Alphabet Index based on Title field

Question

I followed this link http://kwizcom.blogspot.com/2007/06/creating-a-z-filter-for-list.html and it's good for if you have to it once. But I have 50+ List. Are there another efficient way to handle this?

Is there a way I can create a custom Webpart using Visual studio? Then let the user pick the column they want to see alpha listing for? Like WP property

Answer 1

Without code, you could create a site column that does the calculation.

You can then attach the site column to existing content types, or create a custom content type that you'll attach to all lists.

Answer 2

The simplest, no code solution would be to create a calculated column with a =LEFT([Title],1) formula. This creates a column with only the first letter of the title. You can now 'Group By' this column on your view to facilitate alphabetical sorting.

Answer 3

what SharePoint version are you using? if using SharePoint 2010, you could use enterprise search or Fast and configure the refinement panel.

Another solution might be the content by query webpart in combination with the technique you mentioned (calculated fields), but I am not sure if you can work with 50+ lists, it totally depends on how you designed the the lists (all based on the same content type, same list definitions, etc.?!)

edit: I assumed you wanted to aggregate 50 lists and create a filter on that. After reading your post again, I see that you have 50 separate lists, which all need the same view.

I can imagine that you could copy the views using sharepoint designer 50 times. Another possibility is to configure the content by query webpart one time, reuse that one and reconfigure it 50 times for the 50 different lists. That way, you don't have to use visual studio at all.