SharePoint 365 Owner: Create Library & List Columns

Course description

This course teaches SharePoint site owners how to create, manage, and integrate columns within lists and libraries to support structured, searchable, and consistent data entry. Learners begin by adding existing site columns to a list or library, using the settings interface to select from previously created site-wide metadata fields. The lessons explain how grouped naming conventions, such as using an underscore prefix, make custom site columns easier to locate, and demonstrate how to add multiple site columns at once for efficient setup. Participants learn how added site columns function like local copies that inherit updates from the parent site column, while maintaining the ability to remove them from individual lists without affecting the original source. The course then shifts to creating new columns directly within lists and libraries using the modern SharePoint interface. Learners explore the intuitive Add Column feature, selecting from data types such as text, choice, number, date, and person, and configuring settings like default values, required fields, and validation rules. Step-by-step demonstrations show how to create columns using real-world examples, such as date and time fields for transactions or number fields for currency and calculations. Participants learn when to enable or disable options like friendly formatting, enhanced rich text, or thousand separators based on data type and purpose. The training also highlights best practices for naming columns, explaining how internal names are generated and why short, space-free names prevent technical issues when integrating with workflows or Power Automate. Finally, learners practice modifying, renaming, and deleting columns safely, understanding how to change settings without data loss and when to duplicate a column instead of converting its type. The course emphasizes caution when deleting columns, noting that column deletion permanently removes associated metadata. By the end of the course, site owners will know how to add, configure, and manage list and library columns confidently, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and usability of data across their SharePoint 365 sites.

Course outline