How can you utilize SharePoint to maximize your Microsoft 365 experience? What is SharePoint, and how can you use it?
Fewer businesses are migrating to on-premises SharePoint as they progressively switch to cloud-based SharePoint Online/Microsoft 365. This is because more businesses are adopting the cloud-based productivity capabilities needed for a distributed workforce.
Our own customer data has shown this trend, which serves to confirm a perception we’ve had for a while:
- Sites: containers for storing and organizing information
- Pages are areas where material is displayed on a site hosted by SharePoint.
- Web parts: online programs created to store particular kinds of material
Microsoft SharePoint Online: What is it?
An intranet may be created using Microsoft SharePoint, a platform for collaboration and communication. Additionally, it drives file collaboration throughout the whole Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
Understanding that SharePoint is not a tool like Word or Excel is crucial. There is no installation required, and everyone receives the same thing.
The most often response I receive when I ask people this question is, “Well…I don’t really know.”
With your Microsoft 365 subscription, SharePoint Online comes with a built-in cloud document management solution. Members of your company may use it to securely access files from any location and collaborate with others in real-time.
For instance, when you create a team in Microsoft Teams, a team site for sharing files called a SharePoint site is also generated automatically. This is one method through which SharePoint may be utilized to manage collaborative material instead of merely serving as an intranet.
SharePoint sites: what are they?
A Microsoft SharePoint site is just a box if you want to keep things straightforward. All of your lists and document libraries are located inside of this box, which is part of your SharePoint site.
The second thing you must be certain of is your understanding of what a site collection is.
Do you still recall the site, the container where all of your lists, pages, and libraries are stored? So now you have a hierarchy connecting a few boxes that are connected by it.
Because they are all connected by the same superior site, also known as the root site, you may conceive of those boxes as a collection of sites.
When you build security groups in it, the whole site collection—a network of connected sites or boxes—shares them.
All sites in the current version of SharePoint Online are site collections, and they are generally linked to a hub (more on hub sites below).
A site collection’s contents will all be shared by all of its members, including lists of SharePoint groups. Additionally, you may decide whether to let them share databases or a style library.
When you build security groups in SharePoint, the whole site collection—a network of connected sites or boxes—shares them.
It’s important to note that many of Microsoft’s new features—such as Microsoft 365 Groups, Teams, and contemporary team SharePoint sites tied to groups—are made to function with a single site at the top level.
A SharePoint team site: what is it?
Each team should, ideally, receive its own site collection, which facilitates document exchange and collaboration. When you establish a new team in Microsoft Teams or a group in Microsoft 365 Groups, this happens automatically.
This implies that you’ll probably have several separate team sites for various projects or work teams inside your company. Relax; this is for the best. Applying the right governance principles is made simpler by the more precise each site collection’s aim is.
A SharePoint communication site is what, exactly?
Communication sites provide you the opportunity to spread your message to a larger audience, whether it be about content, a significant announcement, or your weekend plans. In communication sites, posting is typically restricted to a limited number of users, while the majority of users have read-only access.
While team sites’ rights are determined by settings in Microsoft 365 Groups, communication sites’ permissions are obtained from SharePoint groups.
Consult the official Microsoft guide for further information on when to construct a team site vs a communication site.
SharePoint pages: what are they?
Key collaborative tools, it pages are generally used to display material to end users. You’ll often employ two distinct kinds of pages:
Users can start navigating your website using the navigation pages. One such navigation page is the main page of your intranet, which displays several categories and sometimes some high-level data.
Consider this page carefully, since it will impact how your users can navigate the remainder of your intranet and websites and locate the information they need.
Want some motivation? For further suggestions on how to configure your homepage for maximum effect, see Microsoft’s lookbook.
Location pages
contain the majority of the material consumers are seeking and are often constructed around a particular theme. For employee success, you may form a team on Microsoft Teams. To keep materials pertaining to this team, an exclusive SharePoint site is immediately built. Links to various destination sites may be included on your home page; this is a suitable location for common file sharing or quickly accessible content.
A properly considered blend of both navigation pages and destination pages that takes into account the end user experience makes up an effective it information structure.
What are lists ?
What precisely are a list and a document library since we already know that a site is a container that contains both?
Similar to making a table in Word or Excel, you may add extra information to each row by adding a column.
A SharePoint list is simply a web-based table that is simple to build, simple to use, and available in all browsers.
Similar to making a table in Word or Excel, you may add extra information to each row by adding a column. The sole distinction is that lists have all of SharePoint’s versioning, content approval, and work flow capabilities.
What are libraries?
In essence, document libraries are the same thing. They are tables, but they are tables for the papers themselves, not just conventional tables for managing content or data.
You place your documents in a document library rather than directly into a file folder in File Explorer. Columns allow you to organize, categorize, and categorise your material, which makes it simpler to search your text.
What are hub sites ?
What is the secret to designing a top-down, logically flat site structure? Hub pages
Sub-sites don’t adapt well to change, but many organizations used them in the past to build connective tissues. This is due to the fact that the URL for content reflects the physical nature of sub-sites. All intranet relationships in your content are broken if you rearrange your business relationships.
Site collections are used in the contemporary SharePoint experience, which provides more flexibility and adaptability. It will change along with your company.
Hub sites serve as the organizational framework for groups of contemporary SharePoint team and communication sites. In contrast to hierarchy or ownership, they portray relationships as links, making it considerably simpler to adjust to organizational changes.
How can I gauge user engagement using SharePoint Online?
To assist you increase adoption and the business impact of your SharePoint environment, this platform includes an out-of-the-box SharePoint use report. The reports include various data that demonstrate how site visitors have engaged with the material.
Who has access to the reports on SharePoint?
Visitors are not permitted to download use reports, however site administrators, members, owners, and visitors do have access to site data. Site analytics and use information will not be accessible to guest users with Site Owner capabilities.
How can SharePoint be kept neat?
Systems that are already incorporated into SharePoint Online allow you to audit your whole environment. You may examine files, lists, and folders in your content management system using SharePoint audit logs. The following may be audited using SharePoint online:
- document and page operations
- Access request and sharing actions
- administration of directories
- Power BI operations
- Microsoft Teams efforts in the healthcare
- Automate operations using power
- synchronization processes
- Active SharePoint list
- Activity Permissions for the Site
Our thorough fast start tool at ShareGate can automate your Sharepoint reports. You can stay on track and gain sight in a matter of minutes.
