I'm trying to build a new, future-proof, and user-friendly intranet in SharePoint by solely using the Modern UI, but I'm getting really frustrated by the lack of robust web parts. In particular, as a longtime Content Query and Content Search Web Part fan, I've been extremely let down by the Highlighted Content web part. I'm almost ready to throw in the towel and call it a lemon! Here's a list of some of the ways the Highlighted Content web part has let me down over the past couple weeks:Doesn't work with custom content typesSome content types are just buggy and don't work (I had to convert Contacts and Issues lists into standard Lists because they weren't showing up, but then of course the HC doesn't work with Lists either)Filtering and sorting by managed properties doesn't work for some content typesMultiple filters can ONLY be strung together with OR logic, not AND... this absolutely boggles the mindNo custom display templatesCan't sort Tasks by the Due Date column, but you can by Created and Modified.... whaaaat?A bug that I figured out a workaround for... If you want to filter Tasks by Assigned To = [Me], you have to choose Contains not Equals (but since you can't apply multiple filters, you can't remove completed Tasks from the query result) Despite my intention to keep 100% to the Modern UI, limitations like those described here are still forcing me to deploy some pages as Classic. If the Highlighted Content web part is supposed to be the newer better version of the good ol' CQWP and CSWP, it's got a LOT of work to do. It's borderline unusable right now for all but a handful of scenarios, none of which I find particularly useful for building a real intranet. I'd love to hear from Microsoft that they are aware of these issues and are working to address them...

Well, I respectfully disagree... "no bugs" at least is not an expectation too high. And I think it's also completely reasonable to expect not just similar but better capabilities when a customer goes through the large hassle of upgrading the user interface. If someone wants to use the Modern UI--and I do!--they shouldn't be forced to use an inferior set of web parts. I know that MS is developing in an iterative pace nowadays, but these sites are now production, and the HC web part has been out for years. We need a faster cadence on the most important capabilities that are still missing in the Modern UI. The promise of SharePoint used to be that a power user with little or no development background could still use SharePoint to make amazing things. I don't see that being the reality yet in the Modern UI, forcing many to continue to build sites on the more robust Classic UI.

Sorry Ali, but I agree with Brandon. The HCWP is extremely disappointing when compared with how robust and flexible the old CQWP was.I had no choice about going to Modern. Our local Microsoft reps came in all 'jazz hands' and told my decision makers to rebuild our intranet using Modern. If HCWP is intended for novice users, fine, but Microsoft also needs to have a CQWP equivalent for users who do understand how to use it to build more complex queries.

Hiainnani Thanks for your feedback. I don't know about Brandon Murray 's situation, but I certainly don't have the necessary access to go to templates to change the Highlighted content UI as you show in your blog post. I'm now not considered a 'developer' by my organisation, just a site administrator. Those in my organisation who do have 'developer' access are way to busy to do this kind of work for me. I just want Microsoft to provide a properly functional web part that works the same way as the old CQWP out of the box in the Modern Online environment. I.E. that you can create filters using both And (and) Or, and also group as well as sort the returned results.

Brandon Murray I agree. The highlighted content thing is crap. Microsoft has gone to great lengths to dumb down SharePoint to make it "easier", but ironically, a developer is needed more than ever! It's like a high school coding project done by students who failed the class.

So.... While I agree the Highlighted content web part doesn't compare to the CQWP it's meant to stay simple for normal users. For us power users and admin / dev types they built the spfx framework.Here you can find a equivalent CQWP spfx webpart that's pretty easy to deploy.https://github.com/SharePoint/sp-dev-fx-webparts/tree/master/samples/react-content-query-webpart

Brandon Murray

Brass Contributor

Oct 26, 2018

Very disappointed in the Highlighted Content web part

I'm trying to build a new, future-proof, and user-friendly intranet in SharePoint by solely using the Modern UI, but I'm getting really frustrated by the lack of robust web parts.

In particular, as a longtime Content Query and Content Search Web Part fan, I've been extremely let down by the Highlighted Content web part. I'm almost ready to throw in the towel and call it a lemon!

Here's a list of some of the ways the Highlighted Content web part has let me down over the past couple weeks:

Doesn't work with custom content types
Some content types are just buggy and don't work (I had to convert Contacts and Issues lists into standard Lists because they weren't showing up, but then of course the HC doesn't work with Lists either)
Filtering and sorting by managed properties doesn't work for some content types
Multiple filters can ONLY be strung together with OR logic, not AND... this absolutely boggles the mind
No custom display templates
Can't sort Tasks by the Due Date column, but you can by Created and Modified.... whaaaat?
A bug that I figured out a workaround for... If you want to filter Tasks by Assigned To = [Me], you have to choose Contains not Equals (but since you can't apply multiple filters, you can't remove completed Tasks from the query result)

Despite my intention to keep 100% to the Modern UI, limitations like those described here are still forcing me to deploy some pages as Classic. If the Highlighted Content web part is supposed to be the newer better version of the good ol' CQWP and CSWP, it's got a LOT of work to do. It's borderline unusable right now for all but a handful of scenarios, none of which I find particularly useful for building a real intranet.

I'd love to hear from Microsoft that they are aware of these issues and are working to address them...

Highlighted Content

SharePoint Online

18 Replies

Judi Stewart
Copper Contributor
Oct 14, 2020
Brandon Murray And when using the "From a document library on this site" option, content in nested subfolders isn't consistently surfaced as expected. I want to use the document library option because I want to filter on column-based metadata, but it does not return the full complement of content as shown if I use "From this site" with type "Documents" - anything in a sub-folder gets ignored 😞
Paul Shkurikhin
Copper Contributor
Jan 14, 2020
Try using the Navigator app as an alternative for the Highlighted Content web part. It gives you some easy configuration options, as well as embedded search and refiners. https://www.sharepointalist.com/products/navigator
Dave Heffernan
Copper Contributor
Dec 03, 2019
Hi Brandon,

Regarding the absence of "AND" filter logic, fully agree astonished this was left out. There is a Uservoice looking to rectify this below. Has a decent amount of votes so will hopefully be picked up soon.

https://office365.uservoice.com/forums/264636-general/suggestions/32071210-highlighted-content-web-part-allow-multiple-fil

Dave
Elena Nakhmanson
Copper Contributor
Nov 05, 2019
You can now use CAML or KQL query in the Highlighted Content web part, so filtering issues are solved: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/use-the-highlighted-content-web-part-e34199b0-ff1a-47fb-8f4d-dbcaed329efd
Chris_8020
Copper Contributor
May 20, 2019
Try this method
https://sharepoint8020.blogspot.com/2019/05/sharepoint-onlines-highlighted-content.html?m=1
Craig Giordano
Copper Contributor
May 03, 2019
Brandon Murray
I agree. The highlighted content thing is crap. Microsoft has gone to great lengths to dumb down SharePoint to make it "easier", but ironically, a developer is needed more than ever! It's like a high school coding project done by students who failed the class.
ainnani
Copper Contributor
Mar 19, 2019
Brandon Murray
I believe that highlighted content web part is one of the best web part that has the capability to aggregate the information from multiple site collections and render it in many different ways. You just have to know the tips and tricks. I have posted a blog on it

https://anandinnani.com/2019/03/19/sharepoint-online-change-highlighted-content-webpart/

Do comment and provide your feedbacks
ChrisWebbTech
MVP
Oct 26, 2018
So.... While I agree the Highlighted content web part doesn't compare to the CQWP it's meant to stay simple for normal users. For us power users and admin / dev types they built the spfx framework.

Here you can find a equivalent CQWP spfx webpart that's pretty easy to deploy.
https://github.com/SharePoint/sp-dev-fx-webparts/tree/master/samples/react-content-query-webpart
- Brandon Murray
  Brass Contributor
  Oct 26, 2018
  I tried that one a while ago and couldn’t get it to install. Anyway, the HC web part has a number of bugs in it that I would imagine would frustrate its intended audience, no matter how amateur they might be.
  - Ali Salih
    Iron Contributor
    Oct 27, 2018
    I think you might have set your expectations too high on this webpart, that may be the real source of your concern. That said, I'd still put in your points in the SharePoint uservoice in the webparts section.
    
    https://sharepoint.uservoice.com/forums/329214-sites-and-collaboration?category_id=203542

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Very disappointed in the Highlighted Content web part

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