Resource Request: Content Type Example

Resource Request

You are working as an IT Support Person. The company employees need to raise various resource requests like:

• Computer
• Virtual Machine
• Tablet

You need to also capture the configuration information from them, like:

• Computer: CPU Cores, RAM, HDD Size, HDD Type, Users, Admin Users and so on.
  
  
• Virtual Machine: Domain and all the computer parameters.
  
  
• Tablet: Model, storage and so on.

Additionally, all those should be tracked along with the following fields:

• Status: Open, In Progress, Closed
• Requester
• Resolver
• Created Date
• Resolved Date

Content Type

The preceding scenario is good for content type. We can also apply content type inheritance here.

1. Creation

The following is the list.



Now go to the list > List Settings > Advanced Settings > Allow management of content types > Enable.



Now go to Site Settings > Site content types.



The following is the Computer content type inheriting from the base content type.



The following is the Virtual Machine content type inheriting from Computer.



The following is the Tablet content type inheriting from the base content type.



2. Associate Content Types

Now go to the List > List Settings > Advanced Settings > Add Content Types.



Do not forget to remove the default Item content type from the list.

(Click on the Item content type and choose the Delete option.)

3. Add New Item

Now try adding a new item to our Resource Request list.



You are ready now to expose the list to employees. They can generate new resource requests in a much easier way and the IT Support won't miss any important parameters regarding the resource.

Note

Please note that unlike document libraries, the content type drop-down won't appear in the new form or with the Create link. You need to do certain JavaScript or CSS customization to enable this.

References

Plan content types and workflows in SharePoint 2013

Summary

In this article we explored how to use content types in a Resource Request scenario. Adding workflows / alerts would notify the IT Support people immediately.