Hands-On | October 2024 Updates

Dear readers,

It feels like I just sent out the last one issue of the newsletter. October zipped by, packed with announcements and new features for Microsoft 365. I haven’t had the chance to cover everything yet, but stay tuned—there’s a lot more coming as we wrap up 2024.

While most people make big plans and changes in January, I’ve always preferred doing that at the beginning of the fall season. For me, fall has always been about new beginnings, from starting a new school year to the excitement of a new basketball season. This year, I’m shaking things up a bit. Along with sharing my own content, I’ll be diving into new features and highlighting awesome stuff from other members of our community.

I hope you enjoy this edition! Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome, so don’t hesitate to reach out.

Hands-On SharePoint

Exciting news for SharePoint users! There’s a new feature that lets you remove the banner and page title from your SharePoint pages. Previously, all SharePoint pages (except the home page) had a page title in the banner section. While it was possible to remove it using a workaround to change the page layout, this is no longer necessary thanks to a recent update to the banner web part.

Now, removing the page title and banner is a breeze. You don’t need to mess around with PowerShell, browser extensions, or custom solutions anymore. This update simplifies the process and gives you more control over the look and feel of your pages.

• How to Hide the Page Title in a Modern SharePoint Page

For those of you who remember the classic SharePoint days, you’ll recall that sites used to feature both vertical and horizontal navigation. I spent quite a bit of time customizing these, including creating a collapsible menu for vertical navigation. Ah, the nostalgia!

I’ve built a way to bring some of those old vibes to modern SharePoint communication sites. You can use the Site Pages library to create a collapsible menu for your pages, which can be used as a template. The best part? We’ll do this using just standard SharePoint components—no fancy tricks needed. You’ll be surprised at how simple it is to implement this solution and how it can transform your site’s navigation.

• How to Create a Custom Vertical Navigation for SharePoint Pages

To close out the month, I’ve compiled all the latest announcements and updates for SharePoint and related technologies from the Microsoft Admin Center and the Microsoft Roadmap. One feature that really stood out to me was the new SharePoint desing ideas that will soon land in our tenants.

Hands-On Teams

Big news for Microsoft Teams users! Microsoft is rolling out a major update that introduces a new chat and channels experience, making it easier to manage conversations across different locations. This update, which excludes Education tenants, will be gradually rolled out from mid-November 2024 to late April 2025, depending on the release phase and user group. Users will be able to customize their chat and channels view, and the best part is, no admin action is required for the rollout.

Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll get with this new update:

• Stay on top of all your conversations in one place
• Organize chats and channels in sections
• Get to your unreads and @mentions quickly

I haven’t covered this feature yet on my Microsoft Teams blog, but stay tuned! I’ll be diving into this update in the upcoming weeks to explore what it means for your Microsoft Teams user experience. You won’t want to miss it!

• The new streamlined Chat and Channels experience

As usual, each month, I publish a recap post about what’s new for Microsoft Viva, the Microsoft Employee Experience platform.

Hands-On tek

Microsoft has just launched Copilot on WhatsApp. Yes, you read that right—you can now chat with the Microsoft AI assistant directly from your favorite messaging app. This exciting addition is perfect for new users who have never tried an AI assistant before, offering an easy and familiar way to start interacting with AI.

If you’re a Telegram user, you’ll be able to use Copilot there as well, although it’s still in beta. This month, I covered how to start using Copilot on both platforms, so be sure to check it out and get started with these powerful new tools.

• Microsoft Copilot Now Available on WhatsApp!
• Microsoft Copilot is Now Available on Telegram!

As usual, I’ve gathered all the latest releases and announcements from Microsoft for Copilot. May was a busy month, especially with updates to Viva Insights with dashboards about Copilot usage.

From the Community

Starting this month, I’ll be using this space to shout out community updates and posts that catch my eye and that I think you’ll all benefit from.

First up, Federico Sapia has built an amazing solution for managing projects using Microsoft Lists. With stunning view formatting and by exploring lesser-known concepts of Lists, he has created a real solution where a project manager can easily track and monitor the status of each feature. If Microsoft Planner is too much for your needs, you should definitely check out Federico’s solution. He has put together a step-by-step guide that will help you implement this solution seamlessly.

• Keep track of tasks and workloads with Microsoft Lists

Kat Norton , also known as Miss Excel , has a unique style of teaching Excel through short and effective videos that help users become more productive and master spreadsheets. Later this month, on November 14 and November 15, she is delivering a free class titled “Excel 101: Mastering the Basics”.

So if Excel feels like a foreign language and you’re navigating it with the grace of a fish out of water, don’t miss your chance to join this free live class. It’s a fantastic opportunity to learn from one of the best in the field!

• Sign Up - Excel 101: Mastering the Basics

Events and Public Speaking

I’m thrilled to announce that later this year, I’ll be speaking at the European SharePoint Conference, this time in Sweden. This time, I’m delivering two sessions on Tuesday, December 3rd. The first session targets SharePoint users who want to get more out of Viva Connections without needing to code. The second session, which I’ll be delivering with my wife, who is also a Microsoft tech-savvy, will explain how the tools we use every day can help us manage our lives.

Don’t miss the chance to attend the largest Microsoft 365 conference in Europe.

• ESPC Conference - Achieve More with Microsoft 365

See you next month ??

I hope that you have found the content to be informative and engaging. I am committed to keeping you updated with the latest trends and developments in technology and productivity. To stay connected and ensure that you don't miss any updates, I encourage you to follow me on social media.

Thank you for your continued support, and I look forward to connecting with you soon. ??

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