THE VIVA CONVERSATIONS WEB PART

It displays feeds such as community discussions, user-specific posts, or topic-tagged content, with rich media previews and interactive elements. Note that it requires a modern SharePoint page and works best on sites using the original Microsoft domain (e.g., contoso.onmicrosoft.com); vanity domains may not be supported. As of June 1, 2025, classic Viva Engage feeds in SharePoint must be migrated to this web part to avoid breakage.

Benefits of Integrating Viva

Engage Conversations into SharePoint enhances collaboration and engagement in several ways:

• Seamless User Experience: Users can like, comment, reply, and start discussions directly on the SharePoint page, reducing context-switching and keeping workflows in one place. This is particularly useful for intranets, knowledge bases, or team sites where quick Q&A or feedback is needed.
• Enhanced Interactivity: Supports rich post types like polls, praise posts, and questions with visual treatments, GIFs, files, and videos (though some mobile limitations apply). Administrators can pin, close, or highlight conversations inline.
• Improved Engagement and Discoverability: Displays relevant home feeds or targeted content (e.g., from specific communities or topics), fostering community building around leadership updates, HR topics, or departmental news. It promotes knowledge sharing, such as in Q&A formats for troubleshooting articles.
• Modern and Visual Appeal: Features an interactive, visually compelling design with media previews, making pages more dynamic compared to classic embeds. It helps replace outdated comments sections with social, threaded discussions.
• Administrative Efficiency: Easy migration from legacy tools, with no data loss, and supports personalization for viewers (e.g., filtering by user or topic).

Potential limitations include occasional loading issues (e.g., delays in showing latest posts or topic filters failing post-publish), mobile restrictions on certain actions, and no support for external users.

How to Use It - Add and configure the Viva Engage Conversations web part, you need site member permissions (or higher) and a modern SharePoint page. Here's a step-by-step guide:

1. Navigate to Your SharePoint Site:
   1. Go to the SharePoint site where you want to embed the web part. Ensure it's a modern experience (not classic).
2. Create or Edit a Page:
   • For a new page: Select New > Page to create a modern page.
   • For an existing page: Open the page and click Edit in the top-right corner.
3. Add the Web Part:
   • Click the + icon in a section of the page (or under an existing web part) to open the web part gallery.
   • Search for "Viva Engage" or scroll to the Feeds section.
   • Select Viva Engage > Conversations (avoid the Highlights variant unless you want a summary view of recent/popular posts).
4. Configure the Web Part:
   • Source Selection: Choose the feed type:
     • Community: Enter the URL of a specific Viva Engage group/community (e.g., from the group's Viva Engage page).
     • User: Enter a user's Viva Engage profile URL to show their posts.
     • Topic: Enter a topic hashtag (e.g., #EmployeeOnboarding) to filter conversations.
     • Home Feed: Displays a relevant, personalized feed across communities.
   • Layout Options: Select Feed for full conversations (default) or Highlights for a curated overview of recent/popular posts.
   • Advanced Settings: Adjust height, enable/disable reactions, or set permissions if needed. Preview the content to ensure it loads correctly.
   • Click Republish or Publish to save changes.
5. Interact with the Web Part:
   • View and Engage: Users see threaded posts with likes, replies, and media. They can post new content (e.g., text, polls) using the composer box at the top.
   • Admin Actions: If you're a community manager, use options to pin, close, or mark best answers directly in the web part.
   • Troubleshooting: If the "New post" box doesn't appear or posts don't load (common issues as of late 2025), try recreating the web part on a new page, check for service incidents in the Microsoft 365 admin center, or ensure third-party cookies are enabled. For topic filters, test in edit mode before publishing.