News

Microsoft Readying Previews of New SharePoint Online WebParts

Office 365 subscribers will begin seeing previews of new and updated SharePoint Online WebParts in about two weeks' time, according to Microsoft.

WebParts are components that end users can insert into SharePoint pages using a graphical user interface. In a Monday announcement, Microsoft described some upcoming WebParts, including Planner, Office 365 Connectors, Kindle Instant Preview and Twitter.

The new Planner WebPart can be added to any page or news article, showing the overall status of a project along with the progress of individual team members in a graphical display.

Office 365 Connectors WebParts let users connect to information from outside sources. For instance, it's possible to connect to services from "Asana, Bitbucket, Jira, GitHub, Stack Overflow and more," according to the announcement, although these Connectors are "only available for use within group-connected SharePoint team sites."

The Kindle Instant Preview WebPart lets users place links to previews of books for access by Amazon Kindle e-readers.

The Twitter WebPart permits the embedding of Twitter feed links.

Microsoft also plans to update its Power BI WebPart, permitting interactive reports to be added. It's also planning to update the Image WebPart with the ability to automatically suggest "alt-text" metadata tags for use with inserted images.

The arrival of these new and updated WebPart test versions is somewhat ambiguous. Microsoft described a rollout to "Targeted Release" subscribers (meaning those who get test releases) in this way:

New and updated web parts will begin to roll out to Targeted Release customers two weeks from the time of posting and will be completed within 3-4 weeks. We are targeting end of February 2018 for complete worldwide roll out.

That description seems to mean that Office 365 subscribers to SharePoint Online test releases will see the changes at the end of this month or sometime in March.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

Featured

  • Report: Cost, Sustainability Drive DaaS Adoption Beyond Remote Work

    Gartner's 2025 Magic Quadrant for Desktop as a Service reveals that while secure remote access remains a key driver of DaaS adoption, a growing number of deployments now focus on broader efficiency goals.

  • Windows 365 Reserve, Microsoft's Cloud PC Rental Service, Hits Preview

    Microsoft has launched a limited public preview of its new "Windows 365 Reserve" service, which lets organizations rent cloud PC instances in the event their Windows devices are stolen, lost or damaged.

  • Hands-On AI Skills Now Outshine Certs in Salary Stakes

    For AI-related roles, employers are prioritizing verifiable, hands-on abilities over framed certificates -- and they're paying a premium for it.

  • Roadblocks in Enterprise AI: Data and Skills Shortfalls Could Cost Millions

    Businesses risk losing up to $87 million a year if they fail to catch up with AI innovation, according to the Couchbase FY 2026 CIO AI Survey released this month.