Change the display name of the Title column in a ContentType, wise or not?

Question

Hi,

I once read, that it is not wise to change the display name of the Title column, when creating a new ContentType in SharePoint. It is however possible (i.e. the columns static name is still "Title" but the display name is "Description").

So my question is, what are the possible complications? Why shouln't I change it, when I create a new ContentType that needs a "Description" column but no "Title" column?

Answer 1

I'm not aware of any issues. I've done this myself several times and have not encountered any problems.

Answer 2

Hi Turrau

If you're developing your own content type as xml-files in a feature in a solution, then there is no problem changing the display name of the title column.

The problem is when users try do it through the UI.

1. They go to site settings/Content types
2. Open the content type and clicks the title column
3. Change the name to something nice

In that case what they're changing is the display name of the Title Site Column. And once they discover that it changed the title column in all lists, they try to change it back, but this is prevented by the clever SharePoint UI bacause Title is a reserved name.