SharePoint · Infrastructure and real estate

Configurable document management system where admins build their own libraries

A SharePoint document management system where admins create tiles, fields, folder templates and approval rules without a developer. Each new project gets its folders, approvers and permissions from a template.

Client: A retail real estate company with several malls, each with leasing, finance and IT teams
Industry: Infrastructure and real estate
Platform: SharePoint
Started from: Document Management System product

01The challenge

Lease agreements and property records sat in shared folders and email. Every mall organised its folders differently, versions were overwritten and nobody could see who had approved what. Each new library needed a developer.

02The solution

We built a tile based document system on SharePoint Online. Admins create a tile for each department, choose its fields, reference numbers, version limit and archive rules, and define folder templates. A new project builds its whole folder tree, approvers and access in one step. Uploads go through an approver and a publisher, and users find documents by metadata or by content.

How a document library is built and used

Create a tileAn admin adds a tile on the landing page with a name, picture, access list, tile admin and display order. Each tile is a library behind the scenes.
Choose fields and actionsThe admin picks which fields the tile asks for, which are required, and whether each appears on the upload form or the folder form. Preview, share, download, rename and versions can be switched on or off.
Add new fieldsConfiguration entry lets admins add new metadata fields: text, dropdown, multiple select, radio, date or person. A dropdown can use a master list or fixed options, and can act as a search filter.
Define folder templatesTemplate master and folder master hold the folder tree for each kind of project, with parent and child folders.
Create a projectThe admin names the project folder, sets suffix, industry, access and approvers, and turns on Create structure. The template builds every folder in one step.
Set permissionsAdvanced permission on a folder gives view only access to one group and contributor rights to the selected uploaders.
Upload and approveIn the last folder a user uploads files, fills in the metadata and marks any file as a new version of an earlier one. The approver and then the publisher review and comment.
Find, archive and restoreUsers search by metadata or by content. Old versions move to the archive, then to the recycle bin, and only admins can restore them.

Screens from the system

Sample data only. These screens show the layout and flow, not real records.

Screen 1 of 12Built for this client

Dashboard with tiles

One tile for each department library, an add tile option for admins and the masters menu.

What we built

Tile librariesA landing page of tiles, each a library with its own access, fields and rules.
Dynamic fieldsAdmins add metadata fields and filters without code.
Folder templatesA whole folder tree, with approvers and access, is built when a project is created.
Reference numbersA default sequence or a pattern built from year, month and a separator, per tile.
Two level approvalApprover and publisher with mandatory comments and a full history.
Versions and archiveA version limit per tile, an archive library and automatic move to the recycle bin.
Folder permissionsView only and contributor groups set from the folder menu.
Search and recycle binMetadata and content search, and admin only restore of deleted files.