Summarizing Content with Web Parts
The home page is the first page users see, and it's often the only page they need if you design it correctly. Even though a site may include many lists and libraries representing hundreds or even thousands of documents, you can effectively summarize that content by displaying web parts that show only the most relevant content on the site's home page.
In Chapter 1, I showed you how every list and library can be displayed as a web part. You can use that technique to summarize recent changes on the home page of any site. For example, to feature the 10 newest documents on a home page, complete these tasks:
Add the library as a web part to the home page.
Modify the view displayed in the web part to sort documents by the Created column.
Limit the number of items to display in the view to 10.
To add the library as a web part:
Navigate to the home page and click Site Actions → Edit Page. SharePoint changes the page to Edit mode.
Click Add a Web Part on the page in the location where you want to add the new library summary. SharePoint displays the Add Web Parts page.
Select the library to display and click Add. SharePoint adds the library as a web part and displays the web part properties in the task pane on the right.
To modify the view displayed in the web part:
Click "Edit the current view" in the web part properties. SharePoint displays the Edit View page.
Scroll halfway down the page to the Sort section and choose "First sort by the column Created (descending ...