Office 365 Weekly Digest | August 26 – September 1, 2018
Welcome to the August 26 – September 1, 2018 edition of the Office 365 Weekly Digest.
Thirteen features were added to the Office 365 Roadmap last week, most related to SharePoint Online. One other feature for Office 365 Admin Center should be highlighted - customized admin roles will now be able to receive email notifications for Message Center and change other Message Center preferences, including email preferences for major updates and weekly digests. Note: there were numerous additions for Windows 10 on the public roadmap, but those are not included below.
The September Azure Active Directory webinars are now available for registration. The online customer immersion experiences are limited, with only a couple of sessions in late September.
Highlights from last week's blogs include a recap of what's new to Microsoft 365 in August 2018, artificial intelligence and machine learning integration with OneDrive and SharePoint content, new file template management for document library content types and significant updates to the SharePoint mobile app.
Wrapping up the post are noteworthy items on the latest updates for the Office 365 URLs and IP addresses, the summary from the Teams Ask Microsoft Anything session in early August, the August 2018 release details for Office 365 for Android, and a good reminder and overview about Microsoft Secure Score.
OFFICE 365 ROADMAP
Below are the items added to the Office 365 Roadmap last week:
| Feature ID | Title | Description | Status |
Added |
Estimated Release |
More Info |
| 33133 | SharePoint web parts: web part to web part connections | Let web parts talk to other web parts and your pages and experiences become more dynamic and interactive. You will be able to configure web parts to get their property values from other web parts, including updating those values based on selection state. | Launched |
08/29/2018 |
Q1 CY2019 |
n / a |
| 32752 | Project Online: Setting Permission Mode in Project Web App (PWA ) | Project Online offers two security management options for controlling the kind of access that users have to entities within PWA. This setting currently resides in the Office 365 tenant administration and will become available to Site Collection Admins within PWA server settings. | In development |
08/29/2018 |
September CY2018 |
n / a |
| 33054 | Office 365 Admin: Email notifications and other Message Center preferences for customized admin roles | Customized admin roles will now be able to receive email notifications for Message Center and change other Message Center preferences, including email preferences for major updates and weekly digests. These preferences can be accessed and modified within Message Center directly. | In development |
08/29/2018 |
September CY2018 |
n / a |
| 33139 | SharePoint hub sites: create hub sites and associate others in SharePoint admin center | The SharePoint admin center in Office 365 will now allow you to create SharePoint hub sites and associated other sites once the hub site exists. This also provides a view into hub sites as they exist allowing for common admin tasks like reporting, contacting and managing sites - now including hub sites from the admin center user interface. | In development |
08/29/2018 |
Q1 CY2019 |
n / a |
| 33138 | SharePoint sites: adjust the footer of a site | When you change the look of your site, you can now add a site footer to showcase common information you wish to highlight at the bottom of your site. | In development |
08/29/2018 |
Q1 CY2019 |
n / a |
| 33137 | SharePoint pages: section background color | Create additional visual design and clarity as a user scrolls through your content. Now you can add different colors to the background of your page sections or leave them white as they are by default. | In development |
08/29/2018 |
Q1 CY2019 |
n / a |
| 33136 | SharePoint pages: custom page designs | Save your creators time when they generate new SharePoint pages, and ensure that the consistency of experience for how you promote your content and information remains intact. You can control the design and layout of your pages in a similar fashion as you can with custom site designs and themes using site scripts. | In development |
08/29/2018 |
Q1 CY2019 |
n / a |
| 33135 | SharePoint hub sites: Events web part roll up | Similar to the News web part and Site activity, commonly used on the home page of a hub site, you can now leverage the Events web part to roll events up from associated sites so that the aggregated view appears at the hub site level. | In development |
08/29/2018 |
Q1 CY2019 |
n / a |
| 33134 | SharePoint hub sites: create new associated site from within hub site | Make governing sites associated to a hub site easier by having them automatically associated and created from within the hub site itself. You'll connect sites to hubs by using a "new site" button right on the hub site itself -- when you tap it, you get our normal new site experience and the site will be automatically associated to the hub site. | In development |
08/29/2018 |
Q1 CY2019 |
n / a |
| 33132 | SharePoint hub sites: mega menu navigation | Increase the value of your hub site navigation. The new mega menu options allow for multiple levels of hierarchy at once - no fly-outs needed. This will enable you to better organize and showcase the content and sites associated under that particular hub site. | In development |
08/29/2018 |
Q1 CY2019 |
n / a |
| 33131 | SharePoint sites: new site header layouts | Now, site owners can reclaim some of the vertical space at the top of the site and highlight the main page content instead. There will be three new choices: standard, minimal and compact. | In development |
08/29/2018 |
Q1 CY2019 |
n / a |
| 20955 | Insights in Excel | Insights provides value to a range of users. Insights provides a softer approach to data analysis and for others it provides a different perspective to your data. | Rolling out |
08/30/2018 |
Q2 CY2018 |
n / a |
| 32990 | SharePoint Online: Custom view formatting | Custom view formatting is a new capability that can redesign the user experience of lists and libraries with cut-and-paste JSON scripts | Rolling out |
08/31/2018 |
August CY2018 |
n / a |
UPCOMING EVENTS
When: On-demand, registration required | Microsoft is updating the publishing of Office 365 network endpoints and has new guidance about optimizing network connectivity for end users to achieve optimal performance. In this talk we will describe the new network principles and guidance and share how the updated endpoint publishing makes end user performance easier to achieve. We will outline the timeline and transition from the current manually published data to the new system and how customers can take advantage of this. | Resource: Office 365 endpoint categories and Office 365 IP Address and URL web service
When: Tuesdays, August 21, 2018 – October 30, 2018 from 10am – 11am PT | Whether you're managing a new project or starting your own business, it helps to have a team behind you to brainstorm ideas, tackle the work together, and have some fun along the way. Now you can use Microsoft Teams to do just that. Join our team LIVE every Tuesday from 10-11am PDT to learn how you can get started with the free version of Teams. In this hour, we'll walk you through the product and key features, share best practices for getting started, and answer any questions you may have. We look forward to meeting you!
Azure Active Directory Webinars for September
When: Multiple sessions currently scheduled from September 11 - 20, 2018 | Are you looking to deploy Azure Active Directory quickly and easily? We are offering free webinars on key Azure Active Directory deployment topics to help you get up and running. Sessions include Getting Ready for Azure AD, Azure AD Identity Protection and Privileged Identity Management, Streamlining Password Management using Azure AD, Securing Your Identities with Multi-Factor Authentication, and more. Each 1-hour webinar is designed to support IT Pros in quickly rolling out Azure Active Directory features to their organization. All webinars are free of cost and will include an anonymous Q&A session with our Engineering Team. So, come with your questions! Capacity is limited. Sign up for one or all of the sessions today! Note: There are also some sessions available on-demand.
Productivity Hacks to Save Time & Simplify Workflows
When: Wednesday, September 26, 2018 at 12pm ET and 3pm ET | This 90-minute hands-on experience will give you the opportunity to test drive Windows 10, Office 365 and Dynamics 365. A trained facilitator will guide you as you apply these tools to your own business scenarios and see how they work for you. During this interactive session, you will: (1) Discover how you can keep your information more secure without inhibiting your workflow, (2) Learn how to visualize and analyze complex data, quickly zeroing in on the insights you need, (3) See how multiple team members can access, edit and review documents simultaneously, and (4) Gain skills that will save you time and simplify your workflow immediately. Each session is limited to 12 participants, reserve your seat now.
BLOG ROUNDUP
New to Microsoft 365 in August—tools to achieve more in the modern workplace
This month, we introduced new features and updates in Microsoft 365 that help teams streamline management of tasks, make it easier for IT admins to manage Windows 10 devices, and empower small to medium-sized businesses to grow. Some of the updates include: (1) @Mentions in Word, PowerPoint and Excel, (2) Availability of Microsoft Stream to small and medium-sized businesses, (3) New integrations in Microsoft Bookings and Microsoft Invoicing, and more.
Microsoft 365 is the smartest place to store your content
In the modern workplace, rising expectations to innovate and improve productivity are putting pressure on employees to do more in less time. The world's most successful organizations are addressing this by adopting new ways of working that leverage Microsoft 365 with OneDrive for Business and SharePoint to manage and collaborate on content. We are announcing upcoming capabilities that, along with our recent investments, combine the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning with content stored in OneDrive for Business and SharePoint to help you be more productive, make more informed decisions, and keep more secure. These capabilities include: (1) Video and audio transcription, (2) Searching audio, video and images, (3) Intelligent files recommendations, (4) File and Data Insights, (5) Intelligent sharing, and (6) Intelligent compliance.
Announcing new file template management for document library content types
In Microsoft 365, SharePoint is at the centerstage of document-centric collaboration. And SharePoint content types are essential tools for managing content at scale. Content types can be used to enforce standards for custom metadata, document lifecycle, templates and more. Content types are essential to our vision of how we'll continue to deliver content services innovation in Microsoft 365. We've modernized information lifecycles in Microsoft 365 with data governance labels to establish retention and record policies. But templates have been obscure and hard to use. That's why we're excited to announce the ability to add document templates to SharePoint document library content types. We're also adding the ability to edit the New menu - to add, hide or reorder the new file options. This experience fully integrates with existing templates created via content types and supports any existing 'New' menu configurations. This gives you the freedom to adjust the template for single library without overwriting any other library's templates from the same content type. We will start the roll out of this capability to our Targeted Release customers in early September 2018.
SharePoint mobile app updates – find and discover people, content, and answers while on the go
SharePoint brings the power of AI direct to your mobile device – to unlock discover-ability, provide smoother navigation and cleaner aesthetics. In the in-between moments at work, save time and prioritize without hunting through the ever-growing quantities of information. Cut to the chase – find and discover people, content and answers while on the go. We are excited to release a new design of the SharePoint mobile app – one based on your feedback. The goal is to help you get to the content you care about via the new Find tab – with fewer taps. Plus, this update brings an improved news layout and quick access to recent content. In all, this is our most significant SharePoint mobile apps update. We've simplified most everything to help you focus on the tasks you've told us help you engage your colleagues and get work done daily. Make your productivity on the go fast and simple – get the SharePoint mobile app today. And then learn more on how to set up and use the SharePoint mobile apps; support documentation will get fully updated during rollout. Note: complete rollout of the updated design will take several weeks, and at this stage, the updated design is only applicable when accessing SharePoint in Office 365. The apps still support SharePoint Server on-premises; however, you would not see the new Find tab experience when you are accessing SharePoint from on-premises.
NOTEWORTHY
Updated: Office 365 URLs and IP Address Ranges
August 31, 2018: Updates for Office 365 authentication and identity, Office 365 portal and shared, and Sway effective October 1, 2018. Details on the updates are available on the RSS feed and the complete list is located here. | Additional Resources: Managing Office 365 Endpoints, Content Delivery Networks, Client Connectivity, and Office 365 endpoint categories and Office 365 IP Address and URL Web Service. | Related: Use Microsoft Flow to receive an email for changes to Office 365 IP Address and URLs
The summary from the Microsoft Teams Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA) session on August 9, 2018 is now posted! The live hour of Q&A provided members the opportunity to ask questions and voice feedback with the product team. We hope you will join us live next time! | Related: Microsoft Teams Launches Australia and Japan Data Residency
Office 365 for Android - August 2018 release details
On August 23rd, 2018, Microsoft released an updated version of Office for Android (Excel, PowerPoint & Word) build # 16.0.10730.20043 in 68 languages. Our Office International team translated this latest update. Some of the new features available for the first time to Office 365 subscribers using Office for Android on their tablet or phone include: (1) Zoom with precision in Word, (2) Add sound and video from your phone in PowerPoint, (3) Quick access to comments and notes in PowerPoint, and (4) the ability to pinch to zoom in PowerPoint. More information and help content on this release can be found in the Android section of the What's New in Office 365 page.
A credit score for cyber security?! Tell me more!
One of the keys to success in life is understanding your financial situation and where you sit on the scale of a credit score. When it comes to cyber security, you want to understand your organization's security posture and how it can be improved. That's where Microsoft Secure Score steps in. Microsoft Secure Score gives you visibility into your cyber security posture, with awareness of how you compare to your industry peers, along with recommendations on how to increase your posture and reduce your risk. Watch the 3-minute video for an overview of Microsoft Secure Score.
Power platform Security & Governance: Deploying a Defense in Depth Strategy
A common cyber security approach used by organizations to protect their digital assets is to leverage a defense-in-depth strategy. The SANS Institute defines defense-in-depth as "protecting a computer network with a series of defensive mechanisms such that if one mechanism fails, another will already be in place to thwart an attack." When customers ask how to best secure and govern their Power platform environments (which includes Microsoft Flow and PowerApps), we provide similar guidance. This post outlines different layers that you can use to protect your digital assets and apply governance to ensure your organization's interests are met. | Related: Test your flows with real example data, and four new management connectors