Microsoft announce improvements coming to SharePoint page authoring

Most SharePoint sites are created by non-web developers, and Microsoft is therefore working to make the process as simple as possible.

The company has announced a slew of improvements arriving in the coming months which is designed to streamline the process of authoring a SharePoint page.

The improvements are aimed at making it easier for users to understand where they are by adding labels, reducing clutter by consolidating actions into a single web part toolbar, and putting authors into focus mode by default to remove visual distractions.

Changes to Focus Mode:

• When entering edit mode, authors of SharePoint pages and news will enter focus mode which will remove the site header and navigation so authors can focus on the task of editing a page. Users can still exit focus mode manually if desired.

Changes to content and section labels:

• While editing, authors will notice new labels demarking sections and web parts so it’s clearer for them to understand what’s being used on the page.

Changes to web part toolbar:

• Authors will notice webpart toolbars moving from a vertical placement to horizontal, and actions consolidated into that single web part toolbar.

The improvements will roll out to Targeted Release (select users and entire org)  in early December and is expected to be complete by early January 2022, while Standard users will see the changes between mid-January 2022 and  early February 2022.