Office 365 Customers Can Now Begin Using SharePoint Communication Sites

Last month during the SharePoint Virtual Summit Microsoft announced a new service for SharePoint users called Communication Sites.

They are very similar to team based sites in SharePoint except these new Communication Sites are intended to reach a wider audience instead of a handful of team members.

According to Microsoft these new sites can be used for company wide information such as product launches, events, and status updates to name a few options.

The new feature is now available to customers participating in the Office 365 First Release program and will become generally available to all eligible Office 365 subscribers worldwide in the coming months.

SharePoint Communication Sites have three templates to get you started:

-- Topic: Select the Topic design when you have a lot of information to share, such as news, events and other content.

-- Showcase: Use the Showcase design to feature a product, team or event using photos or images.

-- Blank: Start with a blank site and make your design come to life quickly and easily.

Once you have your template started you can start adding information, images, and other content to build out the site. The pages have full-width layouts, enhanced titles and custom header images and allow comments on pages with an ability to share items via email.

Information on these sites can also be pulled in dynamically from the Power BI and Microsoft Stream services in use by the company.

Microsoft has posted tutorials for creating a communication site in Office 365, adding a page and working with column layouts.

These new sites are also accessible in the SharePoint apps on iOS, Android, and Windows 10 Mobile.

You can read more about these new tools at the Microsoft Tech Community.

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