Latest Features in the SharePoint Brand Center
SharePoint Online
Jan 16, 2025 8:25 PM

Latest Features in the SharePoint Brand Center

by HubSite 365 about Microsoft

Software Development Redmond, Washington

Pro UserSharePoint OnlineLearning Selection

SharePoint Brand Center, Microsoft 365, Power Platform

Key insights

  • SharePoint Brand Center: Launched in 2024, it centralizes brand management for SharePoint and Viva Connections, ensuring consistent branding across digital workspaces.

  • Custom Font Management: Allows uploading and managing organizational fonts to be used across SharePoint components like site headers and web parts, enhancing brand consistency.

  • Theme Creation and Management: Simplifies the process of applying brand colors and styles without needing PowerShell scripting. This feature streamlines creating and managing themes for a unified site appearance.

  • Brand Asset Library Integration: Utilizes the Organization Asset Library to store images, logos, and templates. This promotes uniformity by ensuring all team members access up-to-date brand assets.

  • Multi-Geo Support: Facilitates management of brand assets for organizations operating in multiple geographies while adhering to local regulations and cultural preferences.

  • SPFx Component Customization: Developers can use fonts from the Brand Center in SharePoint Framework components by referencing them with specific variables, such as --fontFamilyCustomFont100, ensuring design consistency.

Introduction to the SharePoint Brand Center

The SharePoint Brand Center, launched in 2024, represents a significant advancement in managing organizational branding across SharePoint and Viva Connections. This centralized hub streamlines the customization of site aesthetics, ensuring a consistent and professional appearance throughout digital workspaces. The recent demo video by Microsoft, presented during the Microsoft 365 & Power Platform weekly call, provides a comprehensive overview of the Brand Center's capabilities. This article delves into the key features, recent updates, and practical applications of the SharePoint Brand Center, offering insights into how organizations can leverage this tool to enhance brand consistency.

Key Features of the SharePoint Brand Center

The SharePoint Brand Center is equipped with a variety of features designed to facilitate branding management:
  • Custom Font Management: Organizations can upload and manage their fonts within the Brand Center. These fonts can be applied across various SharePoint components, including site headers, web parts, and navigation elements, as well as in Viva Connections, enhancing brand consistency.
  • Theme Creation and Management: Users can easily create and manage themes that define site color schemes and overall appearance. This feature eliminates the need for PowerShell scripting, simplifying the process of applying brand colors and styles across SharePoint sites.
  • Brand Asset Library Integration: The Organization Asset Library allows for the storage and management of brand images, logos, and templates. This ensures that all team members have access to up-to-date brand assets, promoting uniformity in content creation.
  • Multi-Geo Support: For organizations operating across multiple geographies, the Brand Center facilitates the management of brand assets, ensuring consistency while adhering to local regulations and cultural preferences.

Recent Updates and Enhancements

Microsoft has made several updates to the SharePoint Brand Center to enhance its functionality:
  • Enhanced Theme Creation Experience: In September 2024, Microsoft updated the Brand Center to allow for easier creation and management of themes for sites and experiences, further simplifying the branding process.
  • General Availability: As of mid-October 2024, the SharePoint Brand Center has moved out of the preview stage and is now fully available. It offers features for creating and uploading custom fonts and theme management, providing users with a robust tool for brand consistency.
To get started with the SharePoint Brand Center, global administrators can enable it via the Microsoft 365 admin center. The setup process may vary depending on the current tenant configuration. Once activated, brand managers can begin uploading assets and creating themes to be applied across the organization’s SharePoint sites and Viva Connections experiences.

Practical Applications and Best Practices

The SharePoint Brand Center offers practical applications and best practices for utilizing fonts, colors, and branding elements. Developers can use the fonts defined in the Brand Center in their SharePoint Framework (SPFx) components. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to modify SPFx components to use the same fonts set in the Brand Center:
  • Create a new SharePoint Framework component, such as a web part.
  • Locate and open the *.module.scss file in the project. This file contains the styles for the SPFx component.
  • Reference the fonts defined within the Brand Center using variables with the prefix --fontFamily followed by the font slot name.
  • Apply the desired font styles to the SPFx component classes.
  • Test the web part on a SharePoint site to ensure the custom fonts are applied correctly.
By following these steps, developers can ensure that their SPFx components align with the organization's branding guidelines, enhancing the overall user experience.

Challenges and Tradeoffs in Branding Management

While the SharePoint Brand Center offers numerous advantages, it also presents challenges and tradeoffs in branding management. Balancing the need for consistency with flexibility can be difficult, especially for organizations with diverse branding requirements. The centralized nature of the Brand Center may limit customization options for individual teams or departments, potentially leading to conflicts over branding decisions. Moreover, implementing the Brand Center requires a strategic approach to ensure that all stakeholders are aligned with the organization's branding goals. This involves training brand managers and team members on how to effectively use the Brand Center's features, as well as establishing clear guidelines for branding consistency. Despite these challenges, the SharePoint Brand Center provides a powerful tool for organizations to manage their branding efforts effectively. By leveraging its features and following best practices, organizations can achieve a cohesive and professional digital presence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the SharePoint Brand Center is a valuable asset for organizations looking to enhance and manage brand consistency across SharePoint and Viva Connections. With its comprehensive features and recent updates, the Brand Center simplifies the process of branding management, offering practical solutions for organizations of all sizes. While there are challenges and tradeoffs involved, the benefits of a centralized branding hub far outweigh the potential drawbacks. As organizations continue to navigate the complexities of digital branding, the SharePoint Brand Center stands out as a key tool for achieving a unified and professional appearance.

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Keywords

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