SharePoint setup basics

Question

Hi all, 

I'm new to SharePoint and I am investigating how to best configure an environment. I'd like to put as much effort into the planning of the framework as possible, as I understand that some things can cause issues further down the line. I have a couple of questions that I'd like to ask regarding planning and setup, if you could kindly advise.

SharePoint version:

Online

Intent:

1. Document management with version control, approval and retention, based on specific document types.
2. A method of finding and viewing documentation across multiple sites for varied departments.
3. Make use of modern SP sites, instead of classic. As the setup is new, I don't foresee a reason to look backwards, when in all likelihood the configurations will be deprecated.

Current setup:

As it currently stands, I have several existing MS Teams (departments) that inherently have SP team sites associated. These sites will be collaboration spaces for the members of the team. 

Understanding so far (Please correct me):

Site Setup & Sharing

• Each team site will belong to the team members only, but content could be shared.
• Team site content could be shared to a global (all internal members) user group, individual or external as required for the institution.
• Team site content could be dynamically listed in a highlighted content web part or direct links on another site if required (e.g. comm's site)

Document Management:

• Revisioning and Approval is turned on in the document library settings
• Document libraries can have content types associated. These are configured using columns, which is where institutionally required information can be specified for that content type. E.g. Policy, Procedure, Guideline
• Content types create future opportunity for data policies within the O365 environment.
• Content types can be defined in the default content type hub.
• Shared links do not change if a version of the document/page changes.
• Only the current major (approved) version of a document/page will be shown to non-members (as configured in document library settings).

Navigation:

• If document library content is shared with a group, members would see results in the 'global search' facility.
• Centralised navigation can only exist in the form of a hub site. Users can also use the SharePoint Home for associated/followed sites

Users

• Members will create/update content (as defined)
• Approvers will approve content before it can be seen by non-members (as defined)
• Administrators will design and configure each site (as defined)

Questions:

1. Is it common practice to maintain document content in a team site, but publish it (via link) to a communication site?
2. Are content types better for identifying document types (policy, guide etc.) than terms?
3. Are content types the only method of associating O365 data polices?
4. How can I safely define a content type in a central location that is available to existing team sites? - Some users have suggested not altering the default content type hub, though what is the workaround?
5. Are general information (communication pages) best created in the Team site, or a Communication site, when the intent is for all internal users to access them (Who we are, what we do in our department etc.)?
6. How can a document be locked from further editing? - I understand that 'approval' does part of this.

Many thanks in advance for any support given. I would prefer GUI operation where possible, as opposed to PowerShell.

Answer 1

Hi Dihao + the Community

Thanks for the responses to date, they have been really useful whilst I've been investigating the potential uses of SP.

In terms of an update, I keep building and going through the possible solutions on storage locations for documents in a multi-department scenario and still cannot decide on the most appropriate approach. So I'm looking for suggestions from the community...

To confirm, my scenario is that I have many departments who produce many types of documents. Though some of those documents need to be accessed by all users within the tenant and be centrally audited. I understand that the push is to use flat architecture for flexibility etc. However I'm struggling to get all the connective tissue in the right places when considering document management, access and approval as a whole.

My possible (known) scenarios are as follows:

1. Content is created and managed in the same location (Team Site) and then published (copied) in another site (Communication site) for viewing.
2. Content is created and managed in the same location (Team Site) and then a link is made available in another site (Communication site) for viewing.
3. Content remains within the original Team Site, where it is managed and published to others.

I'm also aware of Document Centres, but not sure how this would fit? - Any thoughts here would also be greatly appreciated.

I have a few concerns around searching with option 2 specifically, how will documents show in search results if the search 'box' was within the communication site?

For completeness, I believe that searching in option 1 and 3 would return expected results with OOB search features.