An information management policy is a collection of rules that control how organizational information is controlled. With the policies, SharePoint development becomes a comprehensive tool for information management, access controlling, and compliance enforcement. A contains multiple rules, also called as policy features, that govern how to access what information; that can perform what actions, and the time frame the privileges are active. The helps in easier compliance with legal/governmental regulations and internal business processes. Usually the creators and enforcers of policies are compliance officers, records managers, IT staff, and others who are involved in organizational risk management. When applied along with SharePoint WCM development (Web content development), policies enable consistent and risk-free management of data resources.

Benefits of SharePoint policies

* System administrators can manage both client-side and server-side features from a single location
* Policies are coupled to the content that it applies to
* Policies do not require end-user involvement – the corporate policies are followed automatically and universally

Different ways of creating a policy for a site

* Creating a policy for different types of content within a site
* Creating for a given site content type
* Creating for a content library or list

The capability to set control parameters makes it possible to outsource SharePoint development. A brief description of how to create policies follows.

1. Developing a policy for different types of content within a site

Create a policy at the site collection level and then apply it’s to relevant content types as part of SharePoint WCM development – this ensures that the policy is applied to all documents of a certain type within a site collection. These are referred to as site collection policies. To do this

* Click “Site Actions” on the site collection home page
* Click “Site Settings”
* Select “Site Collection Administration” list
* Then select the tab “Site collection policies”
* Click “Create”
* Give a name and describe the policy
* Write a policy statement of up to 512 characters detailing the policy for users
* Click “OK”

2. Development a policy for a given site content type

SharePoint development allows setting a new policy for a given content type. Alternatively, an existing policy can be associated with a content type. Creating policies for content types allows easier coupling of policy features across lists or libraries, especially when you outsource SharePoint development. To do this

* Click “Site Actions” on the homepage of the collection
* Click “Site Settings”
* Click “Site content types” present in the “Galleries” section
* Choose the content type on the “Site Content Type Settings” page
* Select “Information management policy settings” in the “Settings” section of the “Site Content Type” page
* Click on “Define a policy” on the page with “Information Management Policy Settings”
* Give a name and describe the policy in the “Edit Policy” page
* Write a statement of up to 512 characters detailing the policy for users
* Select the relevant policy features to add to the information management policy in the next sections
* Click “Enable Retention” to pinpoint the retention time-frame for different items and documents that this applies to
* Click “Enable Auditing” to enable auditing of events for different items and documents that this applies to
* Click “Enable Labels” to specify label settings for documents and items that this policy applies to

3. Developing a policy for a content library or list

To set to a content library or list, at least the “Manage Lists” permission is necessary in the SharePoint development architecture. Management of rights is essential when you offshore SharePoint development. A retention can be defined for a specific list, library, or folder.

* Navigate to the list or library from where the information management policy has to be set
* Click “Library” or “List” tab
* Click “Library Settings” or “List Settings”
* Click “Information Management Policy Settings” under “Permissions and Management”
* Ensure the source of retention for the list or library is set to “Library and Folders”. If “Content Type” appears as source, change this by clicking “Change Source”
* Enter a description for the policy in the “Library Based Retention Schedule” section of the “Edit Policy” page
* Click “Add a retention stage…” under “Non-Records” to select the retention period option to specify when documents or items are set to expire
* Select “Repeat this stage’s action…” under the “Recurrence” section to enter how often the action should reoccur.