Take a look at Matthew McDermott’s useful and easy to understand video on how to implement a search based site directory. In the video’s description, McDermott writes: “If you are trying to create a Site Directory in SharePoint or SharePoint Online, you need to take a moment and decide the best approach. In this first video I demonstrate how to create a Enterprise Content Type that we will use in subsequent videos to create a search based site directory using out of the box features of SharePoint.”
The video is part one of a seven-part series and focuses on how to create custom content type with site columns. McDermott breaks the video into the following four sections:
- Create site columns
- Create site content type
- Create enterprise content type
- Publish enterprise content type
McDermott paces the presentation perfectly, allowing viewers enough time between sections in order to assimilate all of the information. He explains each section in detail, but is sure not to overwhelm the viewer with unnecessary information. McDermott is concise and presents viewers only with what they need to know.
Before watching McDermott’s video, be sure to spend some time reading his blog post at http://www.ableblue.com/blog/archive/2017/07/11/stop-using-the-property-bag/. In the post, McDermott argues that the best way to “…create a searchable catalog of sites, with metadata…” is not to use SharePoint’s Property Bag, despite the lure of doing so. Rather, he explains that the most efficient method -what he deems the “out of the box answer”- is to utilize SharePoint to create lists in addition to custom content type.