Tracy van der Schyff

#Office365Challenge – Adding Apps in SharePoint couldn’t be easier. It allows for End Users / Super Users in SharePoint to become Superhero “Developers” without having to write code. That’s why at the GT Academy, we put focus on ensuring that our users have the maturity to make the right decisions when building solutions. Just because it’s easy – doesn’t mean they have to pay any less attention to it, than if they had to actually write all those thousands of lines of code. Every solution you build has the ability to have a huge impact – so “Fail to plan = plan to fail”.

In this post I’ll explain how to add a new app (application) from the OTB (Out the Box) apps available in SharePoint. The full range of apps available will be discussed in future posts. In this example we’ll create a document library.

When clicking on the Settings wheel (1), you’ll see Add an app (2), you can also go to Site Contents (3), then click on Add an app (4).

Your apps will open from which you can choose the app you would like to build. You can also search for the app (5), or choose from the Noteworthy section (6) which displays commonly used apps.
Once you’ve selected the desired app, SharePoint will ask you to name it, you’ll see in my example that I used an Acronym not the full name (7). I do this to avoid long URL’s with “%20” in them which replace the spaces. So MRL for My Report’s Library. After I’ve created the app, I’ll rename it. Click on create (8) to create your new app.

Once the app is built, you’ll see it listed in your Site Content Icons with a “new” stamp next to it. Click on the Icon to open the app.
When the new library opens, click on the Library Tab (9), then on Library Settings (10).

In Library Settings, navigate to List Name, Description and Navigation (11). Here you can change the name to the full name – My Report’s Library (12) as well as change the setting to display on the Quick Launch (13) or not (Left Navigation). Click on Save to save your changes. Your library is now ready to add content, extra columns for metadata etc.

And look at that, you ROCKSTAR! You just built your first app (solution).

Overview of my challenge: As an absolute lover of all things Microsoft, I’ve decided to undertake the challenge, of writing a blog every single day, for the next 365 days. Crazy, I know. And I’ll try my best, but if I cannot find something good to say about Office 365 and the Tools it includes for 365 days, I’m changing my profession. So let’s write this epic tale of “Around the Office in 365 Days”. My ode to Microsoft Office 365.

Keep in mind that these tips and tricks do not only apply to Office 365 – but to the overall Microsoft Office Suite as well as where applicable, SharePoint.