Create New Site Collection using New Database

Background
This document explains how to create a new site collection with its own database within SharePoint. Site collections can only be part of one content database and a site collection can contain many subsites. For the most part site should be fine with the way the departments can be broken out into Site Collections, each department can now have subsites if they are needed and those subsites will be created in the same database as the site collection. However if a new company or new department needs to be created a new site collection will therefore need to be created.

Creating a New Database

1. Go to Central Administration
2. Go to Application Management
3. Select Content Databases
4. Make sure that all of the databases statuses are set to Stopped, there is typically one set to ready even though this is not required for SharePoint to work. (Stopped does not mean the database is not running, it just means that new Site Collections cannot be created for that database) To set a database to stopped:
5. Click on the database name
6. Change the database status from ready to Offline
7. Click Ok
8. Click on Add a content Database
9. Ensure the correct web application is selected
10. Ensure the correct database server and server instance is selected
11. Enter the database name, should be something recognizable such as WSS_Content_Department or Company Name/Abbreviation
12. Click Ok

Create a New Site Collection

1. Go to Central Administration
2. Go to Application Management
3. Select Create Site Collection
4. Select the correct Web Application
5. Enter the title
6. Enter the URL
7. Select the appropriate template (Blank if importing existing site)
8. Enter the site collection information
9. Click Ok, this will now create a new site collection in the new database

Change settings in the Site Collection

Now that a new site collection has been created modify it so that it resembles the look and feel of all the other sites and uses the correct search center and features. Audiences may need to be used to control who has access to see what links in the navigation.

1. Go to the new site collection
2. Go to Site Actions > Site Settings
   
   Enable Features - Server Features may need to be activated
3. Under Site Collection Administration select Site Collection Features
   Activate the following:
   Office SharePoint Server Enterprise Site Collection (If applicable)
   SharePoint’s Server Publishing Infrastructure (If applicable)
   SharePoint Server Standard Site Collection (If applicable)
4. Repeat this step under Site Administration > Site Features
   
   Search Settings
5. Under Site Collection administration select Search Settings
6. Select use custom Scopes and enter /searchcenter/pages
7. Click Ok
   
   Look and Feel (Navigation)
8. Under Look and Feel select Navigation
9. Add the other sites as New Links under Global Navigation
10. Enter Title
11. Enter URL – this can be relative, if it is the root site just put a /, if another site collection enter /sites/sitecollectionname
12. If adding an audience, select the audience
13. Click Ok
14. Click Ok
    
    Audiences
    Audiences in this situation can be used to control “security by obscurity”, while users may not have access to some sites when using site collections they will see the links because the links are not looking at the security of the actual site collection they link to. This means that users may click on the link and then get an error stating they do not have access.
15. Add Audience
16. Go to the Shared Service Provider
17. Select Audiences
18. Create Audience
19. Enter the Name
    Enter the Owner
20. Select the include rules (this can be changed later)
21. Click Ok
22. Select the Operand, generally user
    Under Operator select Member Of for doing groups
23. Select the AD group for the people that will be in this audience
    Click Ok
24. Select compile audience
    The audience is now created and can be added wherever needed.

Moving a site into a new site collection
If a site is located in the wrong site collection or needs to be moved to its own site collection.

Export:
Export the site to ensure all permissions and versions are copied over using the stsadm utility, using command prompt

Cd “Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\Bin”

Stsadm –o export –url http://currenturl -filename c:\directory\exportfile.cab –includeusersecurity –versions 4

Create New Site Collection or new site for the new location using the blank site template

Import
Import the site to the new location

Cd “Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\Bin”

Stsadm –o import –url http://newurl -filename c:\directory\exportfile.cab –includeusersecurity

Re-run Profile Import

1. Go to Central Administration
2. Go to the Shared Services Provider
3. Go to User Profiles and Properties
4. Select Start Full Import