SharePoint Server 2013 expands on this concept, introducing the notion of metadatabased navigation. Using the MMS, a navigational structure can be generated on a fairly dynamic basis, tying multiple sites and site collections together into an organized (and exceptionally flexible) structure.
Metadata-based navigation specifically addresses two key navigational considerations found in previous versions of SharePoint: complex URLs and site collection boundaries.
Complex URLs
In prior versions of SharePoint, it was not uncommon to see complex URLs for pages such as /Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=132 or /Pages/Default.aspx. This sort of URL is not only unfriendly to users trying to remember the location of a particular page but also difficult to integrate into an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy.
When attempting to simplify these navigational structures, administrators often would result to non-SharePoint technologies such as the URL rewrite module (found in Internet Information Services [IIS]) to simplify URLs into friendlier URLs. Using this rewriting technology, a structure such as /pages/default.aspx could be more simply represented as /default.aspx.
As with any other technology, the additional administration required for the rewrites to take place could theoretically cause problems, including the following:
■■ An administrator’s IIS experience level Some advanced knowledge of IIS was required for installing and troubleshooting the rewrite module.
■■ Regular expressions (Regex) The IIS rewrite module relies on the pattern-matching capability of regular expressions to take a particular URL structure (for example, /pages/default.aspx) and rewrite it (for example, /default.aspx).
■■ The notion that the rewrites happen outside of SharePoint’s control, potentially causing issues with navigation, search, and so on if configured incorrectly.
Site collection boundaries
There was also the additional issue of navigation across multiple site collections. When a user navigated within the boundaries of a single site collection, the structure was uniform and consistent, using the global and current site navigational model provided by the SharePoint Server publishing functionality.
The use of a single site collection is easy but not scalable; thus the need for multiple site collections. After multiple site collections were put into use (mostly for the purposes of scalability), a user would encounter an entirely new navigational structure in each distinct site collection.
Path-based navigation
When two site collections need to be included in the same navigational structure, path-based site collections can be used. These site collections are related via the use of managed paths. Two distinct types of managed paths were used: explicit and wildcard.
Explicit managed paths enable two site collections to be put into the same URL path. For instance, if you had a site collection at http://your.url.com/, you could create an explicit managed path (for example, /yoursite) to store another site collection at http://your.url.com/
yoursite.
Wildcard managed paths enable one site collection to be the “implied” parent of several site collections. Doing so requires two things:
■■ All site collections are nested under a path that itself is not a site.
■■ All site collections in the wildcard are at the same URL level.
If you had a site collection at http://your.url.com/, you could build a wildcard managed path (/projects) to contain all your projects, each in its own site collection. So the projects would be located at http://your.url.com/projects/project1, /project2, /project3, and so on. If a user decided, however, to navigate directly to http://your.url.com/projects, there would be a problem; there is no site at that level, only the wildcard managed path.
MORE INFO DEFINING MANAGED PATHS
For more information about creating and implementing new managed paths, review the TechNet article “Define managed paths in SharePoint Server 2013” at http://technet.microhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261845.aspxsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261845.aspx.
Using metadata for managed navigation
SharePoint Server 2013 introduces a new concept: the idea that navigational metadata can be stored as a descriptive element within the term store. Instead of having to nest site collections under one another for a clean navigational structure and then having to replicate the desired navigation set across each site collection, it is now possible to arrange sites and site collections within a clean, user-friendly, SEO-friendly structure.
After you have designed your navigational metadata structure, SCAs can utilize the metadata control within each site collection to “subscribe” to the navigational structure; conversely, it is also possible for the site administrators to build their own navigational structure in the term store.
Here’s the best part: After they are created, these structures are extremely flexible, allowing for changes to be made without the need for potential disruptions (managed paths, backup/restores, and so on).
Implementing managed navigation
Managed navigation is dependent on one or more term sets. A term set is nothing more than a grouping of terms within the term store. Each term set defines a navigational structure, and multiple navigational structures can be utilized, even within a single site collection (if desired).
Within a site, global and current navigation can each utilize a term set for navigation. Note that global and current navigation cannot utilize two separate term sets—only one term set can be specified on the navigation settings page of a site. The individual terms can be set to show in global navigation, current navigation, or both (as you will see shortly).
By default, a SharePoint site utilizes structural navigation; if you have used prior versions of SharePoint, this interface is familiar (see Figure 1-18).
Converting a site from structural to managed navigation requires only a few steps:
- In the upper-right corner of the screen, select Settings (gear icon).
- Scroll down and select Site Settings.
- On the Site Settings page, scroll to the Look and Feel section and select Navigation.
- On the Navigation Settings page, you can change global or current navigation from structural to managed navigation (see Figure 1-19).
FIGURE 1-19 Navigation settings.
Next, the term set to be used for navigation needs to be created (or specified). The next major section shows how term sets can be created within Central Administration, in the Term Store Management console. If navigational term sets are created from Central Administration, they are available globally (for use across multiple site collections).
For now, we will create the term set from the site collection navigation settings, meaning that they are available locally (only within the current site collection).
Continuing the previous set of steps:
- After configuring global or current navigation to use managed navigation, scroll down to the Managed Navigation: Term Set section.
- At this point, you can locate a term set that describes your intended navigation or you can build a new term set; to do so, select the Create Term Set button (see Figure 1-20).
- If you create the term set with the button, it will build a group that begins with Site Collection and a default term set (see Figure 1-21); optionally, you could instead open the Term Store Management Tool and build the term set manually. You have to use the tool to build the navigational terms regardless of how the term set was created.
FIGURE 1-21 Create a new term set for managed navigation.
- Open the Term Store Management Tool.
- When you open the term set and select Intended Use, note that the set is already configured for site navigation; if the set was created from Central Administration, you need to select this check box (see Figure 1-22).
- Creating a new term is as simple as selecting the drop-down menu and selecting Create Term (see Figure 1-23).
FIGURE 1-23 Creating a new term in the navigational term set.
- Within each node (term), you can specify whether the term is for use in global or current navigation menus; you can also use the term as a link/header or as a term-driven web page (see Figure 1-24).
- Choosing each node type to be a simple link or header, the finished navigation looks like Figure 1-25.
FIGURE 1-25 Completed metadata navigation.
regardless of which navigation type you choose, the ability to create a reliable navigational structure is a critical component in site hierarchy design. Be familiar with the structural navigation concepts (such as managed paths) as well as metadata navigation configuration
requirements.
