Last edited 9/30/26
Purpose: This guide provides practical standards for managers and SharePoint owners to maintain a clean, secure, and searchable department site. By establishing these rules early, you prevent "file sprawl" and ensure the site remains a reliable system of record.
Security
Owners should audit SharePoint members monthly. Members that no longer need access or are no longer with TMU should be removed. Only verified staff members with a business need to access the SharePoint site should be members.
Access Requests: Unknown requests to join a SharePoint site or access a file stored in SharePoint should be treated with caution. If you are unsure of the identity or purpose of an access request, please verify with the user directly.
Members can be audited by selecting the member count on any site page:
Folder Structure
Limit Depth: Aim for no more than 5 levels of folders. Deeper levels of folders lead to potential errors during search and syncing and users are more likely to store the items on their desktop if they are difficult to access.
Limit Overload: If a folder contains 50+ subfolders, consider if those should be categorized by year, status, or project type instead.
Standardized File Naming
Consistent naming makes searching and sorting intuitive.
Dates First: Use YYYY-MM-DD at the start for files that need to be sorted chronologically (e.g., meeting minutes, monthly reports).
No Special Characters: Avoid symbols like # % & * : < > ? / \ { } | " as these can cause synchronization issues.
Naming Sensitivity: Never put sensitive information (like ID numbers or specific private names) in a filename. Filenames appear in search results and "Recent Files" lists for people who may not have access to the file itself.
Versioning
SharePoint handles versioning automatically. You do not need multiple files named Project_v1, Project_v2, and Project_FINAL.
Keep one file and use SharePoint’s Version History to revert to older copies if needed.
Co-Authoring: Remind staff that multiple people can edit a document simultaneously. In most cases, there is no need to "check out" a file or save a local copy to edit. Check out is still useful when you need to make changes that shouldn't be visible to others until you're finished. Checking out locks the file so no one else can edit it until you check it back in.
