SharePoint: Skip Column-by-Column Lists

Key insights

• List templates: Templates install more than columns — they add prebuilt column types, choice dropdowns, ready-made views, cell/column formatting, calculated fields, settings, and sometimes rules, email notifications, or approvals.
  Preview sample data does not carry over, and a new list inherits the site's permissions by default.
  
• Site columns: Create columns at the site level once and reuse them across many lists to cut setup time and enforce consistent data entry.
  This central approach improves governance and reduces duplicate work.
  
• View controls: Use list views to show, hide, or reorder columns for different audiences without changing the stored schema.
  Views let teams see only what matters without rebuilding the list.
  
• Column formatting: Apply JSON-based formatting to change how fields look in the UI while keeping the raw data unchanged.
  Formatting improves readability but some column types do not support it.
  
• Lookup and reuse: Use lookup columns and modern inline add/edit to create relationships between lists and avoid recreating the same fields in each list.
  This speeds design and maintains consistent references across lists.
  
• Limitations & cautions: Deleting a column permanently removes its data; templates can be too generic or too specific and may require work to fit business needs.
  Also watch list thresholds (e.g., 5,000 items) and unsupported column types when planning.
  

Overview of the Video

The YouTube video by SharePoint Maven Inc urges users to pause before they build SharePoint - Lists column by column and instead consider using built-in templates and modern list features.
In the video, the presenter creates a list from a template, walks through the preview screen, and explains what elements get installed automatically.
Crucially, the demo highlights two often-missed details: sample preview content does not carry over, and a new list inherits the site's permissions by default.
Overall, the video frames templates as time-savers in some cases and time-wasters in others, depending on the desired outcome.

What the Video Demonstrates

The presenter shows how a template bundles more than just columns: it brings prebuilt column types, choice dropdowns, several views, formatting, calculated columns, and sometimes rules or approvals.
As a result, creating from a template can install not only the data structure but also workflow pieces and presentation settings that would otherwise require separate setup.
For example, the video points out that the Playlist template for training videos is an instance where the template fits the use case so well that no rework is needed.
Yet, the presenter also walks through the preview to show how the visible sample data is only illustrative and not part of what is actually created.

Advantages of Templates and Modern Column Management

Templates can deliver consistent column definitions and ready-made views quickly, which reduces repetitive work across sites and teams.
Furthermore, modern list experiences let users add columns inline, reuse site columns, reorder fields in views, and apply column formatting to improve appearance without changing underlying values.
Consequently, teams can standardize data entry and speed up design while still tailoring the visible layout for different audiences.
These features together point toward more reusable, visual, and governance-friendly list design.

Tradeoffs and Practical Limitations

Nevertheless, the video and the accompanying blog text emphasize tradeoffs: templates may be either too generic or too specific, and bending a template to a unique business process can take longer than starting from scratch.
Also, some column types have formatting or functionality limits, and deleting a column is permanent for its data, which raises governance concerns.
On top of that, large lists must still consider performance thresholds—particularly the well-known 5,000-item limit in SharePoint Online—which affects how users design indexes and views.
Thus, although templates and reusable columns streamline many tasks, they also introduce risks around fit, data permanence, and scale that require planning.

Challenges When Choosing an Approach

Choosing between a template, a set of reusable site columns, or a blank list involves balancing speed, consistency, and flexibility.
If speed is the priority, templates often win because they deliver views, formatting, and sometimes automation right away; however, this comes at the cost of potential mismatches with specific business rules.
Conversely, starting from a blank list gives maximum control and avoids accidental settings being copied in, but it requires more design time and greater attention to governance so that different teams do not drift apart.
Therefore, teams must weigh short-term efficiency against long-term maintainability when deciding which path to follow.

Recommendations for Practitioners

As the video suggests, first preview templates carefully and note what gets installed, because the visible sample content in the preview is not created in the real list.
Next, prefer site columns and shared schemas when your organization needs consistency across many lists, and use inline column creation when you need a fast, targeted change for a single list.
In addition, use column formatting to improve usability without altering data, and plan for thresholds and indexing when lists may grow large.
Finally, document any template customizations and review permissions after creation so that inherited access does not create unintended exposure.

In short, the SharePoint Maven Inc video provides a clear, practical demonstration that helps teams decide when to rely on templates and when to build from scratch.
Moreover, it highlights the balance between convenience and precision, and it offers sensible steps to reduce risk while taking advantage of modern list capabilities.
For organizations that invest a little time in planning and governance, templates and reusable columns can accelerate work and improve consistency; otherwise, they may complicate the process.
Therefore, viewers should treat templates as useful tools rather than one-size-fits-all solutions and test their fit before committing to them for production data.

Keywords

SharePoint content types, Site columns SharePoint, SharePoint list templates, SharePoint metadata management, PnP provisioning SharePoint, PowerShell create SharePoint lists, Power Apps SharePoint lists, SharePoint list design best practices