What is a SharePoint list?
This is a type of question that usually arises in everybody’s mind when he or she is just starting to get familiar with the application. A SharePoint list is used to store important data across different columns in separate rows. It would not be wrong to think of this list as a table in a database that contains multiple columns and rows. Also, you can look at it as a spreadsheet with a number of columns and rows. You can store plenty of different types of data that may include software bugs, phone numbers, employee addresses, website links, and lots of things can be stored.
There are a variety of different data types that can be used for each column. The standard types usually include text, date, number, as well as link, image, user, and many others. The data in a SharePoint list is displayed via views. A list would have a default view that presents all types of items and elements. You have the option of creating as many views as you please, in addition to deciding which column to display, how to order by, and what to filter out. Security permissions are very much alike the site you created the list in unless you want to assign specific permissions. The security permissions for each list are inherited from its site unless you decide to make changes in it.
SharePoint Designer or Visual Studio could be used to create workflows, which can be included into the list to run when items are updated, added, or deleted. What this does is that it gives you an ability to make necessary changes to the data in the list, add other items in the list, or delete any linked items.
An excellent benefit of having data in this format is the fact that one can gain easy access to specific data by simply making use of queries. All you need to do is to input the criteria for the data that is required to be extracted, which prompts the system to sift through the complete data and find you the information you are looking for. In addition to that, you can also sort data according to the dates per alphabetical order. You can also filter certain data while the other information is hidden.
The entire SharePoint package contains plenty of templates that allow users to compile their desired information in the way that is relevant to their demands. Moreover, these templates are adaptable that allow you to create a new structure from scratch. A user can make certain changes in the visual appearance of the templates, and this can come handy when the information is to be used on websites.
The SharePoint list is usually found in Microsoft applications that include Internet Explorer, Windows Sharepoint, Excel, and a number of other downloadable Microsoft packages. These are just the few important things that are discussed in response to the question, “what is a SharePoint list?”
