Create a Managed Metadata Column

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A Managed Metadata column is a new column type that can be added to lists, libraries, or content types to enable site users to select values from a specific term set of managed terms and apply these values to their content. You can create and configure a Managed Metadata column to map to an existing term set or term, or you can create a new term set specifically for a Managed Metadata column.

Benefits of using a Managed Metadata Column

Managed Metadata columns promote the consistent use of metadata across sites because they provide users with a list of terms that they can apply to their content. These terms come from a term set that is managed centrally in the Term Store Management Tool by a Term Store Administrator or other individuals with permissions to manage terms.

Because this term set is updated and managed separately from the column itself, there is no need to update the column (or any content types, lists, or libraries associated with it) to make updated terms available to users. Whenever the term set that a specific Managed Metadata column is bound to is updated, the updated terms will automatically become available to users wherever that Managed Metadata column is available. This makes a Managed Metadata column very different from a Choice column, which would have to be updated every time you wanted to change the list of choice values a user could select.

Managed Metadata columns also have several unique features and characteristics that help users select and apply terms to content, such as support for “type-ahead,” as well as support for disambiguation of terms, descriptions, synonyms, and multi-lingual values.

Create a site, list, or library Managed Metadata Column

You can create a column for lists and libraries, or you can create a site column. 

Create a site column for managed metadata

1. On the Home page, select Site Contents.
2. On the Site Contents page, select Settings.
3. Under Web Designer Galleries, select Site columns.
4. On the Site Column page, select Create.
5. On the New Site Column page, in the Name and Type section, enter the name of the column.
6. Go to step 5 in the next procedure.

Create list or library column for managed metadata

1. Go to the list or library where you want to create the column.
2. On the List or Library tab of the ribbon, select List Settings or Library Settings.
3. In the Columns section, select Create Column.
4. On the Create Column page, in the Name and Type section, enter the name of the column.
5. In The type of information in this column is section, select managed metadata.
6. In the Group section, select a group for the column or create a group for it.
7. In the Additional Column Settings section, enter a description and specify whether the value is required. You can also specify whether you want to enforce unique values for the column.
8. In the Multiple Value field section, specify whether you want to allow multiple values in the column.
   1. If you allow multiple values in the column, users won’t be able to sort on this column.
9. In the Display format section, specify whether to display only the term label, or to display the term and its full path in the term set hierarchy.
10. In the Term Set Settings section, do one of the following:
    1. To use an existing term set, select Use a managed term set, and then search or browse for the name of the term set. After you select the term set name, you can specify whether to allow users to fill-in values, and set a default value for the column.
    2. To create a term set for this column, select Customize your term set, and enter a description for the term set. Then, select Edit Using Term Set Manager, and follow the steps in Set up a new term set.
11. Select OK.

Tip: To manage a metadata column, follow either of the previous steps to get to your site, library, or list column Site columns page. On that page, scroll through the defined columns and select the one you want to modify. You will then be back in the editing page where you can change or update the settings

Managed Metadata in SharePoint

To identify more information on the key concepts related to working with new managed metadata features in SharePoint, such as Term Sets, refer to this Microsoft article: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/introduction-to-managed-metadata-in-sharepoint-b324aebd-67ab-45a8-933d-ceedb2d909ea

Create and Manage Terms in a Term Set

To create and manage terms, you must be an Owner or have full permissions.

See more information here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/create-and-manage-terms 

Create a Managed MetaData Column

Identify more information in the Microsoft Support page: 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-managed-metadata-column-8fad9e35-a618-4400-b3c7-46f02785d27f#ID0EAACAAA=Server