Reusing those columns in lists and libraries makes a lot of sense. If a
change to the column setting is required in many lists and libraries,
it is possible to change the column at the site level once to update
all the lists and libraries using that column.
If you want to use an existing
site column instead of create a new column, you can open the list’s or
library’s settings page by switching to the List ribbon or Library
ribbon and clicking the List Settings or Library Settings button.
In the list’s or library’s
settings page that opens, scroll down to the Columns section of the
page. Here, you see the list of all the columns that have been added to
the list or library. In this section, click the Add from Existing Site
Columns link. This selection opens a page that enables you to choose
one or more site columns to be added to the document library or list
(see Figure 1).
To choose a column, you
locate it in the Available Site Columns box, select it, and click the
Add button to add it to the Columns to Add box. If you regret your
choice and want to undo it, select the column in the Columns to Add box
and click the Remove button.
To
more easily find a column, you can filter the columns that are in the
Available Site Columns box by choosing the group for the column. Site
columns are grouped in logical groups. For example, the Core Document
Columns group holds columns that are commonly used by most documents:
Author, Comments, Date Created, and so on. By default, you see the site
columns from all groups available to you. To choose a different group,
open the Select Site Columns From drop-down box and select a different
group.
Note
When adding a site column,
you cannot specify any settings on it because any column settings are
defined at the site level. However, after adding the column, you can
modify it as you would any other column.
