Intranets are making great strides with their new modern communication sites and are likely to continue. Most organizations use intranets to share a quick fact or an update, or maybe a landing page about a department or working group. For medium- and small-scale organizations this may suffice, however, the larger enterprises need something robust and scalable. 

 The Need for Modern Experience 

Technology has stepped forward swiftly in the last decade as we have moved towards digitization, cloud transformation, robotics, and analytics. Market developments and competition have altered commercial enterprise goals dramatically as their legacy systems are getting a face-lift, they are moving from servers to clouds, a static web-page to a responsive layout and beyond.  

Talking about the legacy corporate intranets, they lack front-end experience and diverse content editor roles. Microsoft realized the need for a modern SharePoint framework and decided to put an end to any updates to the old installations. This leaves many organizations with Intranets having very basic templates that are very nondescript and still doesn’t support accessibility by default. They introduced Modern SharePoint which is a development framework which emphasizes user experience, collaboration and efficiency, and most importantly, isn’t developer-intensive. The fundamental changes are mostly done on the client’s front instead of the server and don’t require manpower and investment for the CSS, JavaScript, and web parts. 

 Capabilities of Modern SharePoint  

-Attractive, brand-specific designs that come with hub-wide navigation with increased search capabilities across all departments. 

-On-site customization within an existing hub become possible along with the easy installation of web parts with conditional formatting.  

-Automate repetitive tasks, assign site design permissions and make sure whatever is done to the intranet stands approved. 

-Turnkey solutions with noteworthy cost savings for democratized intranets that no longer require developer intensive tasks. 

-Smooth migration of complex sites that host monolithic designs and complex navigation.  

Purpose of a Modern SharePoint Intranet  

Modern SharePoint empowers you to do so much beyond simply communicating general procedures using a portal that serves are a repository for documents; it gives you the ability to design functional sites, pages, and web parts. With modernization comes innovation, collaboration and efficiencies that support activities within a working environment.  

Webinar on Modern SharePoint 

Beyond Intranet is hosting its first webinar on Building Smart Intranet using Modern SharePoint. This will be a 30- minute free session which will expose the limitations of legacy Intranets and take a deeper dive into the features of Modern SharePoint. The webinar will be a live session followed by a short QnA session.  

 Audience 

While this session is directed toward anyone wanting to learn Modern SharePoint features, all are encouraged to attend.  

TOPIC: Building Smart Intranet…. Simplified With Modern SharePoint  

WHEN: August 21st, 2019 @ 1 pm EDT 

WHO: Dave Brown, Bhupendra Singh, and Vijay Mangtani  

WHAT: Tips and feature demonstrations of Modern SharePoint  

 Find speaker details and other information here: 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

This guide shows every step. You’ll see why each one matters, get troubleshooting tips, and find answers to common questions. It works for both SharePoint admins and people new to these tools. 

Microsoft has recently introduced tremendous capabilities to integrate SharePoint Planner directly into SharePoint team sites as a Plan and as a web part.

What is Microsoft Planner—and Why Use It with SharePoint Online? 

Microsoft Planner is a visual app included in Microsoft 365. It lets you: 

• Make plans for projects or teams 

• Break work into tasks and assign them to people 

• Set deadlines 

• Organize tasks into Buckets for workflow 

• Add files, write comments, and keep updates in one place 

• See your project on Boards and Charts 

When you put Planner into your SharePoint Online Team Site, you: 

• Keep tasks and documents together 

• Let everyone see and update project work in the same spot 

• Get permissions in sync with site members 

• Make it easy to track what’s happening 

Remember, Planner integration works only in SharePoint Online Team Sites. Communication Sites can show a Planner Web Part, but you can’t create or manage plans there. 

Important: Where Can You Use Microsoft Planner in SharePoint Online? 

Only SharePoint Online Team Sites support SharePoint Planner integration. Team Sites focus on group work and let you use Planner fully. Communication Sites are for sharing news or info with large groups. You can add a Planner Web Part to Communication Sites, but can’t make new plans there. 

If you aren’t sure what type of site you have, check with your admin or see which template you used. 

How to Create a Plan in SharePoint

1. Go to Your SharePoint Online Team Site 

Open your browser and go to the Team Site where you want to create the plan. 

2. Start a New Plan 

Find the “New” button near the top left. Click it. Pick “Plan” from the list. 

If you don’t see “Plan,” you might not be in a Team Site, or your admin may have turned off Planner features. 

3. Name the Plan 

A panel or box appears. Type a name for the plan. Click “Create.” 

When you do this: 

• A new plan links to your site’s Microsoft 365 Group. 

• Everyone in the SharePoint Online Team Site gets access to the plan. 

• You’ll find the plan in the Microsoft Planner app too. 

Using an Existing Plan 

Some teams already have a plan made somewhere else, but still connected to the same Microsoft 365 Group. You can add it to your SharePoint Online Team Site. 

After clicking “New > Plan,” pick “Use an existing plan.” Find your plan in the dropdown. Click “Create.” 

Only plans tied to your site’s Microsoft 365 Group show up. You can’t pick plans from other groups. 

Add the SharePoint Planner Web Part to a SharePoint Page 

1. Edit the Page

Go to the page where you want to show the plan. Click “Edit” at the top right. 

2. Add the Planner Web Part

Move your mouse above or below other web parts, or under the title. Click the “+” button. Type “Planner” in the search box and choose “Planner.” 

3. Connect the Plan

You can: 

• Create a new plan by typing the name and clicking “Create” 

• Pick an existing plan from the dropdown 

Figure 4 — Select Planner web-part

Set how the plan appears. You can show the Board view to see tasks in Buckets, or use Charts to see visual progress. 

4. Pick a Display

Set how the plan appears. You can show the Board view to see tasks in Buckets, or use Charts to see visual progress. 

Planner Chart Display

SharePoint web parts help you quickly glean and access relevant information, from internal news to shared documents. The new Planner web part adds to this experience, allowing you to add plan information directly on pages and news posts.  Depending on what task information you think is most relevant to your team, you can choose between the Planner Board or Charts view to appear on your homepage.

Make sure to give this web part a clear name, like “Project Tasks.”

5. Save and Publish

Click “Republish” or “Publish” at the top right. Now your page is updated with the Planner board. 

Making the Most of SharePoint Planner Integration

With Planner in SharePoint Online, you can: 

• Assign Tasks to people, set deadlines, and add files 

• Move tasks between Buckets to track work 

• Use Charts to see project status 

• Add comments or attach files to tasks 

SharePoint Online and Planner give you a single place to manage work and see progress. 

Practical Use Cases 

• Project Management: Keep track of deliverables, deadlines, and who’s doing what 

• Team Operations: Handle routine tasks or requests 

• Agile Teams: Run sprints, manage backlogs, and track work on Boards 

• Departmental Planning: Coordinate HR, marketing, or IT tasks 

Frequently Asked Questions On SharePoint Planner

Q1: Can I use Planner integration on all SharePoint sites? 

 No. You can only create and manage plans in SharePoint Online Team Sites. Use the Planner Web Part for display on Communication Sites. 

Q2: Who can see and edit my plan? 

 Everyone in your SharePoint Online Team Site (including guests, if allowed) can see and edit the plan. Permissions match your site membership. 

Q3: What if I don’t see the Planner option or web part? 

 You might be on a Communication Site, or your admin may have turned off Planner. Also, check if your Microsoft 365 license supports Planner. 

Q4: Can I display more than one plan on a page? 

 Yes. Add multiple Planner Web Parts to a page and link each one to a different plan. 

Q5: Can Planner tasks show up in a calendar? 

 Not in the web part, but you can sync tasks with due dates to Outlook if your group allows it. 

Troubleshooting and Tips 

If you can’t find the Planner Web Part, check if you’re in a Team Site and have the right permissions. Only plans tied to your Microsoft 365 Group will show up when adding an existing plan. If new members can’t see the plan, have them refresh the page or open Planner from office.com. For more task views, go into Planner itself where you can group by due date, label, or assignment. 

Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? If you also want to give a personalized touch to your SharePoint site, then you have landed at the right place.  

What Are SharePoint Themes? 

SharePoint themes are collections of various design elements. These elements include color palettes, font styles, and site layout designs. These customized SharePoint themes offer a lightweight branding experience to the SharePoint site. 

A site owner can curate these themes. This customization is optional as they are available in drag-and-drop options. It will instantly change the look and feel of your SharePoint site. 

Are you ready to give a custom look to your SharePoint site? Let’s get started. 

This attractive SharePoint Site theming option allows user to apply custom or default themes to all modern sites (communication or team sites) to deliver new engaging and familiar looks.

The process is extremely simple. In this article below, we are sharing the step by step process of using the theme generator using PowerShell.

1. Go to https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric

2. Then go to Components>>Customizations>>Colors

(https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric#/customizations/colors)

3. As we proceed further to create our custom theme, we can choose from various color options available under:

a) Primary color theme

b) Body text color

c) Body background color

4. From the color palette choose a specific shade for each one of them; these colors will determine what your custom theme will look like.

5. Copy the PowerShell generated in the Output.

6. Now open PowerShell and connect to your SharePoint Tenant. To Open PowerShell, go to your Windows menu and search for “Windows PowerShell ISE”– Run as administrator.

7. To run the PowerShell cmdlets for theme management, you must do the following:

Download and install the SharePoint Online Management Shell. If you already have a previous version of the shell installed, uninstall it first and then install the latest version.

8. To connect PowerShell with your SharePoint online tenant-

Run “Connect-SPOService” command in your PowerShell.

9. Next, It will ask for SharePoint tenant URl where you want to add the custom color theme.

10. Enter your Microsoft account credentials if prompted.

11. Write “$themecontoso = “ and paste copied PowerShell script

12. Now again write “$themecontoso” at the end of the script and press enter and you will find that the values are assigned to variables.

13. To add this theme, write the below command, and assign a proper name to your theme so it is easily identified.

a) For Light colored theme the command will be: Add-SPOTheme –Name “Theme Name” –Palette $themecontoso –IsInverted $false

b) And for Dark colored theme the command will be : Add-SPOTheme –Name “Theme Name” –Palette $themecontoso –IsInverted $fTrue

14. To Apply the theme:

a) Open your modern site and click on the cog icon

b) Click on “Change the Look”

c) Select your custom theme and click Apply

15. Your custom theme will start appearing on the right side panel.

SharePoint site theming: PowerShell cmdlets

The following cmdlets are available for managing site themes from PowerShell:

a) Add-SPOTheme – Creates a new custom theme, or overwrites an existing theme to modify its settings.

b) Get-SPOTheme – Retrieves settings for an existing theme.

c) Remove-SPOTheme – Removes a theme from the theme gallery.

d) Set-SPOHideDefaultThemes – Specifies whether the default themes should be available.

e) Get-SPOHideDefaultThemes – Queries the current SPOHideDefaultThemes setting.

How We Can Help You In Customizing Your SharePoint Themes

Beyond Intranet is a Microsoft Gold Partner Company. With over 18 years of experience in the domain we successfully served more than 500 clients across the globe. We boast a team of more than 300 brilliant individuals, a significant number of whom hold certifications from Microsoft. We are experts in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises. We help enterprises to steer through their SharePoint journey.  

In case you find it difficult to customize your SharePoint themes feel free to consult us today. Our Customized SharePoint Themes services can offer you the following benefits: 

• Strategic SharePoint Alignment:  

Our SharePoint customization solutions align the SharePoint site with your existing organizational strategy. It provides a unified digital ecosystem. 

• Upgraded User Experience:  

A well-designed and implemented SharePoint theme enhances user satisfaction and productivity by 2x. It will result in increased user engagement. 

• Brand Consistency:  

  We help you to customize SharePoint themes to ensure that your SharePoint site reflects your brand’s identity. It will strengthen brand consistency. 

• Optimized Performance:  

  Beyond Intranet’s expertise ensures that the customized theme does not compromise performance. It will maintain optimal speed and responsiveness. 

• Future-Ready Solutions:  

  We ensure that your SharePoint customized theme is scalable. We ensure it should be adaptable to future SharePoint updates and expansions. 

 Still have any queries write us at: contact@beyondintranet.com 

Try on your own or ask for help!

So, isn’t it simple to create your own branded SharePoint  themes which can be easily applied all over your Modern SharePoint tenant? Just try the simple steps and let us know how it went.

Even if you face any challenges, the Beyond Intranet SharePoint Consulting team of expert developers is always there to help. Connect with us at contact@beyondintranet.com and we will respond to you as soon as we can.