In this article, I will demonstrate how to provision a SharePoint online modern site using a Power automate flow. As there is no standard Power automate action for creating a SharePoint site (previously called “site collections”) using SharePoint connector, we will use the Send an HTTP Request to SharePoint action and SharePoint REST API in Power automate flow.

Follow below steps to create a SharePoint online modern communication site using Power Automate flow:

1. Go to make.powerautomate.com and create a new Instant cloud flow with Manually trigger a flow trigger.

2. Add Send an HTTP request to SharePoint action in Power automate flow.

3. Use configurations for Send an HTTP request to SharePoint action in below format:

Method: POST

Uri: _api/SPSiteManager/create

Headers:

{
	"accept": "application/json;odata=verbose",
	"content-type": "application/json;odata=verbose"
}

Body:

{
	"request": {
		"Title": "My Communication Site",
		"Url": "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/MyCommSite",
		"Description": "My Communication Site created using Power Automate flow",
		"Owner": "gsanap@contoso.com",
		"Lcid": 1033,
		"WebTemplate": "SITEPAGEPUBLISHING#0",
		"SiteDesignId": "6142d2a0-63a5-4ba0-aede-d9fefca2c767",
		"ShareByEmailEnabled": false
	}
}

Where,

Url

URL for the new SharePoint online modern site (site collection)

LCID

Locale identifier (LCID) for the site language. 1033 is for English language, check LCID for other languages at: Language.Lcid property

WebTemplate

WebTemplate property is used to specify which type of SharePoint site to you want to create. You can use following values for this property:

• Communication Site: SITEPAGEPUBLISHING#0
• Team Site (not connected to M365 group): STS#3

SiteDesignId

SiteDesignId property is used to apply site template (previously called “site design”) to newly created SharePoint site.

If you want to apply an out-of-the-box available site template, use the following values:

• Topic: 96c933ac-3698-44c7-9f4a-5fd17d71af9e
• Showcase: 6142d2a0-63a5-4ba0-aede-d9fefca2c767
• Blank: f6cc5403-0d63-442e-96c0-285923709ffc

ShareByEmailEnabled

If this property is set to true, it will enable sharing SharePoint files via Email.

Your final Power automate flow should look like this:

4. Save your flow and Run it using Test > Manually options at the top right corner. After flow run completes successfully, navigate to the site URL mentioned in Send an HTTP request to SharePoint action in Power automate flow and you will see a newly created SharePoint online modern communication site like:

Learn more

• Update SharePoint Site Logo using Power Automate
• SharePoint Online: Add Site Collection Administrator (SCA) using Power Automate
• Add an image to SharePoint Image columns using Power Automate

In my previous blog about image columns in SharePoint, I explained all you need to know about New Image column type in SharePoint online including how to create an image column, how to add image to a list item, where the Images will be stored, etc.

Last year Microsoft added support for displaying images from SharePoint Online/Microsoft Lists to Power Apps canvas apps. Now, Microsoft is adding support for adding, updating, and deleting images from image columns in SharePoint online/Microsoft Lists using Power Apps canvas apps.

Newly created canvas apps that have a SharePoint data connection and are connected to a list can use controls that can add, update, or delete images from the SharePoint list. To use the same functionality in existing canvas apps, you have to delete the existing SharePoint data connection and then re-add it to refresh the data schema.

Configure SharePoint Form control to add pictures/images

Follow below steps to configure SharePoint Form control in canvas app to add pictures/images to SharePoint lists:

1. Create a SharePoint online list and then create an image column in the SharePoint list.

2. Go to make.powerapps.com, create a blank canvas app and add SharePoint list data source.

3. Add Form control in app from Insert > Forms > Edit form

4. Set Data Source property of form control to SharePoint list data source and DefaultMode property to FormMode.New

5. Select form control from tree view, click on Edit fields option from Properties panel at the right side of screen.

6. Add your image column to form using + Add field option on Fields panel and select Add picture as a Control type as shown in below image. Power Apps will add Add picture control inside the data card for image column.

7. Add a button control in canvas app and set it’s OnSelect property to:

SubmitForm(Form1)

8. Now when you run the canvas application, you can select an image from your computer using Add picture control and save it to SharePoint list using SubmitForm() function used in button control.

Using Patch() function to add/update image column using Power Apps

You can also use the Patch() function to add or update an image in image columns in SharePoint/Microsoft Lists using Power apps canvas apps. You can use similar code as given below on OnSelect property of button control:

Patch(
    'Logo Universe',
    Defaults('Logo Universe'),
    {
        Title: TextInputControl.Text,
        Image: ImageControl.Image
    }
)

Delete an image from SharePoint image column using Power Apps

You can delete an image from SharePoint image column using Blank() value for image column in Power Apps Patch function:

Patch(
    'Logo Universe',
    Defaults('Logo Universe'),
    {
        Title: TextInputControl.Text,
        Image: Blank()
    }
)

Limitations

1. Images up to 30MB in size are supported while adding/updating images.
2. Below image formats are supported currently while using this feature.

Supported Image formats

Below image formats are supported currently while using this feature:

• JPG and JPEG
• PNG
• GIF
• TIF and TIFF
• HEIC and HEIF
• JPE, MEF, MRW, NEF, NRW, ORF, PANO, PEF, RW2, SPM, XBM, XCF

Release Timeline

• Targeted Release: Rollout started in late September 2022 (previously early September 2022) and expected to complete by mid-October 2022 (previously mid-September 2022).

• Standard Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out this feature in mid-October 2022 (previously mid-September 2022) and expects to complete it by late October 2022 (previously late September 2022).

Learn more

• Power Apps can now display images from SharePoint Online/Microsoft Lists
• Add an image to SharePoint Image columns using Power Automate
• Add/Update image columns in SharePoint/Microsoft Lists using PnP PowerShell

I hope you liked this blog. Please give your valuable feedback & suggestions in the comments section below and share this blog with others.

In my previous blog all you need to know about Image column type in SharePoint online, I explained how to create an image column, adding images to SharePoint list items and where the Images will be stored in SharePoint online site.

At the time I wrote that blog, it was not possible to display the images from SharePoint online/Microsoft lists in Power Apps. But, Power Apps image controls can now display images that are stored in image columns in SharePoint online/Microsoft Lists. The Images in Power Apps can be displayed in four different sizes:

• Small
• Medium
• Large
• Full

This feature is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 81986.

How this will affect your organization

New Power apps that use the SharePoint connector to add a list as a data source may display images from the list if they are present in the list. Existing apps can also be updated to show images.

Release Timeline

• Targeted release will begin rolling out in late February (previously early February) and will be complete by early March (previously end of February).
• Standard release to all other cloud environments will begin early March (previously early February) and be complete by mid-March (previously mid-February).

What you need to do to prepare

You might want to notify your users about this new functionality and update your training and documentation as appropriate.

Learn more

• SharePoint Online: All you need to know about New Image column type
• Add, update, or delete images in SharePoint/Microsoft Lists using Power Apps
• Add an image to SharePoint Image columns using Power Automate
• Add/Update image columns in SharePoint/Microsoft Lists using PnP PowerShell

Microsoft is announcing a feature which will provide a new guided authoring experience in SharePoint Online/Microsoft Lists that will make it easy to quickly create business intelligence reports in Power BI using your list schema and data.

Using this feature you can visualize your list in Power BI. This is a new view and author experience that auto-generates an initial report for you based on the information in your list. You can specify fields to create from, or update the visuals shown in the report.

If you want more advanced report authoring capabilities, you can move into Edit mode and further refine. To create a report from a list, click the Integrate menu, choose Power BI and then you will see “Visualize the list”.

Key points

• Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 72175 and 93221
• Timing:
  • Targeted Release: rolling out in early May – Completed
  • Standard Release: rolling out from early June (previously late May) to mid-July (previously early June) – Completed
  • Government: Microsoft will begin rolling out in mid-June (previously early May) and expect to complete by late June (previously early June).
• Roll-out: tenant level
• Control type: admin control
• Action: review and assess

How this will affect your organization

List users will see a new menu option in Integrate > Power BI > Visualize this list, which allows users to create a new Power BI report using that list.

With just one click, you’ll be able to autogenerate a basic report and customize the list columns that are shown in the report. To take further advantage of Power BI’s advanced data visualization capabilities, just go into Edit mode. Once a report is saved and published, it will appear in the same submenu under Integrate> Power BI.

Notes

• Users with a Microsoft 365 E5 license or Power BI Pro license will have access to the full report authoring and viewing experience.
• Users without either of the above licenses will be prompted by Power BI to sign up for a 60-day free trial of Power BI Pro when they attempt to save a new report or edit/view an existing report. To turn off self-service sign-up so that the option for a trial is not exposed to List users, click here.
• Users with a Power BI free license may only visualize their list data, but cannot publish or view reports.

What you need to do to prepare

This feature is ON by default, but can be turned off from the Power BI Admin Portal under Tenant settings.

If this feature is disabled for tenants, users will continue to see the Power BI submenu in the List command bar, but any attempt to create or view a report will result in an error page.

Note

Certain complex column types in Lists such as Person, Location, Rich Text, Multi-select Choice, and Image are not currently supported when the Power BI report is autogenerated.

Learn more

• View and manage Power BI user licenses
• Get started creating in the Power BI service
• Quickly create reports in the Power BI service
• Enable or disable self-service sign-up and purchasing