To
create a document library, you need to use the Create dialog as
explained in the preceding section. The way you create the library
depends on which Create dialog you are using (which depends on whether
you have Microsoft Silverlight installed).
Using the Create Dialog with Silverlight Installed
In the Create dialog, click
the Library filter on the left so that you only see library templates
in the templates selection of the dialog .
From these templates, click on the Document Library one, and then give
the document library a name on the right section of the dialog (see Figure 1).
The name for the document library determines not just the title that
the users will see but also the link that will be created document
library. For example, if you call the document library Presentations,
the link to the document library is the link to the site and then
/Presentations. This is important because although you can change the
title of the document library later, you cannot change its link.
Tip
If you want to avoid
creating complicated links, choose a short name for the document
library when you are creating it and then later change the title for
the document library. For example, if you want to create a document
library for human resources policies, you can name it HRP when creating
it and then change the title to Human Resources Policies after it has
been created. That way, the link is short and easy
to type or view (when sending it in e-mail, for example), and the title
explains to all users what should be in that document library.
Using this approach can also
help you avoid unreadable links. For example, if your document
library’s name has spaces in it, the link to the document library will
have the special character combination %20 instead of the spaces, which
will make the link look long and complex. You can create the document
library with a short name without spaces and then rename the title to
have the spaces. The simpler link will remain.
Although you can have two
document libraries with the same title, you cannot have two document
libraries with the same link. This means that the link to the document
library must be unique, and in this initial screen, you choose the
unique name. If that name is already in use, SharePoint prevents you
from creating the document library and asks for another name. Remember
that you can always change the title later.
After selecting a name
for the document library, you can either click Create to create the new
document library with the name you chose and the default settings for
that kind of library, or click More Options to switch to a dialog with
more settings for the new document library (refer to Figure 7.7).
This dialog, when shown for a document library, shows the same options
you would see if you were creating the document library using the
Create dialog without Silverlight installed. The following section
explains the details.
Using the Create Dialog Without Silverlight Installed
When you don’t
have Silverlight installed, the Create dialog shows the Document
Library link as an option under the Libraries category. If you click
the link, you are directed to the new document library settings page,
which is almost always the same as the More Options dialog that is
shown when you choose More Options from the Create dialog.
This dialog might
show different options for the document library, depending on the
server configuration. For example, some SharePoint servers can allow a
document library to have an associated e-mail address and receive
e-mails sent to that library directly into the document library itself.
If that option is enabled in the server, the settings page asks you for
additional information, such as the e-mail address that should be
associated with the document library. If the option is not enabled, the
setting isn’t displayed on the page (see Figure 2).
In this page, you can set
the description for the library. This description is usually displayed
to users in the All Site Content page next to the library’s name. In
most cases, it also appears in all the views for the library, just
above the view. You can change the description later, in the library’s
settings.
The next option you can set is
whether a link to the document library should be added to the quick
launch navigation bar (the left navigation bar for the site). You can
change this option later also.
The next choice to make is
whether SharePoint should manage versions for documents in the document
library. If you choose Yes, all changes in documents will create new
versions of the documents. Although you can change this option later,
if you choose No, all changes made in documents until you change the
setting will not be stored in separate versions. However, if your site
has a size quota and you are worried about consuming a lot of space,
leaving this setting turned off can save quite a bit of space.
The last option, Document
Template, enables you to choose the application or type of file that
will be used when the user clicks the New button in the document
library. For example, you can choose Microsoft Word to have SharePoint
open an empty Microsoft Word document when the user clicks the New
button, or you can choose any of the other Microsoft Office
applications. For web pages, you can choose Basic Page to create an
empty page that you can type text on. Or you can choose Web Part Page
to create a page that allows the user to add web parts.
By default, the new
document library has only the Document content type associated with it,
so the New button does not show any options for different kinds of file
types. However, here you can set a specific file type that the users
can use with the New button.
When you are finished
selecting the options, click Create to create the document library. A
new, empty library is created with the settings you chose.
