Some Tips for Using the Term Store Manager in SharePoint 2010

Working in Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Term Store Manager is going to be both rewarding and challenging. Here are two specific instances of what that means.

Brian LeBlanc is interning at Ascentium Rocket Labs this summer. He's been working on researching the functionality of the SharePoint 2010 Term Store Manager. Below are some ideas we've had.

Mike: So, Brian, what have you noticed about using the Term Store Manager?

Brian: One of the things that it is important to be aware of when using the Term Store Management tool in SharePoint 2010 is the difference between copying and reusing terms. Check out this screenshot:

Copying a term creates a copy of the original that is labeled “Copy of ___” underneath the parent term. This copy can be changed, but the changes will not be reflected in the original. You can’t reuse the copied term in the same group. When you try to reuse a term, you are unable to access the group in the term reuse screen.

Mike: What about re-using a term? How is that different?

Brian: Reusing a term puts it under another group. If you change the term when it is in the new group and save it, the original term will change as well. If you try to reuse an already reused term, you will get an error message saying “terms cannot be shared multiple times in the same term set.” Check out these screenshots using the term "Proxy Site Ownership":

Mike: Does this mean Term Store Management allows you to create polyhierarchies?

Brian: If you define polyhierarchy as putting one tag in multiple places, then yes, Term Store Management allows you to do this. Term Store Management does not seem, however, to support the consistency of the terms. If your terms can be reused and have their descriptions changed by anyone with access privileges, then you could quickly run into a lot of trouble.

Mike: How can you maintain the consistency of your taxonomy?

Brian: Let's talk later about that. Maybe in another blog post?