Link to Documents in SharePoint

Best Practices for SharePoint Documents

• The OHIO Website folder is ONLY for documents linked from the web. It is not for ALL of your office documents.
• Link documents to the public website only if they should be viewed publicly.
• Do not link documents from your personal OneDrive folder.
• Link only to documents — not folders.
• Only create ONE shared link to your document.
• When providing a link to an end user (as in an email), give them the link to the webpage. DO NOT give them the link directly to the document.
• A fillable PDF form in SharePoint must be downloaded by the end user before the fillable fields will be viewable.

Overview

To manage web documents in SharePoint, you must be a member of the OHIO Website Microsoft group which have been set up for this purpose. Never link web documents from your personal OneDrive folder.

To gain access to document storage in OHIO Website, complete the UCM Request Form.  Choose Web > Request public web document storage in SharePoint

OHIO Website Group

• UCM sets up a group's document library, assigns ownership to primary site manager(s) and provides online training on basic workflows. After that, it’s up to the library’s owners to manage access, contents and links.
• Each member of the work group (Admissions, Library, Fine Arts, etc.) can add/remove/modify documents and folders within their library, but only those designated as Owners can assign access to others. Owners are typically primary website manager(s).
• All OHIO Website members have Read access to the RESOURCES folder, which contains help documents and other resources.

Uploading documents to SharePoint folders

Before linking any document to ohio.edu, check it for digital accessibility. For Microsoft documents use the built-in accessibility checkers in Microsoft. For PDFs, use Adobe Acrobat accessibility tools, described in this excellent online resource by WebAim.

Review the steps for PDF remediation

Method 1: Upload document from computer desktop

• Open folder in your document library where document should go.
• Do one of these:
  • Drag document into document library folder
  • Select Upload > Files > select document > Open

Method 2: Copy document from another SharePoint library or OneDrive

• Select Options menu (three dots), next to document you want to copy
• Select Copy to
• Select OHIO Website > Your Library > Your Library Subfolder > Copy here

Linking documents from Webpage

• You should only create a share link one time for your document.
• Always check the Manage Access screen under the 3-dot menu to see if a Share URL already exists.
• If you create a new URL, then it will cancel out the previously created one.

Be sure to follow these steps when linking to a SharePoint file:

• In a browser tab with your OHIO Website library open, open Options menu (three vertical dots) next to document you want to link, select then select Manage Access (to see if a share link already exists)
  
• If no link exists, then select Share.
• In Send Link dialog box, click on “People you specify” and select Anyone with the link, then click Apply.
  • If the user will need to edit the document, make sure you check the Edit box. (The system may only allow users with an OHIO email to edit a document.)
• Click Copy link and then (on the next screen) Copy 
• In a separate browser tab, open your webpage in Drupal Web CMS
• Select the text you want to link to document
  • Text should be descriptive and is generally the document name
  • Be sure to add the file type in brackets into the hyperlinked text for accessibility reasons (e.g., “Annual Report [PDF]” or “Board Presentation [.PPT]”
• Select link icon in text toolbar to open link dialog box.
• Paste URL (copied from SharePoint)
• Under Advanced, make sure you specify this link should open in a new tab.
• Click Save.
• Optional: Apply styles to the link.
  • Click anywhere inside the linked text
  • Select Styles in text toolbar and select either OHIO Green Button) or Action Link.
• Save changes to web page.
• Verify changes on public website.

Updating linked documents

Documents already linked to the website can be updated in several ways, depending on the extent of the change and your group’s document-review workflow.

Method 1:
Make updates in the original linked document (for small changes)

• Open browser tab and navigate to document in your OHIO Website library
• Update text.
• Close tab.

Method 2:
Upload new document and link to website

• You will need to create a new shared link for the new document and update the website link
• Delete the old document or move it to a folder outside of OHIO website folder.