Need help with Library / List and views

Question

We have a library / list with 239 views, some of these views have become corrupted and are not showing all columns. This "system" has been in place for a while, way before my time here, and I feel like there has to be a better way to do this. Our company has many different locations and they fall into 3 categories. So we basically have a view for each location under each category.

There is a drop down that shows the views that looks like "Category A - Location 1" and so on. Settings shows ‘428960 items (list view threshold is 15500)’. This seems out of my wheel house to be honest.

I am hoping someone might have a suggestion on how we can better user SharePoint to maintain this information. Lines are added to each view on a daily basis so I know this won't be getting smaller anytime soon.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

What you are asking is a loaded question that encompasses many topics of SharePoint library/list architecture, design and planning. I am not a SharePoint expert but I would have to say 239 views on a single library is extreme. It is impossible to provide a good answer without knowing what the library contains, business requirements, retention policies, security, etc.

From what I can see, you have 2 paths that you can take:

If re-design of the library/list is possible:

• Round up your team or SharePoint governance committee and begin re-design with the following ideas in mind:
  • Splitting the library into smaller ones
  • Re-think the metadata fields and content types along with what Views are needed
  • Plan for future growth and retention policies
• Discuss current flaws or issues and what re-design solutions are possible

If re-design is not possible:

• Can some of the views be private instead of public?
• Can we implement a record center and retention policy for the items in the library/list?
• Can users use the sorting and filtering of columns instead of the views?
• List view threshold can be increased but need to find that balance. How many items does a user need to review at any given time?

Final Thoughts

In the end, only you and your team can really find the best solution that fits in your organization's requirements but I hope this info will give you some good direction on what to do.