One of my readers (Joel) sent me an email with the following question:

I am trying to do something that I think should be simple in SP: display the URLs of Word docs in a doc library. I can send the URL as a link in an e-mail, but I can’t figure out how to display the URL in the public view. Please help.

What can one do to solve this? Here are some options:
1) As Joel said you can use Email as link option. It will open your email client and you will be able to c/p link from there
2) You can also try to find the URL of file by right-clicking on its name. It will open browser’s default context menu. From here you can use Copy shortcut option to copy URL.

These methods are available but it is very hard to teach an IW to use them. The third one requires a little bit of work, but once completed will have URL displayed on screen next to file name.

Here is what you need do: with your SharePoint Designer create a workflow that will copy document URL to the “URL” column (you will need to add one) in your document library. Workflow will be triggered when document URL is modified. In my next post I will provide you with step-by-step guide on how to do this with your SharePoint Designer.