The Official Word Amid the Tenant Chaos: Why Tagging SharePoint News Matters
From Background Buzz to Center Stage
Your SharePoint tenant is a bustling city. Every site is its own neighborhood, every news post a citizen with something to say. But like any city, not all voices are equal, and not every announcement deserves to be shouted from the rooftops. How do you ensure the CEO’s all-hands announcement (a.k.a. the important stuff) doesn’t get drowned out by the guy enthusiastically announcing free pizza in the breakroom? Enter the hero of our story: -OrgNewsSiteUrl.
What Exactly Does -OrgNewsSiteUrl Do?
In SharePoint, tagging a site with -OrgNewsSiteUrl elevates it to "Official News Source" status (each tenant can have up to 250 organization news sites ). But what does that actually mean?
Priority Placement: Posts from this site show up prominently in the Microsoft 365 news feeds across SharePoint, ensuring they’re front and center for everyone.
Visual Credibility: These news posts are adorned with a professional "Official News" label, giving them an air of authority and trustworthiness.
Tenant-Wide Reach: Official news isn’t confined to one site; it gets delivered tenant-wide, cutting through the noise of departmental chatter and niche updates.
Simply put, tagging news as official is like giving it a megaphone and a podium. Without it, your crucial company updates might get buried under Karen’s post about the coffee machine being out of order (again).
Run the following PowerShell command:
#Add a Site as an Official News Source
Set-SPOOrgNewsSite -OrgNewsSiteUrl "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/YourNewsSite"
# Verify the Site is Tagged as Official News
Get-SPOOrgNewsSite
# remove a site from the list of official news sources
Remove-SPOOrgNewsSite -OrgNewsSiteUrl "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/YourNewsSite"
Remember, You cannot tag individual posts as official; the designation applies to all news posts published from a specific site.
Internal Property Bags: Let’s take a step further ….
Now, let’s switch gears and talk about SharePoint’s internal property bag. Yes, it’s a geeky name. Yes, it’s hidden in the depths of PowerShell wizardry. But don’t let that deter you—this feature can make your life as an admin significantly easier if you embrace it.
Use the Set-PnPPropertyBagValue cmdlet to manage your property bag key-value pair:
# add or update a property bag key-value pair
Set-PnPPropertyBagValue -Key "YourPropertyKey" -Value "YourPropertyValue"
# list all property bag values for the site
Get-PnPPropertyBag
# Remove a property bag key-value pair
Remove-PnPPropertyBagValue -Key "YourPropertyKey"
Property bag in SharePoint is essentially a place to store key-value pairs—think of it as a digital filing cabinet for site-specific metadata. By using the property bag, you can for exemple :
Tag Sites for Easier Administration: Add custom tags like "OrgNewsSite" or "HighPrioritySite" to categorize and track your SharePoint sites effortlessly.
Streamline Workflows: Automate tasks based on these tags using scripts or Microsoft Flow (Power Automate, for the fancy new terminology).
Future-Proof Your Tenant: Prepare for the glorious day when Microsoft finally gives us a user-friendly GUI for property bags (we’re holding onto hope here).
Right now, property bags live in a secret cave, accessible only through a dimly lit tunnel marked "PowerShell." But imagine a world where property bags have a home in the SharePoint admin center. Need to add a tag? Want to see all your tagged sites? Just open a dashboard. Even better, imagine handing over administrative tasks to a new team member and not needing to explain, "Here’s a list of PowerShell scripts… good luck!"
A sleek, intuitive GUI interface would make property bags accessible to everyone, from seasoned admins to the occasional SharePoint tinkerer.
Alright, enough daydreaming—time to roll up our sleeves and get to work!
So go ahead, tag that site, wield that PowerShell, and dare to dream of a GUI-enabled future. Because when it comes to SharePoint, your voice deserves to be heard—loud, clear, and above the noise.