---
title: Index metadata from a "Person or Group" column
slug: o8te0232
canonical_url: https://docs.coveo.com/en/o8te0232/
collection: index-content
source_format: adoc
---
# Index metadata from a "Person or Group" column
When a SharePoint Online list contains a column of type `Person or Group`, the SharePoint Online source extracts two pieces of metadata for the users specified in the list items:

* The value displayed in the SharePoint Online column

* The user's email address

For example, consider a SharePoint Online list with an `Assignee` column of type `Person or Group`.
The `Assignee` column displays the value of the `Name` field, which shows the user's first and last name.
If you [index](https://docs.coveo.com/en/204/) this list, Coveo's [View and map metadata](https://docs.coveo.com/en/m9ti0339#view-and-map-metadata-subpage) subpage will display values extracted as `Assignee` and `Assignee_email` metadata, as shown on the right below.

[cols="1,1",options="header"]
|===
^|Assignee column in SharePoint Online list
^|Source crawled metadata

|![SharePoint Online list showing a Person or Group column](index-content/spo-list-showing-assignee-column.png)
|![Metadata crawled from the SharePoint Online list](index-content/spo-assignee-metadata-crawled.png)
|===

To extract only the assignees' first names, change the field displayed in the SharePoint Online list column to `First name`.

![SharePoint Online column showing the user first name | Coveo](https://docs.coveo.com/en/assets/images/index-content/spo-list-showing-only-firs-name-in-assignee-column.png)

The field value displayed in the SharePoint Online column is determined by the **Show field** option in the list settings.

To display another field in the SharePoint Online list **Assignee** column

. In your SharePoint Online site left menu, select the list, and then click **Settings** > **List settings**.

. In the **Columns** section, click **Assignee**.

. In the **Show field** dropdown menu, select the desired SharePoint field, and then click **OK**.
For example, you could select `First name`.

. Reindex your SharePoint Online site.

. [Rebuild](https://docs.coveo.com/en/3390#refresh-rescan-or-rebuild-sources) your SharePoint Online source.

. On the [**Sources**](https://platform.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/content/sources/) ([platform-ca](https://platform-ca.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/content/sources/) | [platform-eu](https://platform-eu.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/content/sources/) | [platform-au](https://platform-au.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/content/sources/)) page, click your SharePoint Online source, and then click **More** > **View and map metadata**.

. You'll now see that the value extracted for the `Assignee` metadata corresponds to the one selected in the **Show field** dropdown menu.

![New value for the Assignee metadata | Coveo](https://docs.coveo.com/en/assets/images/index-content/new-crawled-values-for-spo-assignee-column.png)

. If you haven't already, index the `Assignee` and `Assignee_email` metadata by [mapping them to fields](https://docs.coveo.com/en/o3ca0547#step-2-create-a-source-mapping-and-a-field).
For example, if you selected `First name` in the **Show field** dropdown menu, you could create a `user_first_name` field for the `Assignee` metadata and a `user_email` field for the `Assignee_email` metadata, respectively.

. Rebuild your SharePoint Online source.

. In the [**Content Browser**](https://platform.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/content/browser/) ([platform-ca](https://platform-ca.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/content/browser/) | [platform-eu](https://platform-eu.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/content/browser/) | [platform-au](https://platform-au.cloud.coveo.com/admin/#/orgid/content/browser/)), confirm that the fields for your SharePoint Online list item are populated correctly.

![Items in the Content Browser | Coveo](https://docs.coveo.com/en/assets/images/index-content/spo-item-field-values.png)