Forum Discussion
Turn Root Site Collection into Communication Site
Not out of the box, but I found this post online that makes it look like there is a hacky way to do it (that I probably still wouldn't do): https://hangconsult.com/2017/06/29/change-sharepoint-online-root-site-collection-to-use-the-new-communication-site-template/. It seems like this would introduce some risk to your "go forward" architecture. I feel like it would be better to create a Comm Site that you use as your "home" site and then see where things shake out with concepts like enterprise news publishing. I'd hate to hack my way in to an architectural decision and then learn later on that it locks me out of future capabilities.
14 Replies
Kiki ShuxteauMicrosoft
Dean_Gross Yes, the feature is available now to turn existing classic team site into a communication site. The release will come in May. See Message Center Posting: MC179211. A few things to be aware:
1) you need use powershell to convert the root site
2) the root site has to be a classic site, with no publishing features turned on
3) The release is still in the process of rolling out as of today, your tenant may not have the release yet.
Kiki Shuxteau thanks for the heads up. I'm a little lost for words as we've been waiting for this for a long time, only to be thwarted by the Publishing feature limitation! I'd imagine the vast majority of organisations wanting to use this are running a root site collection with the publishing features turned on as they're using it as the primary intranet! Do you know if there's a plan to remove this limitation? Just to expand on the limitation, it's not just that the publishing features are turned on, it's if they've been enabled in the past too - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/sharepoint-online/Enable-SPOCommSite?view=sharepoint-ps#notes
- There is a miscommunication in that article that needs to be fixed. “In the past” isn’t what we have received from program group directly as mandatory requirements. I think lost in translation type of thing going on there.
In short make sure the feature isn’t on at any level in the hierarchy, and you are fine.
- I wanted to bump this thread and complete the circle. During Ignite 2018, this functionality has been announced. It is coming soon. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-SharePoint-Blog/Build-your-modern-intranet-with-SharePoint-in-Office-365/ba-p/255453
What if you cannot delete the root? I have a classic root that is gov't controlled so how do I do a redirect to a communication site that is instant? No client side script I have found will do that and the meta tags are laggards. I have a Powershell I need to try and run as well:
https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/248101/redirect-from-the-root-home-to-a-collaboration-site-home-in-sp-online
There's a https://sharepoint.uservoice.com/forums/329214-sites-and-collaboration/suggestions/20308864-set-communication-site-as-root-site-collection for this. Please can I encourage as many people as possible to cast their vote for this feature to bump it up the the agenda with the Microsoft Developers https://sharepoint.uservoice.com/forums/329214-sites-and-collaboration/suggestions/20308864-set-communication-site-as-root-site-collection This is a really important feature for many of us who want to embrace the new Communication sites.
- Yes this is a request that I believe would make transitioning to modern an easier experience for tenants that are already established and using the root site collection as a primary communication landing page currently. Vote it up!
- does deleting the root site break the SharePoint app launcher button, which currently links to https://<tenant>.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/sharepoint.aspx ?
Not out of the box, but I found this post online that makes it look like there is a hacky way to do it (that I probably still wouldn't do): https://hangconsult.com/2017/06/29/change-sharepoint-online-root-site-collection-to-use-the-new-communication-site-template/. It seems like this would introduce some risk to your "go forward" architecture. I feel like it would be better to create a Comm Site that you use as your "home" site and then see where things shake out with concepts like enterprise news publishing. I'd hate to hack my way in to an architectural decision and then learn later on that it locks me out of future capabilities.
I kinda like the hackey method. Very creative lol.
Thanks, I agree with your assessment of that approach, the line " delete your root site collection | then create a new one" seems like a very risk move to me.
My customer does not really have any reason to use the default root site and they would like to keep people from inadvertently landing on it. Do you have any recommendations to ensure that users always get redirected to the desired Comm Site?
Can you just that site to the Featured Links area?
