In SharePoint Server, a content type is a definition or a reusable collection of metadata, workflows, and other properties and settings for items in a SharePoint list or library. The benefit of a content type is that it allows you to manage settings for a class of information in a centralized way and reuse those parameters across a site.
A content type defines the following attributes of an item stored in SharePoint:
- Document templates (for document content types)
- Properties associated with the type
- Metadata associated with the type
- Information management policies associated with the type
- Workflows that can be started based on the type
- Custom features
A content type can be associated with a site or a library. When you associate a content type with a library or list, users can select that content type when creating new items. The content type can be used to guide users to specify certain properties of a document in a templated fashion or instantiate a workflow...