Microsoft has announced the general availability of the new SharePoint Template Gallery for commercial customers. The purpose of the templates is to make it faster and easier for users to create professional pages and news posts. By freeing users up from having to craft their own designs, Microsoft hopes that this new feature will allow them to focus on their message instead. The rollout starts in late August and is expected to be complete by mid-September.
The new feature gives you access to all the available templates, organized into a single Template Gallery. The gallery includes templates from three categories: Saved on this site, Full-page apps, and From Microsoft. The From Microsoft section provides a “rich collection” of modern, out-of-the-box templates and includes ones such as the Visual topic introduction template for HR and a Product news template for product managers. For step-by-step instructions on how to use the feature, check out Microsoft’s announcement.
Microsoft has made a new template accessible from multiple entry points within SharePoint. Users can access the templates from the Site Home of Communication or Teams sites, the persistent App Bar navigation pane, and the News Web Part. Microsoft has added these multiple access points in part of a plan to integrate the feature into existing user workflows.
Microsoft said that it’s currently working on additional templates for the Template Gallery. In future updates, Microsoft will add video templates and add Amplify support.
This is not the first time we"ve heard of the new Template Gallery from Microsoft. Back in June, the company announced Modern Page Templates to speed up page creation and stated those would be rolling out from early June to early August. Be sure to check out our previous coverage to catch up on all of the details to learn how Microsoft is improving SharePoint.