Note that changes made directly to a child content type do not affect the parent content type on which it is based. However, when you update a parent content type, you can choose whether those changes are updated in the list and site content types that inherit from that parent content type.
On all content type settings pages, you have the option to update list content types and child site content types. When you choose to update all content types that inherit from their parent content types, all settings on that page are also updated on all list content types and child site content types that are children of the content type that you are changing. This overwrites all the previous settings on the list and site content types that inherit from this parent. Note that all attributes of a content type that appear on the parent content type can be updated on the child type except for Name, Description, and Group. Columns or settings that do not appear on the parent type cannot be updated. To ensure that changes made to the parent content types do not overwrite the settings on the child content types, mark the child content type as read-only. Although this is desirable, in some situations it also reduces the ability to centrally manage the content type hierarchy.
Site content types are stored in groups. When you create a new site content type, choose whether to store it in an existing group or a new group. If you do not want the new site column to be used by others, create a group suffixed _Hidden, and then store the site column in it.
Settings for creating a site content type
Name and description
Type a name and description for the content type. The description will be shown on the new button. In the Select parent content type from list, select the group on which you want to base the new content type.
Note
The special content types group contains content types that change the behavior of your list or library when added.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Name |
Specify the name of the new document. |
Description |
Provide the description of the new document. |
Parent content type |
Select the parent content type such as Document content type or List content type that you want to base the new content type on. Note The list of parent content types differs, depending on the option that you selected in the previous step. |
Group
This section allows you to choose whether to store this new site content type in an existing group or in a new group.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Put this site content type into:
|
Specify whether to store this new site content type in an existing group, such as the document or custom content type, or any other group or in a new group. |
Advanced setting for site content types
Document template
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Enter the URL of an existing document template: |
Type the URL of an existing document template or upload a new document template. The following list shows the types of URLs that you can use.
Warning If you do mark a content type as read only, the parent’s settings can still override the child's settings if you explicitly set the parent to be not read only and then update the changes on the child content types. |
Upload a new document template: |
Click Browse to select the new document template. |
Read only
Choose whether the content type is modifiable. This setting can be changed later from this page by anyone with permission to edit the content type.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Should this content type be read only?
|
Select Yes to specify if the content type is read only; otherwise, select No. |
Update sites and lists
Specify whether all child site and list content types that use this type should be updated with the settings on this page. This operation can take a long time, and any customizations made to the child site and list content types will be lost.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Update all content types inheriting from this type?
|
Select Yes to update all the content types inheriting from this type; otherwise, select No. |
Versioning settings
When versions are tracked for lists or libraries, revisions to the items or files and their properties are stored. This enables you to better manage content as it is revised and even to restore a previous version. Versioning is especially helpful when several people work together on projects or when information goes through several stages of development and review.
Versioning is available for list items in all default list types — including calendars, issue tracking lists, and custom lists — and for all file types that can be stored in libraries, including Web Part pages.
You can use versioning to do the following:
Record a version history when versioning is enabled. You can see when an item or file was changed and who changed it. You can also see when properties, or information about the file, were changed. For example, if someone changes the due date of a list item, that information appears in the version history. For files, you also see comments that people include about their changes.
Restore a previous version as your current version. In case you make any mistake in the current version or you might need to restore part of a document that you deleted. You can replace your current version with a previous version. Your current version then becomes a part of the version history.
View a previous version. You can view a previous version, for example, to refer to a previous guideline without overwriting your current version. For .aspx files, you can view only details about the changes that were made to the files, and not the actual pages that the files create.
The following tables describe the versioning settings for a document library.
Content approval
After disabling content approval, pending and rejected items may appear in public views.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Require content approval for submitted items
|
Specify whether new items or changes to existing items should remain in a draft state until they have been approved. |
Document version history
When you track versions of files or list items, each version is numbered and saved as part of a version history. People in your organization can view the version history and recover earlier versions if needed. You can configure several settings that affect versioning, including which type and how many versions to retain. You can also configure settings that interact with versioning such as requiring content to be approved or files to be checked out.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Create a version each time you edit a file in this document library
|
|
Optionally, limit the number of versions to retain:
|
Select this check box to keep a track of the number of major versions. Select this check box to keep drafts for the number of major versions. Note Both options are disabled when no versioning is selected. |
Draft item security
Drafts are minor versions or items that have not been approved
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Who should see draft items in this document library?
Note All these options are disabled if No is selected in the Content Approval section. |
Specify which users should be able to view drafts in the document library. |
Require check-out
Requiring check-out prevents multiple people from making changes at the same time, thereby avoiding possible conflicts and confusion.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Require documents to be checked out before they can be edited?
|
Specify whether users must check out documents before making changes in this document library. |
Default workflow settings
The default workflows that are included with Office SharePoint Server 2007 consist of some settings that are common to all workflows and other settings that are specific to the individual workflow. To support common document-related business processes, Office SharePoint Server 2007 offers built-in workflows that organizations can use to manage the tasks such as document review, approval, and signature collection. Workflow is defined as the automated movement of documents or items through a sequence of actions or tasks that are related to a business process. Workflows help organizations manage document-related business processes more efficiently, because they automatically track and manage the human tasks involved in these processes.
For more information about workflows, see Introduction to workflows (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=123306&clcid=0x409).
The following tables describe the settings used to add a workflow to a document library.
Workflow
An Office SharePoint Server 2007 site includes several workflows that address common business scenarios. This workflow routes a document or an item to a group of people for approval. By default, the Approval workflow is associated with the document content type, and thus it is automatically available in document libraries. A version of the Approval workflow is also associated with the Pages library in a publishing site by default, and it can be used to manage the approval process for the publication of Web pages.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Select a workflow template:
|
Select any workflow template from the various options provided. |
Approval |
This routes a document for approval. Approvers can approve or reject the document, reassign the approval task, or request changes to the document. |
Collect Feedback |
This workflow routes a document or an item to a group of people for feedback. Reviewers can provide feedback, which is then compiled and sent to the person who initiated the workflow. By default, the Collect Feedback workflow is associated with the Document content type, and thus it is automatically available in document libraries. |
Collect Signatures |
This workflow routes a Microsoft Office document to a group of people to collect their digital signatures. This workflow must be started in a client program that is part of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Participants must complete their signature tasks by adding their digital signature to the document in the relevant Microsoft Office application. By default, the Collect Signatures workflow is associated with the Document content type, and thus it is automatically available in document libraries. However, the Collect Signatures workflow appears for a document in the document library only if that document contains one or more Microsoft Office signature lines. |
Disposition Approval |
This workflow, which supports records management processes, manages document expiration and retention by allowing participants to decide whether to retain or to delete the expired documents. The Disposition Approval workflow is intended for use primarily within a Records Center site. |
Three-state |
This workflow manages the business processes that require organizations to track a high volume of issues or items, such as customer support issues, sales leads, or project tasks. |
Group Approval |
This workflow is similar to the Approval workflow, but it uses a designated document library and offers a personalized view of the approval processes in which a user is participating. This workflow provides a hierarchical organization chart from which the approvers can be selected and allows the approvers to use a stamp control instead of a signature. This solution is available only for East Asian versions of Office SharePoint Server 2007. |
Translation Management |
This workflow manages the manual document translation process by creating copies of the document to be translated and assigning translation tasks to translators. This workflow is available only for Translation Management libraries. |
Name
In the Name section, type a unique name for the workflow. The name will be used to identify this workflow to users of this content type.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Type a unique name for the workflow: |
Specify a unique name for the workflow. |
Tasks list
You can use the default Tasks list or you can create a new one. If you use the default Tasks list, workflow participants will be able to find and view their workflow tasks easily by using the My Tasks view of the Tasks list.
If the tasks for this workflow reveal sensitive or confidential data that you need to keep separate from the general Tasks list, you should create a new tasks list.
If your organization has numerous workflows or if workflows involve numerous tasks, you should create a new tasks list. In this instance, create tasks lists for each workflow.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Enter a task list name: |
A task list with this name is used when this site content type is applied to a list. |
History list
In the History List section, select a history list to be used with this workflow. The history list displays all of the events that occur during each instance of the workflow. You can use the default History list or you can create a new one. If your organization will have numerous workflows, you might want to create a separate history list for each workflow.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Enter a history list name: |
A history list with this name is used when this site content type is applied to a list. |
Start options
Specify how, when, or by whom a workflow can be started.
Note
The Start this workflow to approve publishing a major version of an item option is available only if support for major and minor versioning is enabled for the library and if the selected workflow template that you selected can be used for content approval.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Allow this workflow to be manually started by an authenticated user with Edit Items permission. It is selected by default. Require Manage Lists permissions to start the workflow. |
Select this option if you need an authenticated user to manually start the workflow. The Require Manage Lists and Permissions check box is clear by default. |
Start this workflow when a new item is created. Note This option is not available for the Collect Signatures workflow template. |
Select this option when a new item is created. |
Start this workflow when an item is changed. Note This option is not available for Collect Signatures and Three-state workflow templates. |
Select this option when an item is changed. |
Update list and site content types
Specify whether all the child sites and list content types that use this type should be updated with the settings on this page. This operation takes a long time, and any customizations made to these values on the child sites and list content types are lost.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Change this workflow in all content types that are based on this one?
|
Select this option to update all the child sites and list content types using this workflow type. |
If there are additional customization options available for the predefined workflows, then specify the options that you want on the Customize page for the workflow. For more information about working with predefined workflows, see the articles listed in the “See Also” section at the end of this article.
Customize setting for Approval workflow
The Approval workflow supports business processes that involve sending a document or item to colleagues or managers for approval. Approvers can approve or reject the document, reassign the approval task, or request changes to the document. The Approval workflow makes an approval business process more efficient by managing and tracking all of the human tasks involved with the process and by providing a record of the process after it is completed.
The following tables describe the custom settings for the Approval workflow.
Workflow tasks
Specify how tasks are to be routed to the participants and whether to allow tasks to be delegated. Also specify if the participants can request changes to the document prior to finishing their tasks.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Assign tasks to:
|
Assign tasks to all participants at once (parallel workflow). Assign tasks to one participant at a time (serial workflow). If you make the workflow a serial workflow, one participant must complete a task before the next participant receives a task. Note One participant at a time is enabled by default. |
Allow workflow participants to:
|
Allow workflow participants to reassign their tasks to other people. Allow workflow participants to request a change to the document or item to be approved before completing a task. Note Both the check boxes are selected by default. |
Default workflow start values
If you are including groups as workflow participants, select the Assign a single task to each group entered (Do not expand groups) check box if you want only one task notification to be assigned to the group instead of individual task notifications for every group member.
For a serial workflow, type a number, and then select either Day(s) or Week(s) as the increment of time.
For a parallel workflow, type or select a date in the Tasks are due by field.
If you want other people to receive notifications (not task assignments) when the workflow is started, type their names in the Carbon Copy field, or click Carbon Copy to select people and groups from the directory service.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Type the names of people who should participate when the workflow starts. Add names in the order in which the tasks are to be assigned (for serial workflows).
|
Click Approvers, to select people and groups from the directory service. Select this option if you plan to specify groups as workflow participants, and you want only one task to be assigned to the group instead of individual tasks for every group member. The Allow changes to the participant list when this workflow is started option, is selected by default. If you do not want the people who start the workflow to change or add participants, then clear this check box. |
Type a message to include your request: |
Enter a message in this text box, which needs to be included in your request. |
Due Date |
If a due date is specified and e-mail is enabled on the server, participants will receive a reminder on that date if their task is not finished. |
Tasks are due by (parallel): |
Specifies the date on which each task is due. |
Give each person the following amount of time to finish their task (serial). |
Specifies the duration given for each task and how they should be measured. |
Notify Others |
To notify other people when the workflow starts, without assigning tasks. To notify others, also add names in the Carbon Copy field. |
Complete the workflow
Specify when you want the workflow to be completed. If you do not select any options, the workflow will be completed when all tasks are finished.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Complete this workflow when:
|
Select the Following number of tasks are finished check box and type a number to specify the amount of accomplished tasks to complete the workflow. Note This option is disabled by default, since your workflow is a serial workflow. |
|
Select the Document is rejected check box to specify that a workflow is complete when the document or item is rejected. Select the Document is changed check box to specify that a workflow is complete when the document or item is changed. |
Post-completion workflow activities
Specify the actions you want to occur after the workflow has been successfully completed.
Select this option if you want the workflow to manage the content approval and if you selected the Start this workflow to approve publishing a major version of an item check box on the Add a Workflow page.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
After the workflow is completed:
|
Select this option to update the approval status when the workflow is complete. |
Customize setting for Collect Feedback workflow
The Collect Feedback workflow routes a document, or an item that is saved to a list or library, to a group of people to collect their review feedback. By default, the Collect Feedback workflow is associated with the Document content type and it is thus automatically available in document libraries.
The following tables describe the custom settings for the Collect Feedback Workflow.
Workflow tasks
Specify how tasks are to be routed to participants and whether to allow tasks to be delegated. Also specify if the participants can request changes to the document prior to finishing their tasks.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Assign tasks to:
|
Assign tasks to all participants at once (parallel workflow). Assign tasks to one participant at a time (serial workflow). If you make the workflow a serial workflow, one participant must complete a task before the next participant receives a task. Note The All participants simultaneously option is selected by default. |
Allow workflow participants to:
|
Allow workflow participants to reassign their tasks to other people. Allow workflow participants to request a change to the document or item to be approved before completing a task. Note Both of the check boxes are selected by default. |
Default workflow start values
If you are including groups as workflow participants, select the Assign a single task to each group entered (Do not expand groups) check box if you want only one task notification to be assigned to the group instead of individual task notifications for every group member.
For a serial workflow, type a number, and then select either Day(s) or Week(s) as the increment of time.
For a parallel workflow, type or select a date under Tasks are due by.
If you want other people to receive notifications (not task assignments) when the workflow is started, type their names in the Carbon Copy field, or click Carbon Copy to select people and groups from the directory service.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Type the names of people who should participate when the workflow starts. Add names in the order in which you want the tasks to be assigned (for serial workflows).
|
Click Approvers, to select people and groups from the directory service. Select this option if you want to specify groups as workflow participants, and you want only one task to be assigned to the group instead of individual tasks for every group member. The Allow changes to the participant list when this workflow is started option, is selected by default. If you do not want the people who start the workflow to change or add participants, then clear this check box. |
Type a message to include your request: |
Enter a message in this text box, which needs to be included in your request. |
Due Date |
If a due date is specified and e-mail is enabled on the server, participants will receive a reminder on that date if their task is not finished. |
Tasks are due by (parallel): |
Specifies the date on which each task is due. |
Give each person the following amount of time to finish their task (serial). |
Specifies the duration given for each task and how they should be measured. |
Notify Others |
Use to notify other people when the workflow starts, without assigning tasks. To notify others, also add names in the Carbon Copy field. |
Complete the workflow
Specify when you want the workflow to be completed. If you do not select any option, then the workflow will be completed when all tasks are finished.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Complete this workflow when:
|
Select the Following number of tasks are finished check box, and then type a number, to specify the amount of accomplished tasks to complete the workflow. Note This option is selected by default. But this option is not available if your workflow is a serial workflow. |
|
The Document is rejected check box is disabled by default, since your workflow is a serial workflow. Select the Document is changed check box, to specify that a workflow is complete when the document or item is changed. |
Post-completion workflow activites
Specify the actions you want to occur after the workflow has been successfully completed.
Select this option if you want the workflow to manage content approval and if you have selected the Start this workflow to approve publishing a major version of an item check box on the Add a Workflow page.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
After the workflow is completed:
|
Select this option to update the approval status when the workflow is complete. |
Customize setting for Three-state workflow
The Three-state workflow is designed to track the status of a list item through three states (phases). It can be used to manage business processes that require organizations to track a high volume of issues or items, such as customer support issues, sales leads, or project tasks.
The following tables describe the custom settings for a Three-state workflow.
Workflow states
For an issues list, the states for an item are specified by the Status field, where:
Initial State = Active
Middle State = Resolved
Final State = Closed
As the item moves through the various stages of the workflow, the item is updated automatically.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Select a choice field:
The list or content type requires at least one single value and choice field with three or more choices. |
Select a choice field, and then select a value for the initial, middle, and final states. |
Specify what you want to happen when a workflow is initiated
When a workflow is initiated on an issue in an Issues list, Office SharePoint Server 2007 creates a task for the assigned user. When the user completes the task, the workflow changes its status from initial state (Active) to middle state (Resolved). You can also choose to send an e-mail message to notify the user about the assigned task.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Task Details
|
Type any information that you need to include in the task title. If you select the Include list field check box, the title information for the list item is added to the custom message. |
Task Description
|
Type any information that you want to include in the description of the task. If you select the Include list field check box, the title information for the list item is added to the custom message. If you select the Insert link to List item check box, a link to the list item is included in the description. |
|
If you need to specify a due date for the task, select the Include list field check box, and then select the date column from the list that contains the due date information that you need to use. |
|
To assign the task to a person who is specified in the list, click Include list field, and then select the column from the list that contains the user information that you need to use. When the workflow starts, the first task is assigned to the person whose name appears in this column for the workflow. |
|
Type the name of the person to whom you want to send an e-mail alert about the workflow task to be sent. Select the Include Task Assigned To check box if you want to send the e-mail alert to the task owner. |
Type the subject line that you want to use for the e-mail alert. Select the Use Task Title check box if you want to add the Task title to the subject line of the e-mail message. |
|
Type the information that you want to appear in the message body of the e-mail alert. Select the Insert link to List item check box if you want to include a link to the list item in the message. |
Specify what you want to happen when a workflow changes to its middle state
For example, when an issue in an Issues list changes to Resolved status, it creates a task for the assigned user. When the user completes the task, the workflow changes its status from middle state (Resolved) to final state (Closed). You can also choose to send an e-mail message to notify the assigned user of the task.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Task Details
|
Type any information that you want to include in the task title. If you select the Include list field check box, the title information for the list item is added to the custom message. |
Task Description
|
Type any information that you want to include in the description of the task. If you select the Include list field check box, the title information for the list item is added to the custom message. If you select the Insert link to List item check box, a link to the list item is included in the description. |
|
Include list field - If you want to specify a due date for the task, select the Include list field check box, and then select the date column from the list that contains the due date information that you want to use. |
|
To assign the task to a person who is specified in the list, click Include list field, and then select the column from the list that contains the user information that you want to use. When the workflow starts, the first task is assigned to the person whose name appears in this column for the workflow item. To assign this task in all instances of this workflow to a person or group you specify, click Custom, and then type or select the name of the person or group to whom you want to assign the task. |
|
Type the name of the person to whom you want to send an e-mail alert about the workflow task to be sent. Select the Include Task Assigned To check box if you need to send an e-mail alert to the task owner. Type the subject line that you want to use for the e-mail alert. Select the Use Task Title check box if you want to add the task title to the subject line of the e-mail message. Type the information that you want to convey in the message body of the e-mail alert. Select the Insert link to List item check box if you want to include a link to the list item in the message. |
See Also
Other Resources
Introduction to workflows
Use an Approval Workflow
Use a Collect Feedback workflow
Use a Three-state workflow