Teams, SharePoint, Viva Engage - which to use for dept comms?
I lead a 300‑person department, and I’m looking for guidance on the best Microsoft tool(s) to improve employee engagement and awareness across our organization. Right now, most of our communication happens in Microsoft Teams (channel posts, group chats), but we have dozens of channels and each group has its own space, which makes it hard to share department‑wide news, cascade annual strategic initiatives, report monthly progress, and celebrate wins or employee recognition. We don’t currently have any SharePoint sites built out, and we’re not using Viva Engage or communities. For those who’ve tackled similar challenges: Which Microsoft tools or combinations have worked best for broad communication, engagement, and consistent messaging across a large department? I’d love to hear what’s been effective for you. Thanks in advance for any insights!
Images in channel's Sharepoint storage not rendering in teams adaptive cards
Hello, we are trying to display images stored in Sharepoint in a teams adaptive card. The image will not display until the user has clicked on the 'files' tab for the channel. It returns with a 401, so Im guessing this initiates some kind of auth process. When they click on the files tab and return to the messages, the images are rendered as expected. We need to have security around our images, so we don't want to store them in another setting that might not have team-level authorization. Is there any way to make the sharepoint images show without clicking on the files tab first, such as triggering the sharepoint auth process programmatically? This is the image url format we are using: https://myaccount.sharepoint.com/sites/DefaultDirectory/Shared%20Documents%2FGeneral%2Fmy-notifications/2023-12-06T20.png The other issue is that Sharepoint images do not display in 'New Teams' at all. Is this a known issue with New Teams? Thank you for your help. Daniel
Teams not linking to document library
When creating a new teams you also create an associated SharePoint site that serves as its document library. This library then gets linked under the files tab in the general channel. At least this is how it is supposed to be. Lately however this does not seem to work correctly anymore The teams and general channel are created correctly, the SharePoint site is also create correctly. The files tab however does no longer link to the correct sub-site on our SharePoint but to the general site who obviously is not a document library, We are temporarily using the work around with creating a new tab and linking to the correct library but this is not a good solution in the long run. I've tested this on different devices, in app and in browser in anonymous browser windows to exclude any client side errors. On the old teams who are working properly clicking on the files tabs send out a get request to the following url <organisation>.sharepoint.com/sites/<teamname>/_layouts/15/filebrowser.aspx?<querystring> On the newly created sited I am not longer getting a reference to which site it should go and we see a url like <organisation>.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/filebrowser.aspx?<querystring> This doesn't seem to be a fluke as we have tried it on different days, different machines with different accounts. The only thing we have in common is that the Teams admin role is managed trough PIM and has been requested just in time. Any help would be appreciated. The domain or root sharepoint have not been changed since it's creation many years agoIs there a way to put a link on the left side menu to open a URL in the default browser?
Is it possible to put a link on the left side menu that will load externally, ideally in the default web browser? We want to load SharePoint from Teams, but we're not sure about the UX... some links when clicked inside of SharePoint when hosted inside of Teams will launch a browser and others won't. Also, when switching between apps in Teams, they typically fully reload when you return, losing wherever you were in the app. We'd much prefer to kick out to the browser so the user can keep it open concurrently with the work they are doing in Teams. Thoughts? I've read this functionality did exist but was removed.
Integration of SharePoint/Lists, To Do/Planner, and Forms with Power Automate
Background: I'm an attorney with two legal assistants. I've found Teams is a great way to work with my assistants when I'm in court, etc. to get things done. But I want to take it to the "next level" because there are still a lot of gaps between what we are doing on Teams (tasks, approvals, communicating) and what we still do outside of Teams. Essentially, I want to bring a lot of those things outside of Teams into it so that we work smarter and not harder. Although I'm tech savvy, I'm by no means an expert or developer. Overview: Ultimately, I'd like to integrate SharePoint/Lists, To Do/Planner and Forms. My thought is that I could have one of my assistants do data entry through Forms (create/update) and then use Power Automate to create/update SharePoint/Lists and also create/update To Do/Planner tasks. I'd also like to keep a "Master Lists" in one Team where the Forms reside, and then present that information into different Teams by service so that I have one Team for one type of service, and another for a different type of service. "Master Lists" itself will have Lookup columns to relate data (client contact information, client matters, client tasks, etc.). After a lot of research, I find I can create Forms, create/update SharePoint/Lists based on Form entries and create/update To Do/Planner using Power Automate. One of the issues I'm encountering is taking that information and putting it into different Teams in a way that filters the services (so that Service A is in Team A, and Service B is in Team B, etc.). One of the reasons I want to have separate Teams for different services and not perform this in the "Master Lists" (which is in it's own Team) is because my assistants work on different services; additionally, I am relying on one assistant to do the main data entry of creating a client and populating information (the "Master Lists"), while the other one is just completing assigned tasks and updating information accordingly. I'm wondering whether I am on the right track for what I wish to accomplish. I'd like to be able to show client information in different Teams filtered on the service type so that I can keep things somewhat separate, and it'd be great that either of my assistants could update in those Teams accordingly rather than going back to the "Master Lists" I have. I don't want to keep creating new lists in each Team per my requirements if I can avoid it. Any advice or links to resources is greatly appreciated.Controlling 'Files' location
Hi All, I'm trying to put some controls around where users are saving files within Teams as those that are not direct members of a Team e.g. management, can not find a Teams files. An easy example would be having a number of projects running, each with their own Team. Within Teams, their files are only viewable via Teams, and only by those within the Project Teams. Conversely, we have a SharePoint Hub with multiple Project Teams sites, and we can better control who can see what...all in one location. We make good use of SharePoint and I want to make better use of Teams but currently only use it for the chat/calls elements. I see that we can add a new tab within Teams and point that to SharePoint, great!. However I want to force staff to use this new tab (with its link to a SharePoint Document library) rather than uploading content to 'Files'. I notice that we can change the 'Files' policy with 'NativeFileEntryPoints' so that we can use a "a third-party storage provider"...seems a shame we can use the one we already have i.e. SharePoint. I have to be missing something here...Is there no way to redirect the 'Files' tab to a preexisting SharePoint location or just turn off the File tab altogether without the other impacts of using the above i.e. blocking OneDrive at the same time. Thanks for any input.
SharePoint site built as Teams App opens all windows using browser instead of within Teams App
Hi, Need help. Problem: SharePoint Site (built as Teams app) opens all links outside Teams App using my default browser. This is the case for all links even those that are set up in SharePoint site to open in the same window. (Used this link to create the Teams App for the SharePoint site: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams/add-sharepoint-site-as-a-app-to-the-teams/m-p/2864482) Am I missing any requisite steps? NiezinkJF - tagging you as you may have answers for me. Thank you very much.
Files are duplicated when posting in a secure Teams channel
A couple of weeks ago my client's Teams started duplicating every file that I posted in a secure channel. That is, I'd write a post, attach a document that was already saved in a Teams folder (via the paperclip icon) and two things happen: 1. The file takes a while to attach as seen by a progress bar, as if it's uploading; and 2. It immediately creates a duplicate of the document into the parent SharePoint folder (that is, the top level secure channel folder). From there, I'll end up working in the original document I had saved in the sub-folder and everyone else who accesses the document via the Post, is using the new version in the parent-level folder. Ok, so I logged a ticket with my client's IT as they do have a very unusual set up for their whole Microsoft environment and to all of us this is a very new issue none of us has heard of before, so they logged a ticket with Microsoft. However, today I tested it in my tenant - and got exactly the same result! This is not a standalone issue - my tenant is set up completely differently to my client's and I suspect we are not even on the same type of business licence (they'd be on enterprise and I'm just a small business). Not only is this weird but we are going insane trying to keep track of the correct versions and archiving all the duplicates. Has anyone seen this? Any ideas on whether there is a new default setting or something happening on microsoft's end? And importantly, any idea how to fix this?Retrieving SharePoint Site Visitors Using PowerShell Script
I’m working on a PowerShell script to generate a report of Microsoft Teams details, including the owners, members, and SharePoint site visitors. While the script successfully retrieves most of the information, it fails to retrieve the site visitors, which I can clearly see in the SharePoint Admin Center. Issues: Site Visitors Not Retrieved: Despite having site visitors visible in the SharePoint Admin Center, the script returns "Error retrieving Visitors" or an empty string for site visitors. Potential Errors: I'm using a try-catch block to handle exceptions, but it seems like there are no errors being caught that could indicate why the visitors aren't being retrieved. What I’ve Tried: Ensured the SharePoint site URL is correct. Checked permissions and roles for the account running the script. Request: Could someone help identify what might be going wrong or suggest a different approach to reliably retrieve the list of SharePoint site visitors or any module I am missing on? I am using below modules with Powershell Runtime version 5.1. ExchangeOnlineManagement - Version 3.5.1 Get-MsolUserLicences - Version 0.0.8 Microsoft.Graph.Authentication - Version 2.20.0 Microsoft.Graph.Teams - Version 2.20.0 Microsoft.Graph.Users - Version 2.20.0 Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell - Version 16.0.25012.12000 MicrosoftTeams - Version 6.4.0 MSOnline - Version 1.1.183.81 PackageManagement - Version 1.4.8.1 PnP.PowerShell - Version 2.5.0 PowerShellGet - Version 2.2.5 SharePointPnPPowerShellOnline - Version 3.29.2101.0 Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for your help. Connect-MicrosoftTeams -Credential $UserCredential -AccountId $myCredential.UserName Connect-ExchangeOnline -Credential $UserCredential -ShowProgress $true Connect-SPOService -Url "https://domain-admin.sharepoint.com # Initialize an empty array to store the results $Result = @() # Get all Teams enabled groups $AllTeamsInOrg = Get-Team $Teamcount = $AllTeamsInOrg.Count foreach ($Team in $AllTeamsInOrg) { Write-Host "Processing Team $($Team.DisplayName) ..." -NoNewline -ForegroundColor Gray $TeamName = $Team.DisplayName $TeamGroupId = $Team.GroupId # Get team details $TeamOwner = (Get-TeamUser -GroupId $TeamGroupId -Role Owner).User $TeamUserCount = (Get-TeamUser -GroupId $TeamGroupId).Count $TeamGuest = (Get-TeamUser -GroupId $TeamGroupId -Role Guest).Name if ($TeamGuest -eq $null) { $TeamGuest = "No Guests in Team" } $TeamMembers = (Get-TeamUser -GroupId $TeamGroupId -Role Member).User $TeamChannels = (Get-TeamChannel -GroupId $TeamGroupId).DisplayName $ChannelCount = (Get-TeamChannel -GroupId $TeamGroupId).Count # Retrieve SharePoint site URL from the team $TeamGroup = Get-UnifiedGroup -Identity $TeamGroupId $SharePointSiteURL = $TeamGroup.SharePointSiteURL if ($SharePointSiteURL -ne $null) { try { # Get all SharePoint Online groups for the site $SiteGroups = Get-SPOSiteGroup -Site $SharePointSiteURL # Find the "Visitors" group and get its members $VisitorsGroup = $SiteGroups | Where-Object { $_.Title -eq "Visitors" } if ($VisitorsGroup) { $Visitors = Get-SPOSiteGroup -Site $SharePointSiteURL -Group $VisitorsGroup.Title | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Users $VisitorsEmails = $Visitors | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Email -join ", " $GroupsData += [pscustomobject]@{ 'Site URL' = $SharePointSiteURL 'Group Name' = $VisitorsGroup.Title 'Users' = $VisitorsEmails } } else { $GroupsData += [pscustomobject]@{ 'Site URL' = $SharePointSiteURL 'Group Name' = "Visitors" 'Users' = "No Visitors Group Found" } } } catch { Write-Host "Error processing site ${SharePointSiteURL}: $($_.Exception.Message)" -ForegroundColor Red $GroupsData += [pscustomobject]@{ 'Site URL' = $SharePointSiteURL 'Group Name' = "Visitors" 'Users' = "Access Denied or Error" } } } else { $GroupsData += [pscustomobject]@{ 'Site URL' = $SharePointSiteURL 'Group Name' = "Visitors" 'Users' = "No SharePoint Site URL" } } # Add team details to the $Result array $Result += [PSCustomObject]@{ TeamName = $TeamName TeamOwners = $TeamOwner -join ', ' TeamMemberCount = $TeamUserCount TeamMembers = $TeamMembers -join ', ' NoOfChannels = $ChannelCount ChannelNames = $TeamChannels -join ', ' SharePointSite = $SharePointSiteURL AccessType = $TeamGroup.AccessType TeamGuests = $TeamGuest -join ',' SharePointSiteVisitors = $SharePointSiteVisitors } Write-Host "done." -ForegroundColor Green }
