SharePoint Intranet Administration

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT | Recorded: 2025-12-19 | Verify against current system state

Abstract¶

This session covers the administration of AANP's SharePoint intranet, explaining the departmental page structure and its relationship with Microsoft Teams. Jeff describes the "front porch" concept for departmental pages (visible to other departments), document library permissions, and how news and events propagate to the main intranet homepage. The session also covers site access management including owner, member, and visitor roles, and demonstrates adding users to SharePoint site permissions.

Key Procedures¶

Intranet Structure¶

• SharePoint is connected to Teams - can be confusing for employees
• Teams channels show up in SharePoint and can be named similarly to intranet pages
• Departmental pages are the "front porch" - visible to other departments
• Purpose: share information with other departments, not for internal team-only use
• All departments follow a common template structure

Standard Page Sections¶

• About section (left side)
• Essential Resources (right side, customizable links)
• Welcome section
• News section (optional, propagates to main intranet homepage)
• Important Dates/Events (also propagates to main intranet)
• Documents section at bottom

Document Libraries¶

• _DocumentStaging - private, internal team only
• Staff Collaborations - public, all AANP employees can read AND write
• Other libraries - public read-only (department can edit, others view only)

IT Department Setup¶

• Two sub-teams: App Dev and Infrastructure
• Each has different documentation and information
• Education team is only other department with sub-department structure
• IT previously utilized SharePoint the most for information sharing

Notable Statements¶

• 0:00:37 "This is considered your front porch. So any of the other departments can drop by here and see what you're all about."
• 0:00:53 "It's not really for your internal teams specifically. It's more for other departments to come in and check out what's going on within your department."
• 0:01:29 "Any news that's added here is going to dribble up to the top level of the intranet. And everyone's going to be able to see it."
• 0:03:11 "Staff collaborations is something that everybody can see and they can also write to things in this document."
• 0:04:38 "They keep changing the names of it too. So that's another problem with SharePoint. They will release something and then change it altogether."
• 0:05:04 "That's why I try to stick to the basics of SharePoint that don't change."
• 0:07:06 "This is a great place to also review usage over here. So you can review if the team is utilizing something or not."
• 0:09:04 "That's the great thing about sticking to a template - they're all set up the same."

Systems & Configurations¶

Systems Mentioned¶

• SharePoint Online
• Microsoft 365 Admin Center (admin.microsoft.com)
• Microsoft Teams
• Viva Learning (possibly retired/renamed)

Site Access Roles¶

Standard Page Template¶

Specific Configurations¶

Credentials/Access Mentioned¶

• SharePoint Admin account (sharepoint admin@aanp.org) - in 1Password
• Microsoft 365 admin portal access
• Site-level permissions managed via SharePoint

Errors & Troubleshooting¶

• Issue: Confusion between Teams channels and SharePoint intranet pages
• Cause: Teams channels automatically create SharePoint document libraries with similar names
• Resolution: Explain "front porch" concept - intranet is for cross-department sharing, Teams is for internal team collaboration

• Timestamp: 0:00:06

• Issue: SharePoint features change/get renamed

• Cause: Microsoft frequently updates and renames features (e.g., Viva Learning)
• Resolution: Stick to basic SharePoint features that don't change; avoid cutting-edge features

• Timestamp: 0:04:38

• Issue: "All Staff" group not capturing everyone

• Cause: Some users not in All Staff group
• Resolution: Added "Everyone except external users" group as catch-all for read access
• Timestamp: 0:08:06

Administrative Tasks¶

Adding a New Employee to Department Site¶

1. Log into SharePoint as sharepoint admin@aanp.org
2. Navigate to department site
3. Go to Site Access (Settings)
4. Add user to appropriate group:
5. Site Members for limited control (add pages/documents)
6. Site Owner for full control (template changes)
7. Save changes

Creating New Department Pages¶

1. Follow standard template structure
2. Include required sections: Home, Teams (if sub-teams), Documents
3. Add Welcome, About, Quick Links sections
4. Configure news and events if desired
5. Set appropriate permissions for document libraries

Reviewing Site Usage¶

1. Go to admin.microsoft.com
2. Navigate to SharePoint admin section
3. View usage reports for specific sites
4. Identify underutilized sections for cleanup

Best Practices¶

• Stick to basic SharePoint features to avoid Microsoft renaming/deprecation issues
• Use consistent template across all departments for familiarity
• Underscore prefix (_DocumentStaging) indicates private/internal documents
• Review usage periodically to clean up unused sections
• Add team members to hierarchy list for organizational visibility

Transcript Gaps & Quality Notes¶

• Recording from live knowledge transfer session
• Duration: ~10 minutes
• Presenter: Jeff Sikes
• Some audio/transcript artifacts
• Demonstrated live SharePoint admin interface
• Audio quality: Good