Forum Discussion
Subsites vs sites
I am still very confused about when to create subsites and when to use sites.
I have a department which consists of different teams that don't necessarily work together. In my main site I would like to place some common files; like strategy, contacts, calendar etc. I would like to add a MS Team to that SharePoint.
Each of my subteams would also need an MS Team, but when I create a new Team I get a new site along with it. I would like that site to be connected to my main SharePoint site.
As I see it I can't use subsites, but will have to create links to the SharePoint sites of my subteams in my main site.
And I read that I shouldn't use subsites at all since these are phased out and replaced with something else?
Take a look at SharePoint Hub Sites which allows you to connect multiple sites together (similar to the subsite concept). SharePoint Hub Sites give you a shared navigation, search across the hub and web parts to support rollup of news, associated sites and highlighted content
If you're a global or SharePoint admin in Office 365, you can convert any existing site (communication or team site) to a hub site using Microsoft PowerShell. Create a hub site in SharePoint Online
When a MS Team is created it creates a site collection (team site) which can them be connected to the hub sites Associate a SharePoint site with a hub site
You can also use a site design to automate the joining of a newly created site to an existing hub site by using the joinHub site script action. For info about how to create the site script and site design, see SharePoint site design and site script overview.
Hope this helps
6 Replies
Deleted
The short answer is that there is no difference between a SharePoint site and a SharePoint subsite. They are the same thing. I think the confusion originates because of the fact that in SharePoint you have the two terms used interchangeably, causing you to believe that there might be a difference between the two.
for more detail....
https://sharepointmaven.com/site-vs-subsite-sharepoint/
In addition to the previous suggestions, you can add a Tab in a Teams Channel that points to a SPO Document library or list, see https://collab365.community/create-manage-sharepoint-list-teams-tab/
Subsites are not getting phases out or replaced, you will be able to use them for a long time, but there will be a variety of limitations because other new apps, like Teams, will not take advantage of them automatically.
In your case, you may want to have a Team for the department (common files would get put into the General Channel) and then Channels in the team for each of the working groups. Each working group, would get a folder in the default document library automatically and you could create additional document libraries in SPO and add a Tab in Teams to the Channel.
Thanks for all your replies.
Creating one SharePoint/Team with Channels per subteam could be an option. I am just worried that it is not flexible. Our organisation changes a lot and one or more of the subteams may be moved to another department - or we could get a new subteam. Is it easy to move a channel to another Team/SharePoint?
If I create channel per subteam everybody can I restrict the channels so that only members of the specific channel gets notifications from their own channel?
Given that your org changes a lot, I would recommend creating a Teams structure that is not based on the org structure, this is an age old problem with SharePoint (and many other systems). Think about how people need to work together, not who they work for. Do some experiments with different teams to see what they like.
Don't try to come up with a perfect Teams structure that will apply to everything, be prepared for new functionality showing up in Teams. This can be done by reviewing the suggestions in User Voice .
It is NOT easy to move channels at this time but I think that MS may be working on this, see https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com/forums/555103-public/suggestions/16939708-move-channels-into-other-teams
Each user controls their own notifications,
Manage your notifications
Johanson SandrasagraMicrosoft
Take a look at SharePoint Hub Sites which allows you to connect multiple sites together (similar to the subsite concept). SharePoint Hub Sites give you a shared navigation, search across the hub and web parts to support rollup of news, associated sites and highlighted content
If you're a global or SharePoint admin in Office 365, you can convert any existing site (communication or team site) to a hub site using Microsoft PowerShell. Create a hub site in SharePoint Online
When a MS Team is created it creates a site collection (team site) which can them be connected to the hub sites Associate a SharePoint site with a hub site
You can also use a site design to automate the joining of a newly created site to an existing hub site by using the joinHub site script action. For info about how to create the site script and site design, see SharePoint site design and site script overview.
Hope this helps
- spucelik
Anne...a few things to consider:
- When creating a new MS Team, yes you do get a new SharePoint team site to store documents/calendar etc. Consider creating a "channel" for each of the different teams in the same department. Even though they are related by the same department they still function somewhat independent.
- In each Channel you create you can create a new tab to go to the respective document library in the SharePoint team site.
- Subsites are not being replaced or phased out. It's recommended to keep you're hierarchy "flat" and not create a lot of sub sites. This makes it more flexible and easier to manage.
HTH.
