Forum Discussion
Fully customized intranet website
Hello,
I'm a former php developer and i'm pretty new with o365. I can't understand what should I do to build a website in o365 using HTML/CSS/JS
I built several sharepoint online sites in a tenant, now I've been asked to create something like an intranet homepage which 'doesn't look like sharepoint' for members only. Is there somewhere in the tenant in which I can publish simple frontend pages?
I saw that sharepoint online public sites are now not available anymore, I tried all the site collections template available but they all look (almost) the same, I tried Fabric UI with React but I failed to publish a master page with that, I tried to peek into SPFx but it looks like you can build webparts there and not a full page. Also it looks like microsoft doesn't like sharepoint sites to not have any sharepoint toolbars because "Where is sharepoint then?".
After many hours researching I still feel pretty lost and if someone can point me in the correct direction I would be so grateful
Riccardo Amadi Below are things you need to explore:
1. SharePoint Home Sites This will be rolled out in Q3. So you cannot act on this now, but you can do some preparatory work using below resources.
2. https://sharepointlookbook.azurewebsites.net/ This will give you ideas & possibilities in SharePoint.
3. https://spdesign.azurewebsites.net/: Guidance on branding
9 Replies
Riccardo Amadi There are some great responses by others about using the out of the box features. However, if you don't like the out of the box look and feel on that page, you could look into building a "Single Part App Page" for SPFx.
This allows you to build a single web part that runs within the entire page, using full width. This means you could essentially build a SPA for your home page.
Have a look here.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/spfx/web-parts/single-part-app-pages
Also, not sure which tool bars you mention about hiding... but hiding the native SharePoint tool bars as you've mentioned is not advisable or supported.Hi Beau Cameron,
I wasn't happy with oob solutions (might be because I didn't fully grasp them yet). SPAPs with SPFx at this moment are my best options (including bootstrap for the layout) but I read that with this approach (as you pointed out) Microsoft didn't like the removal/hiding of the native o365 bar. Also add that SPFx is always mentioned as a web part building process so I'm not confident it's the best solution for full page apps.
After reading about Home Sites however I think I should keep running this road (SPAPs with SPFx) while as soon as I can harness Home Sites I should probably switch to that recycling my SPFx solution as web parts in there. (You guys are welcome to confirm or dissuade me on this)
- I would, personally go with this. That would be fully supported and a modern way to do this.
Best, Chris
Riccardo Amadi Below are things you need to explore:
1. SharePoint Home Sites This will be rolled out in Q3. So you cannot act on this now, but you can do some preparatory work using below resources.
2. https://sharepointlookbook.azurewebsites.net/ This will give you ideas & possibilities in SharePoint.
3. https://spdesign.azurewebsites.net/: Guidance on branding
Hi Unnie, Thanks for pointing out that home sites are not available yet.
I see that in january they told us it should have come with march/april release but are currently in development https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=30694
- Hi Riccardo Amadi
Have you considered the new Home Sites which are built upon modern communication sites?
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-SharePoint-Blog/SharePoint-home-sites-a-landing-for-your-organization-on-the/ba-p/621933
Hope that helps!
Best, ChrisHi ChrisHoardMVP,
Thanks for the tip, I didn't spot the Home Sites before and that's exactly what I need to build.
To me these look like improved communication sites, to reach that level of frontend branding on communication sites I tried pnp provisioning services https://provisioning.sharepointpnp.com/ but I get some errors I am currently trying to debug (maybe I can't deploy them because my tenant is not in english).
- Great, glad Home sites are a solution for you. It’s a great forthcoming functionality and yes they are based on communication sites!
Unfortunately I am not a pro at SharePoint PNP but others should be able to support you here with it. I would raise those under separate posts in order to remediate and get a better chance that each one will be answered in the fastest possible time.
Best, Chris
