Create Starter Lists with Sample Data
Six products can create a small sample SharePoint list and bind themselves to it. The starter list is always optional. Every product also works against a list you already have.
Shared rules
- The link appears only when the signed-in author can create lists on the site. When they cannot, the link is hidden entirely, not greyed out.
- The list is created in the current SharePoint site, under that user's own permissions. Nothing is elevated, and nothing is created anywhere else.
- Sample records are clearly fictional.
- An existing list with the same name is never touched or overwritten. If the name is already taken, creation fails and the product says so.
- Everything created is ordinary SharePoint content you own. Rename it, edit it, add columns, or delete it like any other list.
- After creation the product binds itself to the new list and its default view and maps the columns automatically.
The six starter-list products
| Product | UI action | Default list name | What the samples show |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zenpo Accordion | Need a starter list? Create one with sample data | FAQs | 3 HR questions with rich-text answers, ordered by Rank |
| Zenpo Dynamic Blurbs | Need a starter list? Create one with sample data | Blurbs | 12 blurbs, including one inactive row that the Active filter hides |
| Zenpo Org Chart | Need a starter list? Create one with sample data | Employees | 10 fictional employees, including dual reporting and one external person |
| Zenpo People Directory | Need a starter list? Create one with sample data | Employees | The same 10 records, browsed as a directory |
| Zenpo Side Navigation | Create starter list | Navigation links | 8 links, including two sub-items, a header row, and one inactive row |
| Zenpo Stats Counter | Need a starter list? Create one with sample data | Sales stats, Page stats, or Full Sample Stats | 4, 3, or 12 KPI rows, depending on the sample set |
Org Chart and People Directory use the same Employees schema. Creating one does not overwrite the other if the name is already taken. The second creation fails and tells you so.
Side Navigation's list name is fixed at creation. There is no list-name field.
Stats Counter lets you choose a sample set. The two sets that contain a status word also seed the State colors vocabulary with Green, Orange, and Red.
Products with no starter list
These products do not create a sample list: Banner, Birthdays and Anniversaries, Clocks, Full Calendar, Image and Content Carousel, Intranet Footer, Mini Calendar (Intranet Suite), Zenpo Mosaic — Masonry Gallery & Cards, Page Heading, Page Templates, Resources Library, and Simple Blurbs.
Two notes:
- Zenpo Simple Blurbs has no list. While you are editing and no blurb exists yet, it shows three sample cards badged SAMPLE. They never appear on a published page.
- Zenpo Page Templates provisions page layouts, not sample content. See Zenpo Page Templates.