Navigation 287 The Tree View is available in most site collections, and it can be com- bined with other page navigation elements, such as the Quick Launch or Current Navigation. The settings to control the Tree View are located in the Look and Feel options in the Site Settings page. Team Site Navigation This section covers the navigation options available in team sites. We are defi ning a team site as any site collection or site that does not have the SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure site collection feature activated, referred to as the publishing feature in the context of this chapter. You can determine whether the site collection is using the pub- lishing feature by reviewing the features enabled for that site collection. This information can be accessed on the Site Settings page under the Site Collection Administration group. Two navigation options are available within team sites: the Quick Launch and the top link bar. The Quick Launch provides a way for you to create on-page links that are persistent throughout the entire site, and the top link bar enables you to provide persistent tabs across the top of each page. Each of these options is described in more detail below. Keep in mind that the features available to your site collections and sites are based on licensing within the farm. Out of the box, if you create a site collec- tion using the Team Site template, a site will be created that is using only team site features. To take advantage of the publishing navigation features, you could easily activate the publishing feature for the site collection. Once the publishing feature has been activated, the links within site actions that pertain to naviga- tion will represent the publishing elements, which are described in detail in the next section. Quick Launch When a new site is created using the Team Site template, the Quick Launch is enabled by default. It contains links to the libraries, lists, and discussions within the site. The Quick Launch headings are links to a page displaying all the content of that specifi c type within the site, and the items under each heading are direct links to the specifi c content. Figure 11-6 shows an example of the default Quick Launch confi guration for the Team Site template. You will also sometimes hear it referred to as the Quick Launch bar, left-hand navigation, and current navigation. The Quick Launch can be confi gured dynamically as content is created or built manually through the addition of links and headings. The options for dynamically adding content to the Quick Launch are provided for you when new lists, libraries, or sites are created. As you create new content, an FIGURE 115 288 CHAPTER 11 maNagiNg NavigatioN aNd UNderstaNdiNg goverNaNce option will be available that enables you to select items to be added to the Quick Launch. Selecting yes for this option will add the item to the Quick Launch under the appropriate heading. FIGURE 116 All links added to the Quick Launch, either manually or dynamically, are security trimmed. Links that are manually added to the Quick Launch that are items outside of the site collection are not security trimmed. Security trimmed refers to the process of only showing the links or items to users who have access to them. Figure 11-7 shows the default options for creating a new document library and adding it to the Quick Launch. Once you create a new list or library, you can modify its visibil- ity on the Quick Launch through the Title, description and navigation configuration page found in the settings for the library or list. FIGURE 117 Navigation 289 You can manually configure the Quick Launch through the Quick Launch option under Look and Feel in Site Settings. From this screen you can create new headings and navigation links, and you can reorder existing links. When creating new headers you have to provide a URL and the header title. When creating new links you have to provide the URL, the link title, and the associated header. Each link must be associated with a header. To edit an existing link, simply click the edit icon displayed next to the item. Figure 11-8 shows the configuration screen for the Quick Launch. FIGURE 118 The Quick Launch is configured per site and there is no way to inherit the Quick Launch from a par- ent site. If inheritance is a requirement, then the publishing feature (available only with SharePoint Server) should be used. The Quick Launch can also be disabled for the site. The setting to disable the Quick Launch is provided in the Tree View settings located in the Look and Feel group on the Site Settings page. Top Link Bar The top link bar is used to provide tabbed navigation throughout the site collection. When new sites are created, they can use the same top link bar as their parent site, or use one specific to their site collection. Like the Quick Launch, the top link bar can be controlled either dynamically or manually. Any links added dynamically are security trimmed, whereas any links added manually are available to all users. You can configure the top link bar when a new site is created. On the options page that is displayed when you create a new site, select More Options. On the screen that appears, you will see the following available settings for the top link bar: Display this site on the Quick Launch of the parent site — This option adds the site link to the Sites header on the parent site Quick Launch Bar. If no heading for Sites exists, it will be created for you when you select this option. 290 CHAPTER 11 maNagiNg NavigatioN aNd UNderstaNdiNg goverNaNce Display this site on the top link bar of the parent site — This option adds a link to the parent site’s top link bar. Use the top link bar from the parent site — This option causes the site you are creating to inherit the top link bar from the parent site. To change the link to a site once it has been created, you must access the top link bar options under Look and Feel in the Site Settings page and make manual modifications. From this configuration screen, shown in Figure 11-9, you can create new links, and reorder and modify existing links. FIGURE 119 If the site you are working with has been configured to inherit the top link bar from its parent site, when you access the configuration screen you will see an option to Stop Inheriting Links (see Figure 11-10). Likewise, if the site is not set to inherit from its parent, when you access the configuration screen you will see an option to Use Links from Parent (shown in Figure 11-11). FIGURE 1110 FIGURE 1111 Navigation 291 Publishing Site Navigation Navigation options within a site that has the publishing features enabled provide additional func- tionality over sites for which these features have not been enabled. This added functionality includes items such as multi-level navigation links and the capability to inherit the current navigation from the parent site. This section covers these differences and describes the various confi guration options available. Once you activate publishing for a site collection, every template within that site collection will use the publishing navigation controls. This means that if you create a team site as a subsite to a publishing site, that team site will use the publishing navigation, not the team site navigation described earlier. The fi rst big difference in the publishing sites is the replacement of the top link bar and Quick Launch with the Global Navigation menu. Once publishing has been enabled for the site collec- tion, the Navigation link is displayed in the Look and Feel section of the Site Settings page. This Navigation link provides the confi guration settings for both the global and current navigation settings. When working with publishing sites, keep in mind that it is likely that they are using a custom master page. Within the master page, it is possible to hide controls or move their locations. This commonly occurs with the navigation elements. If the site you are working with does not display the navigation you are expecting based on the information provided in this chapter, the master page has probably been customized. Global Navigation The Global Navigation settings allow you to select the navigation inheritance, as well as limit the total number of dynamic elements displayed. The options for display include sites and pages. If you select to show sites and pages, any sites or pages created will be displayed on the Global Navigation bar. From this option you can also confi gure the navigation inheritance. You can select to use the same navigation elements as the parent site or create your own navigation. Figure 11-12 shows the global confi guration of a site that is opting to show pages and sites. In this case, HR Department is a site and Vacation-Policy is a page. FIGURE 1112 292 CHAPTER 11 maNagiNg NavigatioN aNd UNderstaNdiNg goverNaNce Current Navigation The Current Navigation settings allow you to determine what content is displayed on the left pane of the site. These settings can be thought of as a replacement for the Quick Launch. In fact, when you create new content you can still select to add it to the Quick Launch — it will be added as a link under the corresponding heading category. For example, a document library that is created with the option of being added to the Quick Launch will be displayed as a link to the Libraries heading. From this screen you can also configure what level of content to display. Your options include the following settings: Displaying the same current navigation as the parent site. Display the current site, the navigation items below the current site, and the current site’s siblings. Display only the navigation items below the current site. The options just listed enable you to configure your current navigation in a variety of ways. Figure 11-13 shows an example of a site that is dis- playing the current items, items below that, and the sibling site’s items. Keep in mind that if none of the options listed so far for either the Global Navigation or the Current Navigation provide what you are looking for, you can always customize the links for your specific needs. The options for customizing are covered in the section “Navigation Editing and Sorting.” Sorting From this setting you can configure to sort your content automatically or manually. If you select to sort your content manually, options for arranging the content are provided in the following section. If you select to automatically sort your content, you will be required to select a field and a sort order from the options provided. Navigation Editing and Sorting From the Navigation Editing and Sorting option, shown in Figure 11-14, you can create custom headers, or link or modify existing headers and links. To modify an existing item, select the item and use the toolbar to make your changes. You can modify the link, change the title, or move the link to a new location. Links can be moved between different headers, but a link cannot become a header and a header cannot become a link. FIGURE 1113 FIGURE 1114 Navigation 293 Show and Hide Ribbon The last option you have in the publishing navigation con- figuration is to use the Show/Hide Ribbon option instead of automatically showing the Ribbon. This feature is only available within publishing sites. When selected, the Ribbon will not automatically display on pages; instead users access the Ribbon through the Site Actions menu. From this menu item, shown in Figure 11-15, they can select to show or hide the Ribbon. Workspace Navigation The final piece of navigation to look at is the Workspace templates. These templates are used to store meeting information and come in several different varieties, such as social, decision making, and multi- page. By default, these sites use the concept of pages to manage their content. This page is a little different from the type of page in a pub- lishing site. They are used to store additional content within the meet- ing. They are also used to provide navigation in place of the Quick Launch or Current Navigation. This means that the settings you con- figure for the Quick Launch or Current Navigation will not be dis- played on the meeting site. The only way to add navigation to these templates is through the creation and management of pages. The options to create and manage the pages are available within the Pages tool pane, shown in Figure 11-16. To access this tool pane, select Manage Pages from the Site Actions menu. Next Steps At this point in the chapter, you are likely trying to assimilate all this information and figure out which method is best to implement a navigation strategy. Who knew there could be so many options! On the one hand, you could let everyone fend for themselves and have each site develop its own methods of managing navigation. On the other hand, you could develop some guidelines and enforce that each site use the same navigation strategy. This is just one of many examples in which SharePoint governance should be implemented. If each site used a different navigation strategy, then how would users know how to navigate? And if the system administrator is responsible for building the navigation strategy, how will that person know what the business needs? In this situation, the best-case scenario would be the business units work- ing together with the system administrators. The system administrators know what is possible and the business units know what is needed. Working together they can develop an approach that is manageable and meets the needs of the organization. This process of working together to define strategies is the development of SharePoint governance. The remainder of this chapter covers gover- nance and reviews different approaches to implementing it. By the end of the chapter, you will see that navigation is just one of many areas that require governance! FIGURE 1115 FIGURE 1116 294 CHAPTER 11 maNagiNg NavigatioN aNd UNderstaNdiNg goverNaNce SHAREPOINT GOVERNANCE This section provides a high-level overview of SharePoint governance. We first define governance and then work through some different approaches to building your team. Finally, we will review each of the major areas within SharePoint and describe the different types of policies that should be developed to support your environment. What Is Governance? Governance, in the SharePoint context of this chapter, is the set of policies and procedures devel- oped to ensure that your SharePoint environment is able to consistently provide a robust, stable working environment for your users. These policies and procedures are the guiding principles that keep your environment configured for the best possible support. They are usually based on best practices that are adjusted to fit your organization’s needs. Governance covers many different aspects of the environment, including the following: Infrastructure Information architecture Development and customization Support and availability The following sections cover each of these areas and provide insight on the different questions and scenarios that should be considered as you develop your governance policies. We will also look into different ways to build your governance team, and even ways to help promote the need for gover- nance within your environment. Getting Started with Governance One of the hardest parts of SharePoint governance is simply getting started! If you are in an organiza- tion like most, governance comes in one of two flavors — the lifeline to keeping things going or the thing that should have been done to avoid issues. In some places governance doesn’t tend to be high on the list of priorities until something major happens that causes everyone to say, “Wow, if we had just done X, all of this could have been avoided!” When handled correctly, governance will be the driving force of your implementation. When ignored, your implementation will be at risk on several fronts. The most common elements to suf- fer when governance is ignored are funding, usability, and supportability. For example, consider the situation in which many different projects are developed at once by different groups, all using SharePoint. If none of the teams building the solutions are working together using common stan- dards, you are likely to get several drastically different solutions. This may seem fine at first; differ- ent problems require different solutions, right? It’s fine until an end user encounters a completely different look and feel for each similar site they have to access. Consider the Quick Launch — what if its location differs on every site users access? Imagine the confusion and frustration that could cause, and then imagine all the extra help desk support you would need to answer all the questions it would be flooded with! Conversely, imagine what the situation would have been like if, when new departments wanted to use SharePoint, clear . CHAPTER 11 maNagiNg NavigatioN aNd UNderstaNdiNg goverNaNce SHAREPOINT GOVERNANCE This section provides a high-level overview of SharePoint governance. We first define governance and then work. the major areas within SharePoint and describe the different types of policies that should be developed to support your environment. What Is Governance? Governance, in the SharePoint context of. for gover- nance within your environment. Getting Started with Governance One of the hardest parts of SharePoint governance is simply getting started! If you are in an organiza- tion like most,