Forum Discussion
Rollout of Modern Pages to First Release Full Org
- We've rolled out to 10% of First Release tenants so far, and the plan is to go to 50% today. We're still doing some final analysis of the roll out data, and I'll update you all when we do expand the ring.
MicrosoftWe don't have a concrete date to share for the next ring expansion, but I expect it will be either late next week or early the week after. For those that do have access, please send us your feedback. :)
looks like we're in the lucky 50%, plus I've had some access by a selected FR dev tenant so feedback as requested:-
+ Very positive move overall
+ Good editing experience
+ Responsive
+ SharePoint framework
+ Nice UI
+ Document & content embed parts offer good flexibility (Forms needs to be embeddable)
+ Simple autosave and publish
+ Page and document previews in quick links
- Page banner far to big. Text starts halfway down the page!
- Needs ability to rearrange web parts like you can in Sway
- Branding options needed, especially with regards to the default, fixed header image
- quick links needs list view as well as tile view. A way of creating multiple lists is also needed as navigation options are limited. Ability to easily select pages when adding quick link
- Ability to have individual document libraries as a type in highlighted content
Agree this is off to a great start. It reminds me of a super-simplified SquareSpace pallet if anyone has used that,
Questions:
* Is One Column going to be the only design option? It is "too simple" if that makes sense, need at least two column option if not three.
* the existing Promoted Links uses the flat square tile buttons. Are these going away? It seems the Quick Links show a modern tile view, but it shows the person that adds the Link -- so it does not feel like a proper navigation. So if I add five quick links, my face is permanently on the page five times!! There is no way to customize the look and feel of Quick Links. This is a problem too.
* Is there any stated directions for these pages? Was anything discussed at Ignite about some reasonable picture of the target state, in particular, are these meant to be basic, basic, end user team site pages, or are these appropriate for more sophisticated layotus, say for an Intranet home page? What are other widgets that are coming to this feature set? What is the intent?
Interested to see how this plays out.
Rob.
I saw somewhere that multi-column layouts are coming at some point.
I've seen various screen shots with different parts including:-
-News
-Quick Chart
-PowerBI
-Image Gallery
-Events
More can be created by the sharepoint framework so expect quite a few community ones. I've already seen several samples such as
https://github.com/SharePoint/sp-dev-fx-webparts/tree/master/samples
I really like the new page creation. It's very simple to use and looks swish!
+ Responsive
It's responsive but it starts at tablet size and gets smaller. There is no responsive design to accommodate standard laptops or widescreen monitors. The content on my pc looks squashed with the same amount of white space to the right as there is content.
- Page banner far to big. Text starts halfway down the page!
It's huge..
- Needs ability to rearrange web parts like you can in Sway
I put a image down, decided it would look better higher up and was a bit suprisied that I had delete it and re-add it.
Agree with the Page Banner, is there any way to remove that?
- Did anyone ever get any direction for modifying the huge, currently pointless page banner at the top?
Yes, nice start, but to me this is definitely a minimally-viable product. It lacks so much that we are used to having with regard to page design. I need to be able to add normal list view web parts. And why can't "quick links" include a display image? They look so ugly as is. And sizes cards/tiles are different for activity and highlighted content than for quick links. Looks really odd.
I'm very happy with the move to responsive design, but I hope they make lots of adjustments and improvements very soon before general rollout!
Agree with Katrin. We just got the update. I understand the "Agile" method of development that MS is trying to take here, but I can't help but be underwhelmed every time something is initially released to the thousands of First Release customers. These modern pages were on display a year ago, and the SP team is definitely on the right track. It's just disappointing to finally get the new feature and have so many little things that need fixing. I don't think you need customer feedback to identify that images need a resizing option, or that users will want to show document libraries or lists on their pages. Maybe just too rushed to meet the Ignite deadline, but I’ve seen the same issue with seemingly all O365 apps – great concepts, just not ready yet. And yes, I realize this is first release stuff, but it seems like it is still in beta rather than final release candidate.
With that said, I really do love the new direction, and the pages are fast. Keep going. I just think that many of us think that once we get the update, it will be usable. I need to start adding 3-6 months in my head to Microsoft release timelines.
- Is there any way to test this before it gets rolled out to us? I'm an "individual" in FR (there are a few of us, but the whole company is not). I'd love to be able to see what's possible and how it works, but I feel like I just keep checking every day to see if I have it. Any help would be appreciated! I'd love to test it out *somewhere* or be notified when it hits for my FR account. Checking every day is kind of a pain, and I don't even know exactly where/how to check. I keep creating test subsites using the team site template, and it's still the old one. If anyone can provide some guidance for me, I'd appreciate it! I have to stay on top of this stuff so I can notify staff before it's rolled out to them...
You could try signing up to a free(for a year) dev tenant (http://dev.office.com/devprogram) and setting the user to selective FR. Via that I had earlier access than the main site but I doubt it will be long before you get it.
In terms of testing I think it gives a message when navigating to sharepoint, otherwise:
Try selcting the gear icon in any sharepoint site you have write access to and go to "new page". On the old system it will ask you for a filename wheras on the new it will immediatley create a blank page of the new "Site Pages" type.
Also if you look in any sites', "site pages" library the new page icon is a dropdown instead of the ""+".
Great- thank you so much!
