Big changes are coming to SharePoint Online in the next few months that will make it easier, more engaging, and more satisfying to use.
Modern Publishing includes a fully-redesigned page editor which makes laying out content in SharePoint an extremely intuitive and satisfying experience. The process of creating and editing content is now easier than ever.
Intuitive page editing
The changes mean you can copy and paste formatted text and tables directly from Word, without breaking them. Rather than going through a process of several steps to upload images, they can be dragged and dropped directly into the page. Editable multi-column layouts let you create more engaging-looking pages, and you can even embed colleague profiles and inline document previews.
Better still, pages created with Modern Publishing are responsive, meaning they will automatically rearrange content depending on the user’s screen format, such as on a mobile phone or tablet.
The short video from Microsoft below demonstrates some of the new page editing experience:
Communication sites
Another feature arriving being rolled out to SharePoint Online – one which takes advantage of Modern Publishing – is a new type of site, called the Communication Site.
Communication Sites provide a quick way of creating layouts for quickly communicating information. They offer rich functionality, including a ‘hero’ web part showcasing content, with image links to key pages, news and events. They also let you display content from across Office 365, including Microsoft Stream videos, recent documents via Delve, and Yammer conversations.
The new features have already started rolling out to Office 365 First Release customers, with the general availablity expected for all SharePoint Online users by September.
Kira integration
However, the new Communication Sites, while a huge step forward, don’t provide a complete experience. They lack the ability to create site templates, provide metadata and tagging for more powerful search functionality, don’t allow structured navigation, and can’t be automatically personalised for each user.
That’s where CompanyNet comes in. Kira, our intranet built on SharePoint Online, and ProvEn, our SharePoint site provisioning engine, address these challenges, and will work alongside Communication Sites and Modern Publishing.
Simon Montgomery, our Technical Director, says: “We’ve been eagerly awaiting Communication Sites since we first saw a glimpse of Modern Publishing at Microsoft Ignite. We have already developed a range of SharePoint Framework components that we’ll be able to immediately leverage when Communication Sites are released.
“We think they will have a huge, positive impact when they become generally available. Kira is extremely well-placed to integrate with Communication Sites – our team has been working hard to ensure they will slot right into the existing system.”
Discover Kira, our powerful intranet solution built on SharePoint online and Modern publishing.