Office 2016: Outlook My Templates

Ben Prins Geen categorie, SharePoint

Today I want to briefly talk about the My Template feature in Outlook. This  great add-in makes it very easy to create simple templates for emails. I used the old way (see below) but this was not very user-friendly. With the new feature you can create and use simple templates with a very user-friendly  interface. The major difference is that we cannot add images in these templates, perhaps this well be added in the future.

Create a template

  1. Create a new email.
  2. Click on View templates
  3. Click on + Template
  4. Type the information for the template and save the template

Use a Template

  1. Create a new email.
  2. Click on View templates and select the template
  3. If needed add more information and send the email

Old way: Create a Template

  1. Create a new email.
  2. Type the information for the template (e.g., all the standard information).
  3. Click File and choose Save as.  Specify the template File name and Save as file type Outlook Template (.oft).  Be sure to save it in the default location for Microsoft Templates.
  4. Close the email and do not save it when prompted.

Old way: Use a Template

  1. Choose New Items | More Items | Choose Form.
  2. In the Look In: box, select User Templates in File System
  3. Select the form you wish to use and click Open
  4. You can now type the needed information and click Send.

SharePoint: Hub sites new in Office 365

Ben Prins SharePoint

Today at Ignite 2017, we (Microsoft) announced SharePoint hub sites, a new building block of the intranet, to bring together related sites to roll up news and activity, to simplify search, and to create cohesion with shared navigation and look-and-feel.   The digital workplace is dynamic and ever changing. Busi…

Source: SharePoint hub sites new in Office 365

With the new hub sites in Office 365 we can roll up all related team and communication sites in one location. This will provide the users with focused entry points to find everything about a topic. Even if the information is located on different sites. For every team and communication site we set the related hub site and if needed be change it. The hub site will show activities and information from all related sites and provide the user with a powerful search scope to search within all related sites. A faster and easier way for users to find what they need.

A big upside of using hub site is during a transformation of a company. Simply change the association for a site and it is ‘migrated’ to the new hub. No complicated migration process is required.

Office 365: PowerApps Examples of often used formula

Ben Prins SharePoint

Microsoft PowerApps is part of Office 365 and provides users the ability to create and use mobile apps that are connect to data within and even outside of Office 365. PowerApps is a very powerful tool to help users on a day by day basis to do more, faster and easier. Every user can create basic PowerApps that can be used within in minutes, but the best Apps need a bit of customization.

PowerApps uses formulas, similar to Excel formulas, to create the desired behavior, design and interactions. In this blogpost I will share a couple of very useful customization, which we will be using quick often.

Search in a gallery

The default solution for search is that the value entered in the search box will search in the title field of the data in the gallery. This will already work when you created the PowerApp based on a SharePoint list

  1. Insert a Text input element
  2. Set the hint text to Search for items
  3. Set the default value to blank
  4. Set the Items property of the gallery to 
    Filter([Name of datasource], StartsWith(Title, TextSearchBox1.Text)
  5. The complete default code with sort funtion on the title field is as follows. You can use this if you have a button called SortDescending1.
    SortByColumns(Filter([Name of datasource], StartsWith(Title, TextSearchBox2.Text)), “Title”, If(SortDescending1, Descending, Ascending))

Search on multiple fields

For searching on multiple fields it is easier to use the search function than the filter function. It is possible to do it with the filter function but it will become a very long and complicated formula.

  1. Insert a Text input element
  2. Set the hint text to Search for items
  3. Set the default value to blank
  4. The syntax of searching on multiple field is as follows
    Search( Table, SearchString, Column1 , Column2, … )
  5. Set the Items property of the gallery to 
     Search(Tabel1_1, TextSearchBox1.Text, Title, Description)

Filter a gallery

Many PowerApp will use filters to provide users with a fast way to find the required data.

  1. Insert a Drop down control
  2. Name the drop down ddStatusFilters
  3. Connect the drop down to the status options, I will connect it to a collection called StatusFilters
  4. Create a collection called StatusFilters, that will be created on the Onvisible property of the screen
    ClearCollect(StatusFilters,{Status:”New”},{Status:”Approved”},{Status:”Rejected”})
  5. Set the Items property of the drop down to
    StatusFilters
  6. Set the Items property of the gallery to
    Filter([Name of datasource], ddStatusFilters.Selected.Value = Status)

Filter and search combined

  1. Create a search control and a filter control, see examples Search in a gallery and Filter a gallery
  2. Change the Items property of the gallery to
    Filter(SpecialistRequests, ddStatusFilters.Selected.Value in Status || TextSearchBox1.Text in Title)
  3. This will filter the status field on the selected filter in the drop down and filter the title field on the text in the search box.

Hide fields based on a condition

Field can be hidden based on a condition, this will help you make the form of a app more dynamic and easier to use. In this example we will hide the comment field if the status is new.

  1. Open the EditForm
  2. Change the Visible property of the Comment field to
    StatusDataCardValue.Text<>”New”
  3. StatusDataCardValue is the name my DataCardValue assosiated with the Status field.

Office 365: Microsoft StaffHub

Ben Prins SharePoint

Microsoft StaffHub is a tool within Office 365 and you can start using it for your planning. Microsoft StaffHub is a cloud-based platform that works across all your devices. It enables firstline workers and their managers to manage time, communicate with their teams, and share content. The tool give you an easy and straight forward solution to created shifts for different groups and inform them what to do. You can create shift, request vacation or request shift swaps, communcate with the team and all by using the mobile phone!

Create shifts

Export to PFD or Excel

Requests

Communicate

Assign tasks

Add file or URL

 

SharePoint: Add a web part to a page layout

Ben Prins SharePoint

When customizing SharePoint we often create our own page layouts for solutions like news, events or information pages. In some cases I add a web part to the page layout. Adding web parts to a page layout when you use your own editor (not SharePoint Designer) can be a bit difficult if you don’t know all the coding details. To make live a bit more easy I use the following steps.

Solution

The solution consist of two parts creating the required web part and adding it to a page layout, three if you us another editor than SharePoint Designer.

Creating the web part

  • Add the required web part to a test page
  • Configure the web part as required
  • Export the web part to your local computer
  • Upload the web part into the web part (galery), located on the site collection settings

Page layout

  • Open SharePoint Designer and open the site collection where you uploaded the web part
  • Create a new page layout or edit an existing page layout
  • Go to the location where you want to add the web part
  • Click on Insert, then web parts and select the required web part

Another editor

  • Open the page layout in your editor
  • Copy the web part code from SharePoint Designer and paste it into your editor of choice