I provided an overview of the Content Query Web Part yesterday and, as promised, today I'm going to dive into the various options associated with the Web Part in its properties tool pane, a.k.a., the Content Query Tool Part. My focus is going to be on the option named Query, which I've already expanded in this first image:
Given that the most powerful feature of the Content Query Web Part is its ability to rollup content from throughout an entire site collection, it should come as no surprise that the default selection for the Source field is to "Show all items from all sites in this site collection." As you can see, however, should you wish to restrict the results to a specific site (and its subsites), or restrict items to those found in a specific list, these are also options available to you.
The List Type option presents itself as a drop-down menu which allows to you specify the specific type of list you wish to rollup. Your menu choices here are so plentiful that I'm going to show you the full list to give you a better idea of the range that the Content Query Web Part provides:
Next up is the Content Type option, which is where you may choose to specify a specific "content type group" to be shown. Note that the default option is to show All Content Types, but again, you're provided the ability to limit the results if such is your wish. Just a few of the content types you'll be able to choose from are: Page Layout; Document; Folder; and Publishing. Should you choose a specific content type, the Show items of this content type drop-down menu will be enabled, and you'll have menu options related to your chosen content type from which to choose. As well, the checkbox to Include child content types will be enabled, and that's another customization option that will be available to you.
This second image completes the customization options associated with the Query section of the Content Query Tool Part, and focuses on additional filtering choices:
Audience Targeting is an optional setting that will allow you to choose to Apply audience filtering, or limit the content displayed in the Content Query Web Part to only that content for which the viewer was originally targeted to receive. If you choose to apply audience filtering, the second checkbox option, Include items that are not targeted, will become enabled. Activating this second option will result in the Web Part always displaying any content that has not been explicitly targeted, no matter who is viewing the page.
The final section in the Query options is Additional Filters, which allows you to slice and dice your content delivery even further. This additional filtering is accomplished through the application of conditionals to a large number of items, as presented in a drop-down menu:
I hope you've found this two-day exploration of the Content Query Web Part to be informative. I know I certainly learned a good deal more about the Web Part while researching these posts! If you're still hungering for additional information, however, I would suggest that you check out Microsoft's dedicated Content Query Web Part page.
Posted
Oct 10 2008, 03:35 PM
by
John Anderson
John Anderson joined Bamboo Solutions as Manager of Content & Syndication in May 2008 after a 12-year career at AOL. New to SharePoint at the time of his hiring, John was tasked with creating a new blog for the just-launched Bamboo Nation community in which he would document his daily SharePoint learning process. Thus was born the end user-centric SharePoint Blank, for which John authored 200 posts within a year, and which he continues to write today. John writes SharePoint Blank in addition to his responsibilities as Bamboo Nation's de facto managing editor and, while he has learned much about SharePoint in his first year, he gleefully awaits the release of SharePoint 2010, and the reset button that release will represent for SharePoint Blank.