DEEP DIVE: SHAREPOINT NEWS & EVENTS WEB PARTS

SharePoint News and Events Web Parts

This document provides a comprehensive overview of the features, settings, and functionalities of the News web part and the Events web part in SharePoint.

It is designed for site owners, editors, and administrators to understand how to configure, customize, and utilize these web parts effectively.

News Web Part

The News web part allows you to display and manage news posts on SharePoint pages, keeping teams informed with announcements, updates, and stories that include rich formatting, images, and graphics. It supports dynamic content sourcing, layouts for visual appeal, and tools for prioritization and targeting.1.1 Introduction and Key Features

  • Purpose: Display a collection of news posts from various SharePoint sources to engage audiences with important or interesting content.
  • Core Functionalities: Create eye-catching posts (e.g., announcements, people news, status updates); customize sources, layouts, and filters; boost posts for visibility; target audiences; organize/pin posts; and integrate with organization news sites.
  • Availability: Works on team sites, communication sites, hub sites, and more. Default layouts vary by site type.
  • Limitations: In certain tenants (e.g., GCC High, DoD, 21Vianet), some source options are unavailable. The site pages library can have up to 12 lookup columns (including defaults) for certain sources.

  • Adding the News Web Part to a Page

    • Navigate to the SharePoint page and select Edit at the top right to enter edit mode.
    • Open the Toolbox (plus icon) on the page canvas.
    • Select See all web parts to view available options.
    • Search for or select the News web part and drag it onto the page canvas, or click to add it.
    • Once added, click the pencil icon (Edit properties) on the top left of the web part to open the property pane for configuration.
  • Configuring News Sources - In the property pane:
    • Source Options:
      • This site: Pulls posts only from the current site's pages library.
      • All sites in the hub: Aggregates from all sites connected to the hub (if the site is part of a hub).
      • Select sites: Choose up to multiple individual sites by searching or browsing categories like Sites associated with this hub, Frequent sites, or Recent sites.
      • Recommended for current user: Displays personalized posts based on the user's collaborations, managers, followed sites, and frequently visited sites.
  • Organization News Integration:
    • Posts from designated "organization news" sites (set by admins via PowerShell) appear with a color block on the title and are interleaved in SharePoint home feeds. In multi-geo tenants, configure per geo location.
    • Troubleshooting Tip: If using This site causes errors (e.g., due to exceeding lookup column limits from features like audience targeting), switch to Select sites and choose the current site.

News Layouts and Display Options - Layouts determine how news posts appear. Defaults depend on site type (e.g., Top story for team sites, Side-by-side for communication sites, Hub news for hub sites).

  • Available Layouts:
    • Top story: Features a large image with up to three additional stories below.
    • List: A single-column list of headlines (compact view available).
    • Side-by-side: Two-column layout for balanced display.
    • Hub news: Columns of stories with thumbnails and a sidebar of headlines.
    • Carousel: Large visuals with navigation buttons or pagination; supports automatic cycling.
    • Tiles: Grid of up to five items with thumbnails and headlines.
  • Configuration Steps:
    1. In the property pane, select the desired layout.
    2. Toggle Show title and commands to hide the web part title and See all link.
    3. Toggle Hide this web part if there's nothing to show to suppress display when no posts are available.
    4. For List, Carousel, or Tiles: Use the slider to set the Number of news items to show.
    5. For Carousel: Enable automatic cycling.
    6. Toggle Show compact view or Show compact view in narrow widths for image-free, space-saving display (useful for mobile or narrow sections).
  • 'See All' Experience: Clicking See all opens a refreshed mosaic grid layout for better hierarchy. Microsoft 365 Copilot users may see AI features like 'Listen to a news briefing'.

Organizing and Pinning Posts

  • Purpose: Pin posts to fixed positions for prominence, overriding chronological order.
  • Steps:
    • In the property pane, under Organize, select Select news to organize.
    • In the pane, search and drag recent posts from the left panel to numbered slots on the right.
    • Reorder using CTRL + up/down arrows.
    • Unpinned slots default to Automatic (newest first by publish date).
  • Notes: Pinned post details are visible to all users, but access requires permissions. Edits to posts don't change order unless reorganized.

Filtering Options

  • Filter By:
    • Title.
    • Recently added or changed.
    • Created by or modified by.
    • Page properties.
  • Limitation: Filtering is unavailable when the source is Recommended for current user (effective from September 10, 2022).

Audience Targeting

  • Purpose: Display news to specific Microsoft Entra groups (up to 50 per post).
  • Setup Steps:
    • Enable in the site's pages library: Go to Site contents > Pages library > Settings > Audience targeting settings > Check Enable audience targeting.
    • For each news post: Edit the post, add audiences in the Audience section, and save.
    • In the web part property pane, under Filter, toggle Enable audience targeting to ON.
  • Notes: Group changes may delay application. This adds a lookup column, potentially affecting source limits.

Boosting News Posts

  • Purpose: Prioritize visibility in feeds, digests, and web parts.
  • Steps: From the post, select Boost; set priority, audience, and duration.
  • Display: Boosted posts appear prominently in Viva Connections Feed, Top news cards, SharePoint app bar, auto news digests, and News web parts (select Boosted posts as source).
  • Admin Note: Limited to organization news sites.

Creating and Managing News Posts

  • Creation Methods:
    • From SharePoint Home: +Create news post > Select site.
    • From Web Part: + Add > Create post or add link.
  • Post Details: Add headline, image, web parts (text, images, video), and publish.
  • Adding via Link: Paste URL, add title, thumbnail (from recent, stock, organization assets, web search, OneDrive, site, upload, or link), and description.
  • Email Sharing: From post top, Send by email > Add recipients and message.
  • Management: View/manage in Pages library; delete via ellipses > Delete. Use See all or Manage posts for overview.
  • Tips: Posts order by publish date; use organizing to reorder. Enable CDN for better image performance.

Troubleshooting and Best Practices

  • Common Issues: Errors from lookup thresholds; posts not visible (check publish status, permissions, source).
  • Best Practices: Use organization assets for thumbnails; boost for key announcements; target audiences for relevance; monitor column limits.

Events Web Part

The Events web part enables the display of upcoming events on SharePoint pages, with options for sourcing from lists, sites, or hubs. It supports filtering by category and date, audience targeting, and basic layouts for compact or visual presentation.2.1 Introduction and Key Features

  • Purpose: Easily showcase upcoming events, including details like location, online links, categories, and descriptions.
  • Core Functionalities: Aggregate events from multiple sources; filter by category and date range; choose layouts; add/edit events directly; enable audience targeting; cache for performance.
  • Availability: Works on modern pages in SharePoint Online and Server editions. Supports up to 30 sites in Select sites.
  • Limitations: No recurring events (create separately or use Group calendar web part); not all multi-site events may display fully; features may vary by tenant.

Adding the Events Web Part to a Page

  • Enter edit mode on the page via Edit at the top right.
    • Open the Toolbox and select See all web parts.
    • Choose the Events web part and add it to the canvas.
    • Click the pencil icon (Edit properties) to configure.

Configuring Event Sources- In the property pane:

  • Source Options:
    • Events list on this site: Select or create a specific list (defaults to Calendar settings if new).
    • This site: Events from the current site.
    • This site collection: From the entire collection.
    • Select sites: Up to 30 sites (search or from Frequent/Recent; unavailable in some tenants/editions).
    • All sites: From every site.
    • Hub-Specific: If in a hub, choose All sites in the hub or Select sites from the hub.
  • Multi-Site Note: Events from multiple sites are aggregated, but display may be limited based on search indexing.

Filtering Options

  • Category: If the source list has categories, select one to filter (e.g., Meeting, Holiday; custom categories supported).
  • Date Range: Dropdown options include:
    • All upcoming events (default).
    • This week.
    • Next two weeks.
    • This month.
    • This quarter.
    • Custom range (not explicitly listed but implied for flexibility).
    • 'See All' Experience: Clicking See all opens the full events page in grid or carousel view (may switch based on filters). Edit events here or via Site contents.

Layouts and Display Options

  • Available Layouts:
    • Filmstrip: Visual, horizontal scrolling display.
    • Compact: Space-saving list without heavy visuals.
  • Configuration: Select in the property pane. Ideal for embedding upcoming events on pages (no full calendar views like monthly/weekly).

Audience Targeting

  • Purpose: Target events to specific groups for relevance.
  • Setup Steps:
    • Enable in the Events list: Site contents > Events > Settings > Audience targeting settings > Check Enable audience targeting.
    • For each event: Edit, add up to 50 audiences in the Audience section, save.
    • In web part property pane: Toggle Enable audience targeting to ON.
    • Republish the page.
  • Verification: Targeted events show a shared icon in edit mode.
  • Notes: Delays possible for new groups; republish required.

Adding and Editing Events

  • Adding:
    • On a published page, click Add event in the web part.
      • Enter Name, add optional Image.
      • Set Date and Time in "When".
      • Add Location (auto-adds map if recognized).
      • Enter Online Meeting Link and display name.
      • Select or add Category.
      • Add Description and Highlighted People (e.g., speakers).
      • Click Save.
  • Editing:
    • Via web part: See all > Select event > Edit.
    • Or: Site contents > Events list > Select event > Edit.
  • Notes: No recurring support; use separate events or alternative web parts like Group calendar for groups.

Caching for Performance

  • Group-Level Caching: Recommended for high-traffic pages.
  • Steps:
    1. Edit the page and web part.
    2. In property pane, under Group-level caching, enter security group names or emails.
    3. Republish.
  • How It Works: Caches results per group; falls back to search index if no cache hit.

Additional Integrations and Best Practices

  • Roll-Up Capabilities: Aggregate from multiple sites/lists for centralized views.
  • Alternatives: For full calendars, consider Group calendar web part (supports recurring events) or third-party apps.
  • Best Practices: Use categories for filtering; enable caching on popular pages; combine with maps for locations.
  • Troubleshooting: Events not showing? Check permissions, indexing, and source selection.

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