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Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Help and How-to >  Managing sites and settings >  Managing content types
Change a site content type
<a id="backtoTop" name="backtoTop"></a>Change a site content type
What do you want to do?

A site content type describes the attributes of a document, folder, or list item. Each site content type can specify the following:

  • A set of properties.
  • Forms to edit the properties and display them.
  • Workflows to be available for the document or list item.
  • The document template to use.

Members of the Site name Owners SharePoint group can change the content types for the site. By default, any content types that inherit from a content type that you change also are updated with the changes.

Associate a document template with a site content type

 Note    Document templates can be associated only with Document content types, not folders, lists, or discussion boards.

  1. Go to the site on which the site content type that you want to change is defined.
  2. On the Site Actions menu Site Actions menu, click Site Settings.

     Note    On a site for which the Site Actions menu is customized, point to Site Settings, and then click the settings that you want to view.

  3. In the Galleries column, click Site content types.
  4. On the Site Content Type Gallery page, click the link for the site content type that you want to configure.

    5. The configuration page for the site content type that you selected appears.

  5. In the Settings section, click Advanced settings.

    6. The Site Content Type Advanced Settings page appears.

  6. In the Document Template section, type the URL of an existing document template or upload a new document template. The following table lists the types of URLs you can use. The examples are based on the site content type resource folder (that is, the folder that contains the files for site content types) being http://contoso/_cts/ContentTypeName/ and the document template being docname.doc.

     Note    A resource folder in the form of _cts/ContentTypeName (where ContentTypeName is the name of the site content type) exists at the root level of each SharePoint site.

    URL nameExample
    Server relative /_cts/ContentTypeName/docname.doc
    Absolutehttp://contoso/_cts/ContentTypeName/docname.doc
    Resource folder relativedocname.doc
    Site relative~/site/LibraryName/docname.doc
  7. In the Read Only section, choose whether to make this content type modifiable or read-only.
  8. In the Update Sites and Lists section, specify whether the content types that inherit from this content type will be updated with your changes.

    9. If you select Yes, other content types that inherit from this content type (called child content types) will inherit the changes you make.

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Add a workflow to a site content type

 Note    A workflow must be deployed on your site collection before you can add it to a site content type. Contact your server administrator if the workflow that you want to add is not available.

  1. Go to the site on which the site content type that you want to change is defined.
  2. On the Site Actions menu Site Actions menu, click Site Settings.

     Note    On a site for which the Site Actions menu is customized, point to Site Settings, and then click the settings that you want to view.

  3. In the Galleries column, click Site content types.
  4. On the Site Content Type Gallery page, click the link for the site content type that you want to configure.

    5. The configuration page for the site content type that you selected appears.

  5. In the Settings section, click Workflow settings.

    6. The Change Workflow Settings page appears.

  6. Click Add a workflow.
  7. On the Add a Workflow page, select the Workflow template that you want to add and the settings that you want for the workflow.
  8. Do one of the following:
    • If the workflow you are adding has a Customize Workflow page, click Next to proceed to the Customize Workflow page, choose the settings you want, and then click OK.
    • If the workflow you are adding does not have a Customize Workflow page, click OK.
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Add an existing column to a site content type

Follow this procedure to add a column that is already defined on your site or its parent site to a site content type.

  1. Go to the site on which the site content type that you want to change is defined.
  2. On the Site Actions menu Site Actions menu, click Site Settings.

     Note    On a site for which the Site Actions menu is customized, point to Site Settings, and then click the settings that you want to view.

  3. In the Galleries column, click Site content types.
  4. On the Site Content Type Gallery page, click the link for the site content type that you want to configure.

    5. The configuration page for the site content type that you selected appears.

  5. In the Columns section, click Add from existing site columns.

    6. The Add Columns to Site Content Type page appears.

  6. In the Select Columns section, select the group that you want to filter on from the Select columns from list.

    The following table describes the groups and the types of columns they contain that are available, by default.

    Select thisTo display this
    All GroupsAll columns that are available to any group.
    Base ColumnsColumns that are useful in many types of lists or libraries.
    Core Contact and Calendar ColumnsColumns that are useful in contact and calendar lists. These columns are typically used to synchronize metadata from client contact and calendar programs that are compatible with Windows SharePoint Services, such as Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.
    Core Document ColumnsStandard document columns from the Dublin Core Metadata Set.
    Core Task and Issue ColumnsColumns that are useful in task and issues lists. These columns are typically used to synchronize metadata from client task and issue programs that are compatible with Windows SharePoint Services, such as Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.
    Extended ColumnsA set of special-purpose columns.
  7. Select the column that you want to add from the Available columns list, and then click Add.

    8. Tip  To quickly add multiple column types, you can press CTRL and click each available column that you want to add.

  8. In the Update Lists and Templates section, specify whether the child site content types that inherit from this site content type will be updated with your changes.
  9. After you finish adding the columns that you want, click OK.
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Add a new column to a site content type

Follow this procedure to define a new column and add it to a site content type. Note that the new column that you create becomes available to the site on which it is created and to its child sites. After you create the new column, you can add it to other content types and also to lists and libraries. If you do not want your new column to be used by others, you can hide it by adding it to a new group called "_Hidden".

  1. Go to the site on which the site content type that you want to change is defined.
  2. On the Site Actions menu Site Actions menu, click Site Settings.

     Note    On a site for which the Site Actions menu is customized, point to Site Settings, and then click the settings that you want to view.

  3. In the Galleries column, click Site content types.
  4. On the Site Content Type Gallery page, click the link for the site content type that you want to configure.

    5. The configuration page for the site content type that you selected appears.

  5. In the Columns section, click Add from new site column.

    6. The New Site Column page appears.

  6. In the Name and Type section, type a name for the new column type, and then select the type of information that can be stored in this column.

    7. Tip  Column names are not case sensitive. For example, if a column named "Description" is already defined on your site collection, you cannot create a new column named "description."

  7. In the Group section, either select an existing group or type the name of a new group in which to store this new column.
  8. In the Additional Column Settings section, specify any additional column settings that you want. For example, you can type a description for your column, specify whether information is required for this column, the maximum number of characters that can be stored in this column, and a default value for the column.
  9. In the Update List and Site Content Types section, specify whether the child site content types that inherit from this site content type will be updated with your changes.
  10. After you finish adding the columns that you want, click OK.
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Change the column order for a site content type

  1. Go to the site on which the site content type that you want to change is defined.
  2. On the Site Actions menu Site Actions menu, click Site Settings.

     Note    On a site for which the Site Actions menu is customized, point to Site Settings, and then click the settings that you want to view.

  3. In the Galleries column, click Site content types.
  4. On the Site Content Type Gallery page, click the link for the site content type that you want to configure.

    5. The configuration page for the site content type that you selected appears.

  5. In the Columns section, click Column order.
  6. Use the drop-down lists in the Position from Top column to reorder the columns the way that you want.
  7. In the Update List and Site Content Types section, specify whether the child site content types that inherit from this site content type will be updated with your changes.
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See Also