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Microsoft SharePoint Blog
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SharePoint Roadmap Pitstop: April 2023

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Mark-Kashman
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May 01, 2023

April showers once again brought May Features.

 

April 2022 brought some great new offerings: Project integration in Viva Goals, Viva Connections: Mobile SharePoint site navigation, improved Graph Connector content results, eDiscovery document version shared, Microsoft Lists: Applied filters, Microsoft Loop: .fluid > .loop, an updated files experience in Teams, Create pages and news in the SharePoint app bar, and more.

 

Details and screenshots below, including our audible companion: The Intrazone Roadmap Pitstop: April 2023 podcast episode – all to help answer, "What's rolling out now for SharePoint and related technologies into Microsoft 365?"

 

 

In the podcast episode, I chat with Ben Truelove (Twitter | LinkedIn), Principal Designer at Microsoft focused on Microsoft Lists. We spoke about recent user interface updates - narrowing in on the new experiences when working with and creating views + what was released this past month: Applied Filters - making it easier to see how you're seeing your information - nice updates all around.

 

Ben Truelove, Principal Designer (Microsoft) [Intrazone guest]

All features listed below began rolling out to Targeted Release customers in Microsoft 365 as of April 2023 (possibly early May 2023).

 

Inform and engage with dynamic employee experiences

Build your intelligent intranet on SharePoint in Microsoft 365 and get the benefits of investing in business outcomes – reducing IT and development costs, increasing business speed and agility, and up-leveling the dynamic, personalized, and welcoming nature of your intranet.

 

Project for the Web Integration in Viva Goals

Viva Goals, meet Project for the Web. Project for the Web, meet Viva Goals. Now tasks can ladder up and into your OKRs. Integrations in Viva Goals help save time and energy by automatically updating your key results and projects. Data flows from Project into Goals so that results and initiatives are up to date.

 

 

Microsoft Viva: Mobile SharePoint site navigation

This allows Viva connections mobile users to browse and reach SharePoint sites - both  hub site and regular site navigation in Viva Connections – aka, easy access to browse other sites, reducing overall friction. Viva Connections is your gateway to the overall employee experience - now more inclusive to the rest of your SharePoint-based intranet.

 

Graph Connector Content Results Experience Switches to Results Inline in All Vertical

You will soon see Graph Connector results merged inline in the All vertical on SharePoint (organization level) and Office.com. This means that your users will see Graph Connector results from their other apps & services seamlessly alongside Microsoft content -- instead of the current result cluster experience which is bound to a fixed place in the middle of the page.

 

Microsoft Search Graph connectors brings results from external sources together with all search results.

Also, this same experience Microsoft Graph connectors enables means you can accomplish the same results from Bing's 'All' tab -- holding true a common Search experience across browser, desktop, Bing, Microsoft 365 and more. If you have any concerns, please reach out to MicrosoftGraphConnectorsFeedback@service.microsoft.com.

  • Roadmap IDs: 115489 & 93336
  • Learn more. If you have any concerns, please reach out to MicrosoftGraphConnectorsFeedback@service.microsoft.com

 

eDiscovery (Premium) Records Management – Discover the document version that has been shared (GA)

To help meet regulatory obligations for retention and eDiscovery of shared content in your organization, eDiscovery (Premium) now supports the ability to discover the version of the document at the time that it was shared. This is facilitated by a new Records Management capability that enables you to automatically apply retention labels and retain the version of files shared as cloud attachments in email via Exchange and chat via Teams.

 

The following screenshot shows a cloud attachment document, named XYZ Research.docx, that was added to a review set. The document was shared as a cloud attachment in a Teams chat conversation.

The general release of this capability also includes support for file versions shared as hyperlinks within email or Teams messages.

 

Teamwork updates across SharePoint team sites, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams

Microsoft 365 is designed to be a universal toolkit for teamwork – to give you the right tools for the right task, along with common services to help you seamlessly work across applications. SharePoint is the intelligent content service that powers teamwork – to better collaborate on proposals, projects, and campaigns throughout your organization – with integration across Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, Yammer, Stream, Planner and much more.

 

Microsoft Lists: Applied filters

No more mystery about how your list is filtered. Microsoft Lists is rolling out a new way to visualize and clear the filters that are present in a view. As you add and adjust filters to narrow or expand what appears in the current list view, you'll now see which filters have been applied. And you can remove them, too - all without going back into the column filter pane. You do this now in the top-left portion of the list.

 

As you filter items across one or more columns, you'll see all applied filters appear in the upper-left above your list.

 

Microsoft Loop: Switching to new .loop extension file type

Not only do we here at The Intrazone want to keep you in the loop, we, too, want to let you know that Loop is becoming even more loopy as it adopts a new file suffix: .loop. Loop components and pages will switch from using the .fluid extension to the .loop extension, to align with the Microsoft Loop brand.

 

A Loop component in OneDrive, now has the .loop suffix to denote the Loop file type.

.loop, there it is!

 

 

New Files app experience in Teams

Securely store, organize, and collaborate on all your files anytime, from anywhere and across all of your devices with the new files app experience in Teams. The new files app brings a modern experience to all of your content from your chats, channels or meetings including any location from OneDrive or SharePoint.

 

New files app in Microsoft Teams.

Users can easily discover and locate files that are relevant right within the Teams app. This makes it possible to locate, share and collaborate with OneDrive files without leaving the Teams app and switching between various apps. An updated menu bar will help you navigate to your content quickly.

 

SharePoint: Create Pages and News from the SharePoint app bar

With this update, you will be able to start creating pages and news as an action from the SharePoint app bar. This means that no matter where you are in SharePoint, jump right in and starting creating and communicating -- staying in the flow of work.

 

Create SharePoint pages and news, and other content types, right from within the SharePoint app bar.

From the SharePoint app bar, select the Create button and then select an option from SharePoint News post or SharePoint page, right alongside existing ability to  create SharePoint sites, new Microsoft Lists or the Microsoft 365 app files - Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote), and more.

 

Related technology

Microsoft recognized as a Leader in Forrester Wave for *Content Platforms*

Learn how Microsoft can help you transform productivity and business processes, in what we offer: AI and content management in the flow of work. Our overall solution blends Microsoft Syntex, SharePoint, Microsoft Viva, and Microsoft Teams - compelling to adopt and pleased to be recognized by Forrester.

 

The Forrester Wave™: Content Platforms, Q1 2023 recognized Microsoft as a Leader.

Read | “Microsoft recognized as a Leader in Forrester Wave for Content Platforms” by Richard Riley.

 

Microsoft Viva Summit – (April 20, 2023)

The Viva Summit was filled both with feature updates and thought leadership sessions. Of most interest. The Summit introduced the concepts of Copilot in Viva – across the suite.

 

    • Copilot in Viva Goals simplifies goal setting by guiding leaders through the process of creating objectives and key results (OKRs) as well as simplifying goal management across the organization.
    • Copilot in Viva Engage helps leaders create compelling and inspiring posts from simple prompts or trending topics within workplace communities and storyline conversations.
    • Copilot in Viva Learning suggests curated learning collections and concise knowledge summaries tailored to specific roles or development needs—making it easier and more effortless for leaders to help skill and train the workforce.
    • Copilot in Viva Topics, employees can use a conversational interface to learn more about important topics as well as see related topics and projects.
    • Copilot in Answers helps users construct questions with the appropriate specificity and completeness as well as extracts the pertinent topics to help categorize the question.

 

One example screenshot: Copilot in Microsoft Viva Engage.

And the Viva team announced that Viva Glint will formally join the Viva Suite in July 2023. Additionally, we’re excited to share that Copilot will come to Viva Glint, helping to summarize and analyze thousands of employee comments and providing leaders with a fresh way to explore feedback by asking questions through natural language.

 

Reminder | SharePoint 2013 workflow retirement

Since the release of SharePoint workflows, Microsoft has evolved workflow orchestration to not only encompass SharePoint, but all the productivity services you use with Microsoft 365 and beyond. With the continued investment in Power Automate as the universal solution to workflow, Microsoft is retiring SharePoint 2013 workflows.

 

When this will happen:

  • Starting April 2nd, 2024, SharePoint 2013 workflows will be turned off for any newly created tenants.
  • Starting April 2nd, 2026, Microsoft will remove the ability to run, or create and execute SharePoint 2013 workflows for existing tenants.

 

If your organization still uses SharePoint 2013 workflows, they will no longer function after April 2nd, 2026. We recommend customers to move to Power Automate or other supported solutions.

 

Note: There will not be an option to extend SharePoint 2013 workflow beyond April 2nd 2026.

 

“The Service That SharePoint Built”

Ready for a little tech history fun? I partnered with two Microsoft MVPs: Sue Hanley as co-author, with beautiful illustrations by Rebecca Jackson. We published a cumulative evolutionary story for all - admins, end users, and devs… it's called: "The Service That SharePoint Built." It's a fun read built on the expanding app and platform nature of the evolution of SharePoint in and supporting Microsoft 365. There's a little something in there for everyone…

 

Give it a read when you have a little downtime: https://aka.ms/Story/BuiltBySharePoint. And don't miss the updated "History of SharePoint" timeline graphic… see how far back you go and let us know when your SharePoint journey started.

 

The "History of SharePoint" as represented in the parody story, "The Service That SharePoint Built."

 

May 2023 teasers

Psst, still here? Still scrolling the page looking for more roadmap goodness? If so, here is a few teasers of what’s to come to production next month…

 

  1. Teaser #1 | Microsoft Viva: Display connected topics on people profile cards [Roadmap ID: 88697]
  2. Teaser #2 | SharePoint Syntex: Image tagging [Roadmap ID: 88715]

… shhh, tell everyone.

 

Helpful, ongoing change management resources

  • Follow me to catch news and interesting SharePoint things: @mkashman; warning, occasional bad puns may fly in a tweet or two here and there.

Thanks for tuning in and/or reading this episode/blog of the Intrazone Roadmap Pitstop – April 2023. We are open to your feedback in comments below to hear how both the Roadmap Pitstop podcast episodes and blogs can be improved over time.

Engage with us. Ask those questions that haunt you. Push us where you want and need to get the best information and insights. We are here to put both our and your best change management foot forward.

 

Stay safe out there on the road’map ahead. And thanks for listening and reading.

 

Thanks for your time,

Mark Kashman – senior product manager (SharePoint/Lists) | Microsoft)

 

The Intrazone Roadmap Pitstop - April 2023 graphic showing some of the highlighted release features.

Updated May 01, 2023
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