55281: SharePoint Online Branding Training

The story of SharePoint alone is a complex one. SharePoint has a lengthy history with many versions hosted on local IT servers and global cloud services. This evolution from on-premises to the cloud has guided the visual appearance and functionality of SharePoint. So, understanding its history is essential for appreciating the diverse options for customising SharePoint’s interface.

In this module we will journey through the product’s rich history, leading us to understand the biggest impact on branding which was the move from the older classic user interface to the modern interface. You will also learn that although there are some changes that you can make in the web browser, you may also require a complement of free applications to aid your efforts.

Lessons

History of branding in SharePoint

What is SharePoint?

How was SharePoint branded in the past?

Publishing sites and master pages

SharePoint Designer

Live SharePoint publishing sites

SharePoint’s journey to the cloud

A change in best practices

Modern vs Classic

What tools may you need?

Understanding your company branding

Lab 1: Setting up SharePoint

Create a communication site

Create a team site

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Recognize classic and modern SharePoint interfaces.

Understand the difference between on-premises and cloud versions of SharePoint.

Be aware of legacy techniques and why they are not valid in SharePoint Online modern sites.

Know which tools are required and which are optional for branding SharePoint Online.

In this module, our focus is on out-of-the-box updates in SharePoint Online for those with branding in mind. When we refer to out-of-the-box, we are talking about the menus and options available within the product for making changes without relying on additional tools. These range from local changes that impact your site to hub sites which allow your changes to impact all sites connected to the hub. Not only that, we can also make changes in the admin center of your Office 365 tenant, to implement an organisation brand.

Lessons

Upgrading from classic to modern

Changing themes in team and communication sites

Adding site logos

Headers

Mega menus and cascading menus

Background images

Footers

Deploying themes with hub sites

Setting up hub sites

Connecting to hub sites

Set up an organizational custom theme

Lab 1: Customise a modern site

Set up a hub site hierarchy

Customize your hub site theme

Build your hub site navigation

Associate a team site with the hub site

Update an organizational theme

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Customize themes, headers, footers, logos, and other site aesthetics.

Understand how hub sites can be used for branding.

Connect sites to a hub site.

Be aware of best practices for customizing the look and feel of a site.

Deploy an organizational custom theme for the Office 365 navigation bar.

In our previous module, we explored elements of a SharePoint Online site that could be customized without the need for additional tools. Although there was an array of settings that customize the theme and navigation for your site, we could not pick specific colours. We were only able to select from 12 available colours, which may not align to your branding.

In this module, we will be showcasing the tools that can be used to customize the branding of a SharePoint site even further. Again, our focus is on the modern features in SharePoint, and we will be using SharePoint Designer 2013, the SharePoint Online Management Shell and Site Designs to customise SharePoint and propagate these changes.

Lessons

Using SharePoint Designer with modern pages

SharePoint Designer 2013 prerequisites

Navigating SharePoint Designer

Connecting to Sites and Pages

Updating modern pages

Using the theme designer

An overview of the theme designer

Exporting your new theme

Deploying themes using PowerShell

Connect to SharePoint and sign in

Deploying and removing a custom theme

Applying themes with Site Designs

Lab 1: Design a custom theme

Create a new custom theme

Connect to SharePoint and sign in (using the SharePoint Online Management Shell)

Deploy your new theme

Switch to your new theme

Implement a Site design

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Know how to use SharePoint Designer 2013 to update modern page layouts.

Generate a new custom theme using the Fluent UI theme designer.

Use the SharePoint Online Management Shell to deploy a custom theme.

Be able to use Site Designs to deploy your custom theme to new and existing sites.

In our last module, we will be focusing on how our branding can be applied to the working areas of SharePoint, lists, and libraries, known collectively as apps. Although your site theme will brand these apps, there are further methods that can be used to conditionally colour code content in an app and even brand their data input forms.

Lessons

Introducing JSON to lists and libraries

Using design mode

How to apply formatting to columns

Format choices

Conditional formatting

Format views

Using branding with formatting

Using advanced mode

Sample JSON code segments

Schemas and branding

Create clickable actions

How to add icons

Customizing people and hover cards

Further samples

Using Power Apps in lists and libraries

Create a new form

Brandable elements

Removing a custom form

Lab 1: Format lists and use Power Apps with forms

Create a list based on a spreadsheet

Apply row formatting to a list

Add column formatting

Add a custom form in Power Apps

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Implement formatting against columns and rows in lists and libraries.

Be aware of the design mode and advanced mode formatting editors.

Know where to go for additional support and resources for editing JSON.

Understand the role of Power Apps in customizing SharePoint lists and library forms.