Microsoft 365 – SharePoint Online – Exploring Communication Site

“Do good and good will come to you”

Hello Everyone,

Hope you all are doing well.

In previous article discussed about how to login Microsoft 365, what is SharePoint Online, how to create site, and types of sites. If you miss the article please go through it, it will help from scratch.

M365 – SharePoint Online for beginners (Previous Article)

https://knowledge-junction.in/2022/02/20/m365-sharepoint-online-for-beginners/

Today I am going to discuss about Communication site and its features in this article.

So without getting late, lets get started with Communication Site.

Background

A SharePoint Communication site is a great place to broadcast information to others. Share news, reports, status updates, and more in a visually appealing format. Use communication sites to engage and inform broad audiences. Create portals, department, or project-specific sites.Showcase stories, spotlight topics, and broadcast news and events to audiences across your organization.Communication sites often have a few site owners and members that help manage and update site content, and many site visitors that view content.

Create Communication Site

• If you don’t have Microsoft 365 account, you could create it under the Microsoft 365 developer program from Microsoft. – https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/dev-program
• Login to Microsoft 365 account from portal – https://www.office.com/?auth=2
• Navigate to SharePoint from app launcher.
• You will be redirected to SharePoint Online home page. – _layouts/15/sharepoint.aspx
• Now create a Communication site.

Communication Site Templates

Site templates are pre-designed layouts that allow you to arrange content onto a site page to create a simple yet well-designed site. You can drag and drop elements like image blocks, photo galleries, logos, and more into the template to make it your own.

• When you create a communication site, the site has a default template on home page/landing page of the site.

• You can also apply a site template from Microsoft or from your Organization.

• You can select the site template from the given different types of templates and apply it to the site.

Communication Site Theme

Site theme is the overall look, feel and style of your site. This includes things like the color scheme, layout and style elements. In essence, your site theme is a direct representation of your brand and has a direct impact on your user’s experience.

• In SharePoint you have different color of themes for a site. You can choose any of the theme and apply to your site. Also you can customize the colors.

Communication Site Header

A site header is the first thing that visitors see when they visit a site, and it appears on every page of the site. A good site header balances clean design and crystal-clear navigation to the deeper pages of a website.

• On the top of the site you can see the header. In header you can set a logo and background image, theme for your site.

Communication Site Navigation

Site navigation is the act of clicking and looking through resources on the internet, such as the various pages that make up a site. Users navigate websites using a web browser and clicking on links that transport them to other pages when clicked.

• In header you can see the navigation below the site name/ site logo of a site.

Communication Site Footer

A site footer is an area located at the bottom of every page on a site, below the main body content. The term “footer” comes from the print world, in which the “footer” is a consistent design element that is seen across all pages of a document.

• At the bottom of the site page you can see the footer.

Communication Site Web Parts

Web Parts are segmental components that shape the basic building block of a page on sites. Web parts can help customize intranet content, layout and a set of adjustable scripts in certain pages via the web interface.

• In a site web parts categorized as
  • Text, media, and content
  • Documents, lists, and libraries
  • Feeds
  • News, people, and events
  • Data analysis
  • Regional information
  • Advanced
• You can add the desired web part to the site page from the set of web parts.

Text, media, and content

The Web Parts under this category are

• Button: Add a clickable button with a custom label and link.

• Call to action: Add call to action text and an image paired with a clickable button.

• Divider: Add line to divide areas on your page.

• Hero: Prominently display up to 5 pieces of content with links, images, pictures, videos, or photos in a highly visual layout.

• Image: Add an image, picture, or photo to your page including text overlays and ability to crop and resize images.

• Image gallery: Show several images, pictures, or photos in a gallery layout.

• Link: Add a link with rich preview such as an image or text brought in from the linked video or web content.

• Quick links: Show a collection of links to content such as documents, images, videos and more in a variety of layouts with options for icons, images, and audience targeting.

• Spacer: Add vertical space between areas on the page.

• Stream: Display Stream videos or a Stream channel

• Text: add and format text and tables.

• YouTube: Show a YouTube video on the page.

Documents, lists, and libraries

The Web Parts under this category are

• Document library: Show a document library from this site.

• File Viewer: Display a document or file on your page including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pdf, 3d models, videos and more.

• Highlighted content:

• List: Display a list from this site.

• List properties: Connect to list web part on the same page and dynamically display a selection from that list.

• Page properties: Show details about your page like date, content type, or custom properties.

• Recent documents: Display recent documents for the current user.

• Saved for later: Show the current page viewer’s documents, videos, and pages that they saved for later.

• Sites: Show important or interesting sites on your page.

Feeds

The Web Parts under this category are

• Conversations: Show conversations from a Yammer group, user, topic, or home.

• Feed for Viva Connections: Show a feed with conversations, news, and stream videos personalized to users based on the communities and sites they follow.

• Highlights: Show highlights of Yammer conversations.

• Twitter: Display a Twitter feed.

News, people, and events

The Web Parts under this category are

• Countdown Timer: Count down or count up to an important event.

• Events: Display upcoming events from your sites in a layout you choose.

• Group calendar: Display a calendar from one of your Office 365 groups.

• News: Show news posts from one or more sites in a variety of layouts. You can filter news and target news to key audiences.

• Organization chart: Show an organization chart (org chart) with structure and connections for a selected person.

• People: Display selected people and their profiles.

Data analysis

The Web Parts under this category are

• Microsoft Forms: Add a survey to collect responses or show results.

• Power BI: Display a Power BI report.

• Quick chart: Show data in simple bar or pie chart.

• Site Activity: Show site activity such as files uploaded or edited, lists created, and more.

Regional information

The Web Parts under this category are

• Bing Maps: Display a location on map using Bing Maps.

• Weather: Show the current weather in a location you choose.

• World clock: Show one or more clocks with time zones you choose.

Advanced

The Web Parts under this category are

• Code Snippet: Add a Code Snippet to the page.

• Embed: Embed content from other sites such as Sway, YouTube, Vimeo, and more.

• Kindle Instant Preview: Show a preview of a Kindle book.

• MarkDown: Use MarkDown language to add and format text.

• Microsoft Power Apps (Preview): Show a custom app created with PowerApps

• My feed: Display a personalized feed of content and activities.

Hope this article will help you to know about Communication Site in SharePoint Online. Will catch up with new article soon.

Keep learning and keep smiling 🙂

Thanks.