Kelly LaForest (Alumni)
Today I deleted a OneNote Notebook that was no longer being used. It was sitting in the SharePoint library empty for many months with a hyperlink to the location where the information was now being stored.
Around the itgroove office, we consider it a huge faux pas to not take the time to point others to where to find information – especially if you’re going to move or delete it.
We tend to use the term “breadcrumb trail” to describe the act of placing a hyperlink to a new location.
The term is typically used to describe a “navigation aid used in user interfaces that allows a user to see where the current page is in relation to the Web site’s hierarchy”.
We’ve repurposed this term because the underlying concept is the same – leave a trail of breadcrumbs for users to follow to help them navigate to a location.
If you are considering moving or deleting a OneNote Notebook that is viewed or edited by others, I encourage you to leave a note for your colleagues.
To keep it simple, I create and upload a txt file to the SharePoint Library, OneDrive for Business, OneDrive, or shared drive where you originally stored your OneNote file.
I give it an obvious name that would catch the attention of someone looking for a file:
Here is an example of the type of message I put in the text file:
You can always use a Word document or a PDF if clickable links matters to you:
Image Source: http://year3hillmead.blogspot.ca/2013/09/the-breadcrumb-trail.html
Another alternative, in a SharePoint library would be adding the “Link to Document” Content Type and folks could just click on it to be taken to the new location.
That’s a great alternative Sean!
May be a tad complicated for some end users that are just getting started with SharePoint, but I bet once they become familiar with Content Types, your suggestion will be the go-to for many.