Feb 9, 2008

Hide default title column in sharepoint list

In MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0 sometimes you would like to:

  • Hide 'title' column OR
  • Change 'title' column to optional

Follow these easy steps:-

  1. Enable content type for list:-

    1. GoTo: List > Settings > List settings> Advanced settings

    2. Under “Content Types” change “Allow management of content types?” to “Yes”

    3. Click Ok

  2. Change “Title” column to optional/Hidden.

    1. On “list information” page, click “Item” link under “Content type” section

    2. On “List Content Type Information” page, under columns section click “Title”

    3. On “Change List Content Type Column: Item” page, click “edit column in new window”

    4. Under “Additional Column Settings” Change the “Require that this column contains information:” to “No”

    5. Click “Ok”

    6. Close window

    7. On “Change List Content Type Column: Item” page, under column settings select “hidden”


9 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi!
I changed the name of "Title" column to "Item Title" but not only in the current list. Since then any new list have "Item Title" instead of "Title". Now I want to change it back to "Title". But it gives me error message that "a column with the same name exists or preserved". could you help me please to rechange it to title?
it's critical for my calendars actually!now there are some problems with my new calendars that I think is a resualt of that renaiming action !

Marshal Nagpal said...

Hey this is bug in sharepoint...may be you can try this by applying wss latest service pack

Unknown said...

First thanks for your reply !
The case is that calendars have problem in month view. I can not see all my events in month view when it starts by THE FIRST of MONTH! By default month views start from the 1th of each month. when I change the selected day in month view to any other day, all events appeare completely.

yeah maybe it's a bug, but what is intresting is that I had created calendars before making any changes to the "Title" column, and that ones do work well! I mean there is no problem with my previous calendars!
so then I tried to save one of the previously created calendars as template and then recreated a new calendar using the template. But at this time the "Title" column changes to "Item title" and still month views have problem like any othe new calendar! :(

Marshal Nagpal said...

Here is the best example how to get lock in sharepoint out of the box features . Anyway if you are familiar with sharepoint designer, then my suggestion would be to open this list in designer and modify as per you requirements. It’s a great tool and very powerful.

-MuNeE- said...

hi Marshal...i'm so glad that i found out your blog regarding "Hide default column in sharepoint list". I would like to ask you some question and hope you can help me. When i choose to hide the column in the list,how come i cant edit it or key in any values in that column? Because i got a few users who will be using this list. And i would like the administrator of this list to edit the column that is hidden...and for members, i would like them not to view the items in the list and in the form as well...For members the problem is settle if i just use ur way to solve it...but what about my administrator? I would like them to edit the item in the list...Please help and thanks in advance.

Marshal Nagpal said...

Hi mun,
Role based hiding a column, is something you may not be able to achieve directly from the out of box. Am doubtful that same can be achieved with help of “SharePoint designer”
You need to design your list with help of different “content types”. Where UserA will use “ContentTypeA” and userB will use “ContentTypeB”. In “content typeA” title column will be visible where as in “content typeB” it is hidden.
Cheers
Marshal

Raj said...

Hi..Marshal Nagpal
I am very happy to see a blog on hide column topic. i am having a big issue on this. both on title column and other custom columns. I want to hide custom column of a list when you go and click on new item list. But i will assign value for this hidden column in a C# code. Can we achieve this task. please send me ur valuable suggestion here and also mail me to rajkumar_smart@rediffmail.com.
hope you will do this at the earliest.

Marshal Nagpal said...

At a very high level I can explain how to take actions on custom columns
Approach 1 : Using Sharepoint designer (SPD)
Step:# Open site in SPD
Step:# Open list, Copy Newform.aspx
Step:# Shift to code view, set isvisible to false of "ListFormWebPart"
Step:# Menu > Insert > SharePoint Controls > Custom List Form.
Step:# Select your custom list from dropdown, and then select New Item Form
Step:# A "Data Form Web Part" will be added on page
Now here you can hide or change each columns. Or matter of fact can do column level operations
However having said that, you have to use SPD Workflow for setting any values in custom columns.

Approach 2: Using C# code
Same as above just in case of workflow, you can implement "SPItemEventReceiver" to capture "add" events in C# code.

Unknown said...

Thanks! Easy to understand and solved my problem!