By: Rahul Mehta | Comments | Related: > SharePoint Configuration
Problem
SharePoint defines content types to store different types of metadata. SharePoint 2007 was limited in respect to content type centralization and sharing between site collections/web applications.
Solution
SharePoint 2010 introduces a new concept called the 'Content Type Hub'. It is a centralized application where users can create different content types and publish them. As it would be defined as content type hub, every application could use it with a single configuration. The advantage is it would be centralized and could be shared among different applications. In this article we will show how to achieve this.
First of all create a new web application and a team site.
Now go to Central Administration -> Application Management -> Manage Service Applications -> Select Managed Metadata Service. Click Properties on the Ribbon.
Scroll down to the Application Pool Section. In the lower half, under Content Type Hub, we need to add the URL of the root site collection of web application which we have just created. By adding it here, it will define the web application as a content type hub. Once you have added it, click OK.
Move back to created web application and create a content type (I name mine 'EmployeeContentType'). It has some basic information like empname, empno, empage, empaddress and empcontact.
After defining all metadata, click on "Manage publishing for this content type". A screen will appear with three options "Publish","Unpublish" and "Republish". In our case, Select Publish and click OK.
Now for an immediate effect, we need to run two timer jobs. The first is the Content type Hub and other the is the Content Type Subscriber. Do this from Central Administration -> Monitoring -> Timer Job Definitions.
Now go to the site where you want to have the defined content type. Go to Site Settings -> Site Collection Administration -> Content Type Publishing.
If everything was followed correctly, you should be able to see the defined content type under ContentTypeHubService (Managed Metadata Service name). If not, click on "Refresh all published content types on next update" and select OK and by next timer job execution, it will be published and imported automatically.
You can also check in Site Settings -> Site Content Types. It should be listed there too.
Next Steps
- Use Content Type Hubs to centralize Content Type definition, creating resuable objects between different web applications.
- Check these other tips:
About the author
Rahul Mehta is a Project Architect/Lead working at Tata Consultancy Services focusing on ECM.This author pledges the content of this article is based on professional experience and not AI generated.
View all my tips
