SharePoint University

I am quite vexed. I want to do something that seems reasonable. Maybe I'm missing something obvious. I probably am, which would be vexing in itself.  : /

 Here's the thing:

• I added a new Site Content Type; it covers a kind of document we use and will only ever be uploaded, and we do not want it to appear in the "New" menu.
• In a document library, I added that Content Type, and unchecked the "show in new menu" option.
• My expectation was that, upon uploading a document, I could select my new type from the Content Type list. Alas, it does not appear.

Can it be that this is not possible in MOSS 2007? Impossible! I cry, yet I cannot figure out how to achieve my goal.

 Have you any notions of what I might be missing?

 Thank you,

Rebecca

If I understand the scenario, you want to upload a document and then apply a content type to it, is that correct?

Yes, Mark, exactly. Furthermore, I want to apply a content type to it that does not exist in the "New" button's drop-down menu.

Ok, I think I see what you are trying to do. For a direct answer, no, I don't see how you can apply a content type directly to a document after it has been placed in the library. However, it sounds as if what you want to do is attach the metadata from a content type to a specific document. If you think of a content type as nothing more than enforced metadata structure, you can work your way around this.

First, add all of the metadata fields to your column list. Then, create a view that shows those metadata fields, change to datasheet view and add the metadata for those documents. I've done this hundreds of times for data in a multi-media library. Because you are in datasheet view, you can cut and paste, drag and fill, all the basic stuff from Excel. It's very efficient when you've got default values for the fields that can be filled in quickly.

I hope that helps. It's good that you are trying to preserve your metadata since this will be a major part of your search infrastructure once you get setup.

Regards,
Mark
EndUserSharePoint.com

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the reply. I think what I'm after is slightly different: when applying a content type on initial check in of an uploaded document I want to use a document type that does not appear in the "New" menu.

For example:

• Presume there's a document library that has a New button with Word and Excel document types available on the new button. Upload some random file, and, upon check in, you will be required to select from a list of available document types: Word and Excel.
• Now, go to the list Settings and simply remove, say, Excel from the New button's list while leaving it in the list of document types for the site (Settings-->Document Library Settings-->Change new button order and default content type).
• Following the upload procedure already outlined, you will notice that Excel is missing from the list of available document types.

This may be an edge case, but it would be easy to imagine a scenario where you might have a document library that could contain PDF or MP4 documents that may uploaded but you don't want your users to be able to create them.

Or am I being too picky?  ; )

Cheers, and thank you,

Becky

Got it. You want it invisible on the menu dropdown, but available when uploading a document. OOTB, when you turn off the visibility of the content type and upload a new document, the content type won't be available for selection. Sorry, I know that's not what you wanted to hear. Find a .NET developer and it shouldn't be that big of a problem to solve.

Regards,
Mark
EndUserSharePoint.com

You're right, Mark, not what I wanted to hear, but it is what I needed to know.

 Thank you.   

Becky