In my previous blog, I explained how to create a modern calendar view in SharePoint Online/Microsoft Lists. In this blog we will see how to add the modern calendar to a SharePoint online page.
We have a List web part in SharePoint online which allows you to display a list from your site on a page. But currently it doesn’t support modern calendar views. So, you will need to use below workaround to add Modern Calendar to a SharePoint Online page.
Workaround
We can use Embed web part in SharePoint online to add modern calendar to a page.
Follow below steps to embed modern calendar to a page:
1. Go to your SharePoint list and open the calendar view.
2. Copy the URL of calendar view from browser and note it down as we will use it in later steps.
3. Go to your modern SharePoint page and open it in Edit mode by clicking Edit button from top right corner.
4. Add Embed web part on your page and open it in edit mode.
5. Construct the embed code using the <iframe> tag in below format:
Finally Microsoft is releasing much anticipated feature in SharePoint online – Collapsible sections on modern pages. This new feature will allow users to create rich, information-dense SharePoint pages with sections that can expand and collapse. As part of this release, Microsoft will enable the page authors to configure sections within the modern SharePoint page to be able to expand, collapse and set the default page-load state for the section.
Users will have the ability to show collapsible page sections in an accordion view (collapsed or expanded) or as tabs (future release). The accordion view will be collapsed by default, but can be set to show expanded. This feature will help users to quickly navigate between the page sections and consume the page content more easily.
Release Timeline
Microsoft will begin rolling out this feature to Targeted release tenants (selected users and organization) in early July (complete) and expect to be complete for Standard release in late September (previously late July).
How this will affect your organization
This feature will give page authors new ways to build rich and interesting SharePoint pages with collapsible sections – accordion or tabs.
Collapsible Sections in SharePoint Online modern experience
When you will edit a section on modern page, you will see collapsible group options like below:
Collapsible Sections settings in SharePoint Online
Note: Tabs layout will be rolled out with future releases.
Set Expand/Collapse icon alignment & show divider line between sections
Starting from September 2021, you have two more settings on Edit section panel as shown below:
You can set Expand/Collapse icon alignment to Left or Right
You can show divider line between two sections
Set Expand/Collapse icon alignment & show divider line between sections
Anchor links on collapsible section heading
On SharePoint online modern pages, anchor links are automatically added to H1, H2, and H3 headings when you add those in Text web part. Similar anchor links are now available on collapsible section headings as shown in below image. When you hover over collapsible section heading, you will see a link symbol. Clicking this link will give you the full URL of modern page, including the anchor in browser URL bar. You can also right-click on the link to copy it.
Anchor link on collapsible section heading on SharePoint modern page
What you need to do to prepare
You might want to notify your users about this new capability and update your training and documentation as appropriate.
We have updated the rollout timeline. While in Targeted Release we received valuable feedback around the behavior of anchor links when used in collapsible sections as well as some formatting issues experienced by users of right-to-left languages. We feel that both of these issues are important for us to address prior to making the feature generally available. We are actively addressing these issues now and expect the solution to reach General Availability with all fixes in place by the end of September 2021. Thank you for your patience.
Updated September 30, 2021: As shared previously, the new collapsible Sections was deployed to 100% of Targeted Release customers. We held the solution at the Targeted Release phase while we addressed some issues that were reported with the solution. The issues have now been addressed and we will be resuming the global rollout to all customers. It is now our expectation that we’ll complete the rollout of the feature by the end of October 2021. Thank you for your patience.
When you add a List web part or Document Library web part on modern pages to show the (filtered) list items or documents, it shows See all link at the top right corner of web part as shown in below image. By clicking this See all link, users can navigate to the full list/library page.
See all link in list web part on modern page
But sometimes when you are showing the filtered list views or custom created list views on modern pages, you don’t want other users to access the original list/library and switch between views or modify existing list views. Previously there was no SharePoint out of the box way to hide the See all link from web parts. But, recently Microsoft has added a new option to Show/Hide “See all” button in list/library web part property pane settings.
Show/Hide See All link from SharePoint list/library web parts
Follow below steps to show/hide See all button from list web part in SharePoint online:
1. Go to SharePoint modern page where you have added the list/library web part.
2. Open the page in Edit mode by clicking Edit button from top right corner.
3. Click on the Edit web part button against your list/library web part.
4. Toggle Show “See all” button option and change it to Hide “See all” Button as shown in below image.
5. Click Apply button.
6. Click on Publish/Republish button to save the changes to the modern page.
Show/hide See all button option in web part settings
Here’s how the list/library web part will look after you hide the “See all” link from web part settings:
Using pages in SharePoint is a great way to share information or any news/announcement in your organization to SharePoint site users. SharePoint site pages can be improved by utilizing banner images in the page title area. Adding banner images to the page title area not only makes the page more visually appealing but also helps to convey the page’s purpose to the user more quickly and effectively.
In this blog post, we will see how to change the SharePoint Page Banner Image using PnP PowerShell.
First of all upload a high quality image in one of the document libraries in your SharePoint site. SharePoint site page banner images in title area look best when they are landscape or 16:9 or greater in aspect ratio, and when they are at least 1 MB in size. Check this Microsoft official documentation for recommended specifications for banner images: Image sizing and scaling in SharePoint modern pages
Then you can use below PnP PowerShell script to update the banner image at the top of the SharePoint online modern page:
# SharePoint online site URL
$siteUrl = "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/wlive"
# Connect to SharePoint online site
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $siteUrl -Interactive
# Update SharePoint site page banner image
Set-PnPPage -Identity "Open-Door-Policy" -HeaderType Custom -ServerRelativeImageUrl "/sites/wlive/SiteAssets/work-remotely.jpeg"
Once you run above script successfully, you will find that banner image for your SharePoint site page is updated successfully:
Update SharePoint Page Banner Image using PnP PowerShell
The internal name of a SharePoint column is a unique name that is automatically generated by SharePoint when a column is created. It is used by SharePoint internally to reference and retrieve the value of a particular column associated with an item or document. The internal name is generated based on the display name you provide but all special characters and spaces will be replaced with Unicode’s by SharePoint. Internal name is generated only once while creating a new column and it cannot be changed even if you change the display name of SharePoint column.
The internal name is not visible to users in the SharePoint user interface by default, but it is commonly used in various scenarios, such as in SharePoint REST APIs, Power Automate flow expressions, Power Apps formulas, PowerShell, etc. to interact with column data programmatically.
Where are Internal names of SharePoint columns used?
Custom Scripts: When creating custom scripts, such as JavaScript or PowerShell, the internal names of columns are required to reference and manipulate the values of the columns while interacting with SharePoint data.
Workflows: In SharePoint Designer workflows or Microsoft Power Automate (formerly known as Microsoft Flow), the internal names of columns are used to reference the values of the columns as inputs or outputs in the workflow actions and in expressions.
Custom Solutions: When building custom solutions, such as SharePoint apps, SharePoint framework (SPFx) web parts, or custom code, the internal names of columns are required to interact with the columns programmatically.
Power Apps: Few of the Power Apps functions like ShowColumns, SortByColumns, etc. requires using internal names of SharePoint columns in formula.
JSON Formatting: Internal name of SharePoint column is required in JSON formatting to reference the column value with [$InternalNameOfColumn] syntax.
How to find the Internal name of a SharePoint column?
Using Modern experience list view
You can use sorting or filtering options from SharePoint online modern experience list view to find the internal name of a SharePoint column. Sort by and Filter by options are supported by most of the column types in SharePoint like Single line of text, Choice, Number, Date and Time, Yes/No (Boolean), Person or Group (single selection), etc.
For this afticle, we will use sorting based on SharePoint choice column as an example:
1. Go to the SharePoint online list for which you want to check the internal name of a column.
2. Click on column name/header from the list view and select either Ascending (A to Z) or Descending (Z to A) option from the popup menu:
Find internal name of SharePoint column by sorting choice column
3. SharePoint will sort the list view based on selection and the browser URL will be changed like:
Where column name (ChoiceColumn) after sortField= is the internal name of your SharePoint choice column.
4. Similarly, when you use Filter by option in SharePoint modern experience to filter the list view based on Date and Time column (named as Start Date), SharePoint changes browser URL like:
Where column name (Start_x0020_Date) after FilterField1= is the internal name of your SharePoint date and time column. Notice _x0020_ in internal column name which is an Unicode encoding of the space character in the display name of date and time column (Start Date).
Using Classic experience List settings page
Few of the SharePoint column types like Multiple lines of text, Hyperlink or Picture, Image, etc. does not support sorting or filtering from SharePoint modern experience list views. So, you have to use the classic experience list settings page to find the internal name for such SharePoint columns.
Follow below steps to find the internal name of multiple lines of text column using SharePoint classic experience list settings page:
1. Go to the SharePoint online list for which you want to check the internal name of a column.
2. Click on Settings (gear) icon from the top right corner and select List settings:
Open SharePoint online list settings page
3. From list settings page, scroll down to the Columns section and click on the column name for which you want to find the internal name:
Open SharePoint online Column settings page
4. SharePoint will open column settings page for the respective column with browser URL like:
SharePoint online column settings page showing internal name of column
Where column name (MultilineTextCol) after Field= is the internal name of your SharePoint online multiple lines of text column.
Note: You can use this classic experience method to find out the internal name of SharePoint columns for all column types.
Using SharePoint REST API
You can use SharePoint REST API endpoint like below to get the internal name of SharePoint column based on it’s display name. Open URL in below format directly from browser tab:
https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/SPConnect/_api/web/lists/getbytitle('InternalNames')/fields?$select=Title,InternalName&$filter=Title eq 'Multiline Text Column'
Find internal name of SharePoint column using SharePoint REST API
Using PnP PowerShell
You can use below PnP PowerShell script to find the internal name of SharePoint online list column using PnP PowerShell:
# SharePoint online site URL
$siteUrl = "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/wlive"
# Display name of SharePoint list
$listName = "InternalNames"
# Display name of SharePoint list column
$columnName = "Multiline Text Column"
# Connect to SharePoint online site
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $siteUrl -Interactive
# Get internal name of SharePoint list column
Get-PnPField -Identity $columnName -List $listName | Select Title,InternalName
Find internal name of SharePoint column using PnP PowerShell
Using CLI for Microsoft 365
You can use below CLI for Microsoft 365 script to find the internal name of SharePoint online list column using CLI for Microsoft 365:
# SharePoint online site URL
$siteUrl = "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/wlive"
# Display name of SharePoint list
$listName = "InternalNames"
# Display name of SharePoint list column
$columnName = "Multiline Text Column"
# Get Credentials to connect
$m365Status = m365 status
if ($m365Status -match "Logged Out") {
m365 login
}
# Get internal name of SharePoint list column
m365 spo field get --webUrl $siteUrl --listTitle $listName --title $columnName --output text
Find internal name of SharePoint column using CLI for Microsoft 365
Best practices for naming SharePoint columns
When creating columns in SharePoint, it’s important to follow best practices for column naming to avoid using special characters or Unicode characters in internal names. Here are some recommended best practices:
Use only alphanumeric characters: Stick to using letters (A-Z, a-z) and numbers (0-9) in column names. Avoid using special characters such as @, #, $, %, _, etc. Avoid column names beginning with numbers.
Avoid spaces: Use PascalCase to separate words in column names instead of spaces. For example, use ColumnName instead of Column Name. This can help prevent issues with URLs, Unicode encoding, and referencing column names in scripts or code.
Avoid reserved words: SharePoint has reserved words that are used for system functionality, and using them in column names may cause conflicts. Examples of reserved words include “ID”, “Modified”, “Created”, “Title”, etc. Avoid using these reserved words as column names.
Keep it concise and meaningful: Use descriptive and meaningful names for columns that clearly indicate their purpose. Avoid using vague or generic names that may be confusing or ambiguous to users. Use column description to provide more information about the columns.
Be consistent: Establish a consistent naming convention for columns across your SharePoint site or site collection to ensure uniformity and ease of management. This can also help with documentation, training, and maintenance of your SharePoint environment.
I hope you liked this article. Give your valuable feedback & suggestions in the comments section below and share this article with others.
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:
{
"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:
Create a SharePoint online site using Power Automate flow
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:
SharePoint online modern communication site created using Power Automate
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:
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.
Add image column to form and select “Add picture” as control type
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.
Add, update, or delete images in SharePoint/Microsoft Lists using Power Apps
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:
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).
“SharePoint spaces is a web-based, immersive platform, which lets you create and share, secure and extensible mixed reality experiences. Add a new dimension to your intranet by using 2D and 3D web parts to create your mixed reality vision.”
SharePoint Spaces allows users to easily build mixed reality experiences that interact with content stored in SharePoint Online.
SharePoint spaces empower creators to build immersive mix reality experiences with point-and-click simplicity. You can get started with smart templates to create a mixed reality environment complete with beautiful surroundings, ambient sounds, rich textures, and lighting. You then add content, which can include files you already have in SharePoint, allowing you to repurpose your existing data, documents, and images.
History & Roadmap
Microsoft announced SharePoint Spaces first time during its annual SharePoint Virtual Summit held in May 2018.
Microsoft announced SharePoint spaces public preview in April 2020, Roadmap.
Microsoft added 360° tour web part in SharePoint spaces which allows creation of immersive virtual tours for SharePoint sites, Roadmap.
Microsoft added touch device support in SharePoint spaces which enables users to interact with a space using touch interactions in addition to the mouse and keyboard-based interactions, Roadmap.
Microsoft announced General Availability of SharePoint spaces, Roadmap.
Org Chart in a SharePoint Space
That’s it for SharePoint spaces introduction and history. Let’s see how you can enable SharePoint spaces in your SharePoint online site to get started with it.
Enable SharePoint spaces in a site
SharePoint spaces are not enabled by default in SharePoint online site. To use SharePoint spaces, we need to enable a site feature named “Spaces”.
You can activate this feature using any one of the methods given below:
Manually:
You can activate Spaces feature from user interface by navigating to Manage site features page.
Go to SharePoint site where you want to build a space
Click on Settings (gear icon), select Site information and then select View all site settings.
On the Site settings page, select Manage site features under Site Actions.
Scroll down the page to Spaces feature and click on Activate button.
Wait till the page refreshes and confirm that feature is activated successfully.
Activated Spaces feature
Using PnP PowerShell:
You can easily activate features in SharePoint online using PnP PowerShell. To activate a site feature using PnP PowerShell you will need the GUID of feature. Check how you can quickly get the GUID of a site feature. GUID of Spaces feature is 2ac9c540-6db4-4155-892c-3273957f1926.
Use below command to activate Spaces feature:
Enable-PnPFeature -Identity 2ac9c540-6db4-4155-892c-3273957f1926 -Scope Web
You can find the detailed example of how to activate a site feature in SharePoint Online using PnP PowerShell here.
To get an idea about what you can do using SharePoint spaces, check out some of the awesome samples here.
Microsoft is expanding the SharePoint Online branding options, including new header configurations for modern sites that will make your job easier to customize your SharePoint Online site.
Microsoft has started rolling out the updates to site header options to all SharePoint Online tenants, see Roadmap.
The header in your SharePoint site is the container for the site logo, site title, site navigation, and some other links like Follow and Share.
Where can you find header options?
Header options are located under Change the look settings. You can see change the look settings when you will click on Settings icon in the top right corner of your SharePoint site.
Header Layouts
Before this release there were only two header layouts available, Standard and Compact. With this release, Microsoft is adding two more header layouts, Minimal and Extended.
Minimal Layout
A minimal layout uses a reduced height to provide quick visual access to content in a single line including small site logo, site title, site navigation, site actions and labels.
Use minimal header when the branding is not much important, and you want to make the more space available for content to display on your page.
Minimal layout with Site title visibility set to Off
Compact Layout
Compact layout is a larger height layout that uses the full-size site logo while keeping content on a single line similar to minimal layout.
For all SharePoint sites created after this release, the default site header will be the compact header instead of the standard header.
Compact layout with Site title visibility set to On
Standard Layout
Standard layout was the default header for all SharePoint sites before this release. Standard layout uses the full-size site logo and the content will be split onto 2 lines.
Standard layout
Extended Layout
Extended layout is the largest layout of all. In this layout, content will be split into 2 content areas:
Site logo, site title, and an optional background image at the top area
Site navigation and other contents at the bottom area.
An extended header layout includes an optional background image, expanded site logo widths, and site logo alignment options like left, center & right.
Extended layout with left aligned site logo
Site title visibility
Using this new option, you can easily toggle the site title visibility to On or Off.
Site title visibility option is available with all four header layouts.
Site Logo and Thumbnail
Before this release there was only one option available to select site logo that will appear in the site header, which can be transparent or non-transparent.
Now you can add a Site logo thumbnail that will appear in search results, on the site card, and wherever else a square logo is needed.
If you are using an extended layout, you can change the site logo alignment to left, center or right of the site header.
Site title visibility and site logo options
I hope you liked this blog. Give your valuable feedback & suggestions in the comments section below and share this blog with others.
Microsoft is currently rolling out the calendar view feature for SharePoint Online and Microsoft lists, Roadmap. In this blog I will explain how to create a calendar view in SharePoint Online modern list or Microsoft lists.
Create a modern Calendar view
Follow below steps to create a calendar view:
1. Go to your list. If you don’t have a list then Create a list with date columns as per your requirements.
2. From list view, click on Switch view options dropdown from command bar and select Create new view.
Create new view
3. Give name to list view, select Calendar under Show as option and then Select Start date & End date columns from dropdowns.
4. You can make this a public view using Make this a public view checkbox. Public views can be visited by anyone with access to this list.
5. Click on More options to select Title of items on calendar. Select appropriate column from dropdown as this column will be shown as the title of items on calendar view.
6. Click on Create button.
Create a modern calendar view
The new modern calendar view will be created in a list as given below:
Modern calendar view
Calendar view shows the current events at the right hand side in Events Pane when you select a date from calendar. You can show/hide the events pane using icon button given at top of events pane (Highlighted in above image).
Set calendar view as the default view
If you want to show the calendar view by default when user navigate to SharePoint Online or Microsoft list then you have to set it as the default view.
Follow below steps to set the newly created calendar view as the default view:
Click on Switch view options dropdown from command bar and select the name of the view that you want to make as the default view.
Click on Switch view options dropdown again and select Set current view as default.
Set calendar view as a default view
Next Step: After creating a calendar view in SharePoint list, you would want to add this modern calendar to a SharePoint page. For more information about this, check:
Microsoft is finally introducing an audience targeting feature for the Quick links web part in SharePoint Online, Roadmap. By using audience targeting, you can promote links to specific groups of people. This is useful when you want to present information that is especially relevant to a particular group of people.
With the release of this update, you will be able to target specific links to different audiences, helping you provide more personalized experiences on SharePoint pages.
Key Points:
The feature is disabled on the web part by default, so nothing is required to prepare for its availability.
To use audience targeting, you must first enable audience targeting on the web part from property pane, and then edit each quick link to specify the audience to target.
Currently you can only use AD groups or Microsoft 365 groups to target audiences. If you want to use SharePoint groups for audience targeting, vote on this UserVoice.
You can target maximum 50 audiences (AD groups or Microsoft 365 groups) per link.
How to Use Audience Targeting:
As I mentioned earlier, to use audience targeting, you must first enable audience targeting on the web part from property pane, and then edit each quick link to specify the audience to target.
Enable audience targeting:
Go to your modern SharePoint page and open it in Edit mode by clicking Edit button from top right corner.
Select the Quick links web part and click on Edit web part (Pencil icon) button.
From the property pane, change the toggle for Enable audience targeting to On.
Enable audience targeting
Set the target audiences for each link:
From Page Edit mode, click on the link you want to edit, and select the Edit (Pencil icon) on the link.
Under Audiencesto target, type or search for the group(s) you want to target.
Set the target audiences for each link
Below Audiencesto target, you can see the maximum limit of 50 audiences and number of audiences left to target.
On the page, while you’re in edit mode, you can see which links have audiences selected by looking for the audience icon next to the link as shown below:
Links with targeted audience
Once you publish the page, audience targeting will take effect.
Output:
The SharePoint page will show filtered links based on targeted audiences. A user who is not a part of the audience targeted for Learning & Development link will see the quick links web part as shown below:
Quick links web part with targeted audience
Note: If you’ve selected an audience group that you recently created or changed, it may take some time to see targeting applied for that group.
I hope you liked this blog. Give your valuable feedback & suggestions in the comments section below and share this blog with others.
Microsoft is rolling out a feature using which you can create rules in SharePoint Online and Microsoft lists to set reminders and send notifications to users based on changes to list information, Roadmap. In this blog I will explain how to create a rule in SharePoint Online modern list or Microsoft lists.
Previous options to send notifications
Before this feature, if you wanted to send notifications about changes in a SharePoint Online or Microsoft List, you had below two options:
Create an alert
SharePoint alerts are email notifications that are sent to SharePoint users when something changes in a list or library. You can create an alert for:
Whole list or library
Folder, file, or list item
SharePoint search criteria
However It doesn’t provide the ability to send notifications for column level changes. This is where you will find list rules very helpful.
Using Power Automate, users can create simple change notifications as well complex, multiple condition-based notifications. However, some users may find it difficult to create a Power Automate flow from scratch without any development experience or assistance.
Creating list rules
Creating list rules is very easy as compared to creating power automate flow and you have much more control using list rules compared to the existing alerts functionality.
With this feature update, SharePoint users with edit permissions on a list can create and manage simple if/then rules based on changes to list information, to set reminders and send notifications. Users with read-only permissions will not be able create or manage rules.
Follow below steps to create rules in SharePoint online/Microsoft lists:
Go to SharePoint Online/Microsoft list where you want to create a rule.
Click on the Automate option from command bar and then select Create a rule.
Create a list rule
There are four different conditions that triggers the rule as shown in the below image:
List rule conditions
Under Notify someone when, select a condition that will trigger the rule. For example, A column changes.
Creating rule is like writing a sentence. Select each of the underlined portions of the rule statement to customize the condition by choosing a column, the value of the column, and who to notify.
Rule to notify Author when the Status column changes
For example, to notify Author when a Status column changes, you need to choose the Status column, and then select Author from Suggestions list. Suggestions from this list shows the Person or Group columns from the list.
If you want to notify yourself, you could select Me from Other suggestions. You can also select the users by using Enter a name or email address option.
When you’re finished customizing the statement, select Create. You’ll see your rule on the Manage rules page and the rule will be turned on by default.
Now when Status column changes, list rule will send notification email to Author. The notification email will contain a link to display/view form of SharePoint list item. These notification emails will be sent from Microsoft 365. Check below image for reference:
Email notification send by using list rules
Notes:
Users will be able to create a maximum of 15 rules per list.
Currently it is not possible to customize the email notification template
Editing a list rule
You can edit a list rule from the Manage rules page. Follow below steps to edit a rule for a list:
Go to SharePoint Online/Microsoft list, select Automate from command bar and then Manage rules.
Go to Manage rules page
From manage rules page, you can create/edit/delete a rule. You can also turn off the rule by changing the slider to Off.
To edit the rule, click on the rule and then change the underlined portions of the rule statement.
Manage rules page
After making all changes, Click Save.
Deleting a list rule
When you no longer need a rule, you can either turn it off or delete it from the Manage rules page. Follow below steps to delete a rule for a list:
Go to SharePoint Online/Microsoft list, select Automate from command bar and then Manage rules.
Select the rule you want to delete and click Delete rule at the bottom of the Edit rule page, .
Deleting a list rule
Supported/Unsupported column types
List rules allow sending notifications when a column or it’s value changes. However, it does not support all column types currently.
Supported column types
Currently below column types are supported while using when a column changes and when a column value changes conditions:
Single line of text
Choice (single & multiple selection)
Number
Date and Time
Yes/No
Person or Group (single & multiple selection)
Created By & Modified By (while using when a column value changes condition)
Unsupported column types
Below column types are not supported currently:
Multiple lines of text
Currency ($, ¥, €)
Lookup
Hyperlink or Picture
Calculated
Image
Managed Metadata
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In my earlier blog, add modern calendar to a SharePoint online page, I explained how you can show modern calendar list view on SharePoint Online modern pages using Embed web part. I used embed web part because modern calendar views were not supported in SharePoint out of the box List web part at that time.
Fortunately, Microsoft is rolling out a new feature which will support modern calendar views in List web part. This feature is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 70750. In this blog we will see how to add the modern calendar view to a SharePoint online page using List web part.
4. Click on List web part from Search results. It will add the List web part to your modern page.
5. Initially the List web part shows all the lists available on your SharePoint site. Click on the list name where you created a modern calendar view OR you can also select a list from web part configuration property pane which opens when you click on Edit web part button
Select a desired list in “List” web part
6. By default the List web part will load the default view of your SharePoint list. If you have set newly created Calendar view as your default view, skip this step. Else, select your calendar view from Switch view options dropdown as shown below:
Select modern calendar list view from views dropdown
7. Click on Publish/Republish button to save the changes.
You will see the final output on SharePoint page as shown below:
Modern calendar list view added to a SharePoint online modern page
Tech giant Microsoft is introducing Embed web part in SharePoint spaces which will allow users to show SharePoint pages or HTML page embed content as an interactable overlay on a SharePoint space. Space viewers will see a thumbnail image in the 3D space that can be viewed as a fully functional HTML overlay when selected by the user. Space viewers that are using a mixed reality headset will only see the thumbnail when selecting the web part unless they return to the browser to interact with the embedded content.
This new feature release will allow users to add content such as:
Microsoft Forms
The PowerPoint embed viewer
SharePoint Pages
Power Apps
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 70732.
Release Timeline
Targeted release (selected users and entire organization): Roll out will begin in early November and expect to be complete by mid-November.
Standard release: Roll out will begin in mid-November and expect to be complete by late November.
How this will affect your organization
SharePoint spaces authors will see a new embed web part available in the spaces web part toolbox while designing a SharePoint space.
SharePoint spaces authors will see embed web part as shown in below image:
Introducing Embed web part in SharePoint spaces
What you need to do to prepare
You might want to notify your users about this new capability and update your training documentation as appropriate.
Microsoft is introducing a new Board view feature in SharePoint online/Microsoft Lists. This Kanban like Board view allow users to work with list items in a board with swimlanes that represent their current progress. This view is ideal when users want to track items as they move forward in a process or workflow.
The board view in lists will allow users to drag & drop items through the stages of process or workflow.
Users will be able to configure which columns from the list are displayed in the cards and in what order.
This feature will roll out both on desktop and web. Currently Microsoft Planner also allows creating Kanban boards using content-rich tasks.
This feature is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 85634.
Release Timeline
Microsoft will begin rolling out board view feature in mid-January and expects to complete the rollout in late February (previously early February).
How this will affect your organization
After the feature rollout, you will see the Board as an option during creation of new views for a SharePoint online list / Microsoft Lists. Additionally, there will be a dropdown to choose a column to organize the board by. Presently, the board can be organized by any Choice or Boolean column that exists in the list.
Kanban Board view in SharePoint online/Microsoft Lists
What you need to do to prepare
No action is required to enable this feature. You may consider notifying users about this new capability and update your training and documentation as appropriate.
Now Microsoft is introducing this new feature, Unscheduled Pane, which will allow users to review all the list items not yet appearing in the calendar view due to missing dates. These items will appear on the Unscheduled tab within the events pane to the right of the Calendar view.
This feature is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 93223.
Release Timeline
Microsoft began rolling this out in mid-April 2022 and expected to complete the rollout by late April 2022 – Rollout completed.
How this will affect your organization
You will now see a new Unscheduled tab within the events pane to the right of the Calendar view. The items with missing start and/or end dates and those with start date later than the end date would appear on this pane. You may select the items to open the edit form and make appropriate edits or you can drag and drop the items on calendar view to schedule these items.
Unscheduled Pane in Microsoft Lists Calendar Views
What you need to do to prepare
No action is required to enable this feature. But you may consider notifying users about this new capability and update your training and documentation as appropriate.
Now Microsoft is introducing item drag and drop feature for calendar views which will allow users to easily reorganize list items in a calendar view. Users will be able to reschedule items by dragging and dropping them from one day to another day in a Calendar view, or by pulling an item from the Unscheduled pane that appears on the right, within Calendar view.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 93285.
Release Timeline
Microsoft began rolling this out in mid-May 2022 and expected to complete the rollout by late May 2022 – Rollout completed.
How this will affect your organization
After rollout of this item drag and drop feature, users will be able to:
Reschedule list items by dragging them from one date to another date in the calendar view canvas
Un-schedule items (remove the saved dates) by dragging from calendar canvas and dropping them in the Unscheduled pane
Schedule items by dragging them from the Unscheduled pane and dropping them on any date in calendar view canvas
Microsoft Lists: Calendar view item drag and drop
What you need to do to prepare
No action is required to enable this feature. You may consider notifying users about this new capability and update your training and documentation as appropriate.
Previously in SharePoint site when you click on the navigation link, the default behavior was to open internal links in the same browser tab and external links in a new browser tab. Now, Microsoft is releasing a new feature which will allow users to manage the experience for each navigation link item to open in the same tab or in a new tab.
This new feature will add new Open in a new tab option in navigation link settings. Open in a new tab option is available while adding new navigation links or editing existing navigation links. Using this feature, users will have the option to be able to choose to open navigation links in the same tab or in a new tab for:
This feature is available for both SharePoint communication sites and team sites navigation.
Follow below steps to configure navigation link item to open in a new tab:
1. Go to your SharePoint site and click on Edit link at the bottom of the vertical navigation (or to the right of the horizontal navigation).
Vertical navigation in SharePoint team site
2. Hover in between the existing navigation links in the menu where you want to add a new link and select + icon.
3. On the Add a link dialog box, choose Link under Choose an option dropdown and enter web address & display name for the navigation link.
4. You can see the new Open in a new tab option at the bottom of Add a link dialog box. Select the Open in a new tab checkbox to open the navigation link in a new browser tab.
SharePoint – Configure Navigation Links to Open in a New Tab
5. Click OK on Add a link dialog box and then Save the navigation settings. Now, when you click on the newly added navigation link item, it will open the associated web address in a new browser tab.
Note: The new open in new tab experience will not work on the footer navigation links when initially available. This will become available with future release at a later date.
Release Timeline
Targeted Release: Microsoft began rolling out this feature in early September and it is expected to complete the rollout by late September.
Standard Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out this feature in late September and expects to complete the rollout by mid-October.
You can read more about this feature and rollout (General Availability) information at Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 93318.
This feature update will bring users a new navigation option for SharePoint team sites. Team site owners will be able to switch the team site navigation orientation from vertical to horizontal. Additionally, site navigation visibility can be turned off completely.
This new navigation switcher feature allows site owners to customize their team site by changing navigation’s orientation and visibility to achieve a different look and feel, layouts, and alignment styles.
Targeted release (selected users and entire organization): Rollout will begin in mid-September and expect to be complete in mid-October.
Standard: Rollout will begin in early November and expect to be complete in mid-January (previously late November).
How this will affect your organization
For SharePoint online team sites, users will see a new option when you navigate to Settings > Change the Look > Navigation. In the navigation panel, users can choose to show or hide the site navigation. If users decide to display the site navigation, then they’ll be able to choose either a vertical or horizontal orientation.
Note: The Mega menu style is only available for the horizontal orientation.
Navigation settings in SharePoint online team sites
The Verticaloption displays site navigation on the left of the site content
The Horizontal option displays site navigation on the top of the page just below the site header like on a SharePoint communication site
Vertical navigation in SharePoint online team sites
What you need to do to prepare
You do not need to do anything to prepare for this change. This new navigation feature is optional and existing team site navigation will not change. Notify site owners that this new option is available in addition to other ways to customize your SharePoint site.
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