Appspace SharePoint Intranet 5.2 Release Notes

This feature modernizes the content architecture by transitioning from legacy Community Blog publishing pages to a modern, dynamic platform utilizing Single-Page Application (SPA) views and non-page-based data storage.

• Re-architect Logic & Storage
  • Custom code will be re-architected to store content in a modern data source (e.g., database or SharePoint list), moving away from publishing pages.
• New Content Process
  • Content creation (e.g., blog posts) is modified to stop creating legacy publishing pages.
• SPA Views
  • New SPA views developed to display content, providing a modern user experience with updated URLs for Questions and Blogs.
• Search Integration
  • BESearch and SharePoint Search is updated to ensure new content types are properly indexed and searchable, supporting the new SPA views.
• Migration Path:
  • Migrate all existing content from old publishing pages to the new data storage.
  • Implement URL redirects from old URLs to the new SPA views.
  • Flag old pages as "no crawl" to remove them from search results.

Data Export Functionality for Manage Spaces Dashboard

Technical Info:

• SharePoint Intranet Export Data

This feature introduces a robust, permission-controlled data export function to the Manage Spaces Dashboard, providing Global Admins with a complete, consistent dataset for comprehensive reporting.

• Global Admins can:

  • Access the Export Function: The "Export Spaces Data" button is visible only to Global Admins on the Manage Spaces Dashboard (following existing dashboard access patterns).
  • Initiate Immediate Download: Click the button, positioned on the right side of the dashboard, to immediately download a single CSV file.
  • Receive Consistent Data: The export function provides a complete, unfiltered, and unsorted dataset of all enabled spaces (sites, blogs, communities), regardless of any active filters or sorting applied to the dashboard UI.
  • Utilize Standardized Naming: The downloaded file is named with a date and time stamp (e.g., [Manage Spaces_Date_Time_.csv]).

• Exported Data Fields Include:

  • Title, URL, Date of Creation, Type of Space, Number of Members, Type of Access, Status of the Space, Site Collection, Owners, Description, Discoverability, Enabled Tools, and Last Update (Date of last post or activity).

Community Blogs Versioning

Technical info:

• Content Versioning

This feature introduces a comprehensive Version History system for content, ensuring editorial control, accurate tracking of changes, and a smooth migration path for existing content.

Authors and Managers can:

• Control Visibility & Access
  • The Version History is visible only to the content author and privileged managers (e.g., Community Owners). Regular users cannot see it.
• Manage Content Edits:
  • Community Owners can edit content created by others, depending on Intranet Settings ("Owners can edit other's activities").
  • Changing the Title or Body of a published post creates a new version with the correct user and timestamp.
• Manage Version History:
  • Restore a Version: Populate the current editor with the historical Title and Body content. Restoring and saving creates a new version (the latest).
  • Preview History: View historical versions, but be prevented from making any changes during the preview.

System Migration & Tracking ensures:

• Legacy Content Tracking
  • Content created with the old editor is automatically logged as the first version in the history log.
• Read-Only Status
  • This initial legacy version is "Read-Only" in the interface. Users can preview it, but the "Restore" option is disabled.
• Successful Conversion
  • The migration process successfully converts the old content structure to the new editor structure without data loss. The first save using the new editor becomes the subsequent version (e.g., Version 2).

This feature implements a mandatory Terms of Use (ToU) acceptance workflow upon initial and periodic login, ensuring user acknowledgment of policies before granting platform access.

New Users initial login:

• Trigger and Block
  • Encounter the ToU pop-up immediately upon first login, which blocks all platform access. 
  • Accept the ToU to immediately gain full platform access, with their user status automatically switching to Active.
• Establish Join Date
  • The displayed Community join date reflects the date of this initial activation (acceptance).

ToU Renewal for existing users:

• Trigger Re-acceptance
  • Encounter the ToU pop-up again on their next login after a policy reset or annual period.
• Maintain Status
  • Upon acceptance, the user is taken directly to the Newsfeed, and their user status remains Active.
• Preserve Data
  • The user's Community/Channel affiliations and original Community join dates are maintained upon re-acceptance.

Standalone Blogs auto-translation improvement

Technical info:

• Standalone Blogs auto-translation

This feature introduces flexible, platform-wide automatic translation settings for content creation, allowing admins to control whether translations occur immediately upon language selection or require explicit user confirmation.

Content Creators can:

• Experience 'On Language Selection' Mode:
  • When an admin enables this setting, selecting a new language for content immediately creates and displays a fully translated version.
• Experience 'On-Demand' Mode:
  • When an admin enables this setting, selecting a new language triggers a pop-up prompt.
  • If the user confirms, the content is translated in place and saved.
  • If the user dismisses the prompt, a blank page is created for manual content addition.

System Management ensures:

• Instant Setting Application
  • When an admin changes the auto-translation setting, the new behavior is applied instantly to all existing and new Pages, Stories, and SA Blogs.
• Automatic Blog Adherence
  • New SA Blogs automatically follow the global translation setting upon creation, requiring no extra configuration when viewed in a foreign language.

Numbered Lists Improvements

Technical info:

• Appspace SharePoint Intranet Text Editor Features

Numbered lists now maintain their sequence correctly even when complex elements like images or link titles are introduced within a list item. The numbering will no longer break or reset, allowing users to integrate rich media without interrupting the document's structure.

We’re keeping the flexibility to intentionally start a new numbered sequence. This means users can create a completely separate list starting from '1' without the system automatically continuing the numbering from the previous list block. This control is available through the ‘+’ menu option (or specific key command).

These updates ensure a smoother editing experience and deliver better final output for your structured content.

Enable ALT Text in Images Galleries in Sites New Editor

Technical info:

• Alternate text for images in Site Editor

This feature enhances image accessibility by adding an alternative text (alt text) editing option directly within the content creation workflow.

• Access Alt Text Editing
  • Upon uploading one or more images, the image toolbar will display a new option to edit alt text, alongside existing controls (caption, refresh, bin).
• Manage Alt Text in a Modal
  • Clicking the edit button prompts a modal window (consistent with Stories and Pages) that displays all uploaded images.
• Ensure Accessibility
  • Fill in the alt text for each image within the modal. After saving, users relying on screen readers (SR) or keyboard navigation will be able to correctly read the specified alt text for every image.

My Followers and Following widgets improvements

Technical info:

• My Following and Followers Widget Improvements

This feature standardizes the display and functionality of the "Followers" and "Following" widgets across both public and private user profiles, ensuring consistent and accurate total counts.

Users can:

• View Accurate Totals
  • Both "Followers" and "Following" widgets display counters that reflect the accurate total number of people (e.g., 500, not 10), matching the count shown in the user's profile "People's" tab.
• Access Full Lists
  • Click a "View More" or "Show More" button on both public and private widgets to open a modal window.
    • The modal displays the complete, total list of people (Following or Followers), regardless of the limited count shown in the widget.
    • A scroller is available within the modal for navigation.
• Maintain Privacy (Public Profile)
  • The "Hide" option remains available for the widgets in the public view.

System Consistency ensures:

• Real-time Synchronization
  • All counters displays the same, accurate value immediately when a user starts following someone or gains a new follower.
• Consistent Ordering
  • The display order of people within the widget and the People tab remains consistent, following the existing logic for each view.

Pages expiration modal on update action

Technical info:

• Pages Expiration on Update

This feature ensures the Update action within the Expiration Date modal functions correctly, allowing users to save content changes without altering the existing expiration date.

• Finalize Updates via Modal
  • When the Expiration Date modal is triggered after clicking "Update" on a story, the modal's internal "Update" button is enabled (not disabled).
• Save Changes and Retain Date
  • Clicking the enabled "Update" button successfully saves all content changes (e.g., title edits) to the story while keeping the original, unchanged expiration date intact.

This feature introduces a conditional "Saving..." toast notification to provide timely feedback for prolonged save operations without unnecessarily cluttering the user interface during quick saves.

• Delayed Appearance
  • If the content save operation takes more than 5 seconds, an informative "Saving..." toast message appears (following design specifications).
• Prevention of Clutter
  • If the save operation finishes within 5 seconds, the timer is cleared, and the "Saving..." toast is never displayed.
• Immediate Removal (Success)
  • If the toast has appeared and the save operation completes successfully, the toast is immediately removed.
• Immediate Removal (Error)
  • If the save operation results in an error, the "Saving..." toast is also immediately removed.