What’s new
LiveTiles is excited to announce significant enhancements to LiveTiles Page Designer to support deeper integration with Modern SharePoint and the SharePoint Framework (SPFx). While Page Designer has always operated inside Modern sites, we’re making changes to improve the experience, both now and into the future as Microsoft continues to evolve. While all the power for producing the custom and branded user interfaces your clients expect will be retained, we’re adding much more.
- Larger library of powerful and configurable tiles
- Flexibility in deployment options across Classic and Modern pages
- Ability to include Modern SPFx web parts alongside tiles in a unified design experience
- Interoperability with Application Customizers for cross site collection extensibility
- Conversion to Webpack to improve performance
Benefits
The upgrade from V4 to V5 delivers our partner network and clients deep flexibility in approaches to customizing the default SharePoint user interface. The approaches can be used exclusively or as a hybrid, based on the needs and preferences of the client.
- V5 Classic will provide all the UI design capabilities you are used to, but with the ability to incorporate custom SPFx web parts into those same pages. This approach suits clients who want to deeply customize the layout, branding, navigation and mobile behavior of the SharePoint UI. This can operate in either Classic or Modern sites.
- V5 Modern will provide UI design capabilities through a web part added into Modern pages. As these pages will be created using the default Modern SharePoint routine and allows tiles and Modern web parts to sit side by side, this option suits clients who want the familiarity of the default page editing, navigation and mobile experience.
- Interoperability with Application Customizers will enable customizations like our Power Panel to be injected in across disparate site collections. For end users, this creates the possibility for consistent UI experiences across SharePoint, Teams and other Office 365 applications!
Upgrade path
The upgrade path for existing V4 to V5 clients is fully automated and follows an “opt in” model. While there may be some minor issues with pages with custom tiles using JQuery or Require JS, these will be identified in advance for the client by the upgrade and simple to remediate. Clients wanting to take advantage of the V5 Modern version that overlays onto Modern pages will be able to download a separate application for simple installation and begin customizing in that way.
Developer notes
Developers wanting to create customizations using the SPFx will do so using the default Microsoft tooling (Yeoman, Visual Studio etc.), but now be able to include their master pieces alongside LiveTiles functionality. Developers wanting to create customizations without the SPFx will still be able to do so using the custom tile.
What’s coming
We have some exciting product updates planned for the future. A lot of work is being put into enhancing Hyperfish, Intelligence and Bots to make the LiveTiles Intelligent Workplace experience even more engaging. As a recently announced Microsoft home sites launch partner, we are committed to extending the SharePoint experience to deliver powerful intranet experiences.
Get in touch!
We love hearing from our partners. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your local LiveTiles contact.
