How to pull a custom Library field value to display in a webpart?

Question

Using SharePoint 2010.

I have a library (that has a description by default), and it has folders (which do not have a description by default).

So I added a custom field (creating a custom folder type) to house a description for each folder in the library.

As the user navigates through the folders of the library, I want a webpart (will appear above the folder/library contents) to show the description of the current folder (or the description of the library, if the user is viewing the top level of the library). (The description is actually rich text providing instructions and background info for the folder and its contents, which is why I want to show it at the top of the screen.)

Is this possible using SharePoint Designer or SharePoint out-of-the-box?

Thanks!

Answer 1

The biggest problem that you will encounter, adding a web part to the list view, is that sharepoint 2010 will then treat that view as an "application page" rather than a "list page". What that means is, you will lose the ability to use the views dropdown in the breadcrumb, you will also lose the ribbon when on that view. Which kind of makes that view very poor in most cases.