Custom SharePoint List Definitions The Quick And Easy Way

The standard declarative approach for this is to create a feature that defines your columns within the schema.xml and a subsequent ListTemplate and/or ListInstance element to register this new list with SharePoint and optionally create an instance of that list. The functionality is very powerful but at the same time can get quite complex as modifying the schema.xml can often be cryptic and error prone. A simple alternative approach is to define site columns or even reuse out of the box or existing columns, define your content type, and bind that content type to an existing list such as a generic list. Its also possible to take existing content types, such as those use for tasks, and inherit from that content type to add your own site columns and bind that to a defined task list.