In with the new

Have you noticed the new page editing experience? It certainly has fans, but also critics. Let’s talk through what’s different.

For starters, the new content pane was rolled out. This new experience has the web part toolbox in the side panel (it’s also still available in the “plus menu”) and allows you to drag-and-drop the web parts onto the page. 

This is a great new feature. It feels more seamless than the old method, and allows for not only web parts, but section templates and stock images as well.

It also contains the web part properties of the selected web part as well. This new content pane has icons (as you see on the far right of the image) to let you switch between the toolbox, web part properties, and the design ideas (more on this later). 

You might think it’s cumbersome to switch between the properties and toolbox panes, but it’s actually not bad at all. It certainly feels smoother of an experience.

As I’ve used this, one of the big takeaways for me is that this allows for a lot of room for expansion. I can see many new features coming to this new panel, with each having its own icon on that right side rail. What are the possibilities? Here’s some I’ve thought of so far:

• Microsoft Designer
• Copilot for SharePoint (this may be the plan already, but the feature hasn’t rolled out to my tenant yet)
• Click to Copilot settings

Out with the old?

With all these great things, co-authoring included, one feature was removed… the Discard Changes button.

This was a lifesaver for those of us who want to start fresh with our edits. It appears that the coauthoring feature itself is why that button is gone, but many people haven’t been pleased with its removal. When the only apparent option is irreversible change on a page, it doesn’t make people feel comfortable while editing SharePoint pages.

The Answer?

What’s the solution? I’m hoping Microsoft comes up with the answer, but I’d prefer to see a feature to enable/disable the coauthoring feature per site, which could bring back that button as needed depending on the comfort level of the users. While that does keep some legacy code around awhile longer, the goal should always be enabling users to do more, not making users reluctant to use the features like page editing.

About the Author:

Steve Corey

Microsoft MVP. Possibly my biggest professional accomplishment.

I create content on multiple platforms (YouTube/X/LinkedIn/My website), so feel free to connect with me there!

I’ve spent my entire career in the IT industry. I’ve typically done both software development as well as server/application administration. I’ve worked in the multiple industries, and love a challenge, since it pushes me beyond my comfort zone and keeps my skills sharp. I focus primarily on SharePoint and M365 development.

Reference:

Corey, S (2024). The New SharePoint Page Editing Experience Is Great…. Except For This One Thing. Available at: Here’s the problem with the new SharePoint Page Editor (stevecorey.com) [Accessed: 26th September 2024].