I have created an issue tracking tool, which come with built-in Issue Status field with the following built-in choices ; Active , Resolved & closed. Now I want to have different choices (open, in progress, closed & pending) for my issue tracking list. So there seems to be multiple approaches to do so, such as:-

1. Modify the built-in "Issue Status" site column at the site collection level ,and modify the choices to my new values.

2. Modify the built-in "Issue Status" column at the list level, while keep it as is in the site collection level.

3. Create a new site column named Custom Status and keep the built-in column unmodified. Then add the new custom site column to the Issue content type at site collection level.

4. Create a new list column (not site column) named Custom Status and add it to the list content type (not to the site content type).

5. Create a new site column named Custom Status but add it to the list content type.

So can anyone advice which approach I need to follow? Thanks

Hi John,

If you have many lists use the Issue content type and all the lists should have the Issue Status columns updated, then I recommend to use the first option.

If you just want to update a list, then you can select the second option.

If you do not want to change the Issue Status site column, then you can use the third, fourth or fifth option. And you can choose one out of three based on your requirement such as how many lists should be updated.

Best regards,

Victoria

Hi John,

If you have many lists use the Issue content type and all the lists should have the Issue Status columns updated, then I recommend to use the first option.

If you just want to update a list, then you can select the second option.

If you do not want to change the Issue Status site column, then you can use the third, fourth or fifth option. And you can choose one out of three based on your requirement such as how many lists should be updated.

Best regards,

Vi

Hi John,

From your description, it seems that you have one list that will use the Issue Status column, then I recommend to add the site column Issue Status to the list and then modify the choices for the column at the list level.

Yes, you are right that it is not recommended to edit the built-in content types or built-in site columns.

So you can choose to create another custom site column with the choices. After creating many subsites, you can update the custom site column to update all the columns in the lists if you want to add more choices.

Best regards,

Victoria

Hi John,

From your description, it seems that you have one list that will use the Issue Status column, then I recommend to add the site column Issue Status to the list and then modify the choices for the column at the list level.

Yes, you are right that it is not recommended to edit the built-in content types or built-in site columns.

So you can choose to create another custom site column with the choices. After creating many subsites, you can update the custom site column to update all the columns in the lists if you want to add more choices.

Best regards,

Victoria

Hi John,

After creating the sub sites with the site template which has custom site column in the list, if you need to update all the lists in the sub sites created on the template, then you can update the custom site column in the original site to update all the columns in the sub sites' lists instead of updating the column in each list.

Best regards,

Victoria

Hi John,

After creating the sub sites with the site template which has custom site column in the list, if you need to update all the lists in the sub sites created on the template, then you can update the custom site column in the original site to update all the columns in the sub sites' lists instead of updating the column in each list.

Best regards,

Victoria

Hi John,

How did you edit the site column added in the content type in list level?

If you edit a site column in the content type at the list level, it will directly edit the site column at the site collection level.

If you add another site column to the content type at list level, then the column will not be changed when updating the content type at site collection level.

So if you want to have specific columns in the content type at list level, then you can add the column at list level.

Best regards,

Victoria

Hi John,

How did you edit the site column added in the content type in list level?

If you edit a site column in the content type at the list level, it will directly edit the site column at the site collection level.

If you add another site column to the content type at list level, then the column will not be changed when updating the content type at site collection level.

So if you want to have specific columns in the content type at list level, then you can add the column at list level.

Best regards,

Vi

Hi John,

You are right that the column will be edited at list level.

1. Yes, it is a common situation as people may need to update the site column at site collection if many lists use the same site column.

2. If the column is added from the site column, then the column can be updated at the site collection level.

So in this case, it is recommended to create new column at list level.

3. It depends on your requirement about using the columns and it is not necessary to create the column at site collection level.

Best regards,

Victoria