Month: August 2018

List Formatting Quick Tip: Format Only Columns

theChrisKent Column Formatting, List/Library Settings, SharePoint , , ,

Sometimes you want to create a column but you don’t care about it’s contents. I do this all the time when creating Flow buttons:

LaunchFlowFormat

By providing a button directly in the list view that launches a flow for the given item you make it far easier for users to know about the availability of the flow, make it easy to quickly get their job done, and you can even provide additional context such as a tooltip or specific icon. You can see how to do this (and then just cut/paste/modify the format) using the Launch Flow for the Selected Item column formatting sample.

It’s a great sample and a great use case for column formatting. However, the quick tip I want to share with you is how to easily make a format only column. A format only column is part of your view but doesn’t get in the way while editing or creating items.

The values of Calculated columns can’t be retrieved in list formatting, but these columns can still have column formats associated with them. So the trick is to use an empty calculated column!

  1. In your list view choose Add column then in the list of types choose More…
    AddAColumnMore
  2. Give the column a name and choose Calculated for the type. In the formula box enter =”” then click OK:
    EmptyCalculatedColumn
  3. Now you can apply whatever format you want by using the column menu and choosing Column Settings > Format this column and pasting it in.

Now you have a column that can have a format applied to make your views look awesome, but won’t show up in the information panel!

FormatOnlyInformationPanel

Update!

See this demoed on the PnP Call (Live from MVP Summit):

Love List Formatting?

Join the Bi-weekly (every other Thursday) SharePoint Patterns and Practices special interest group for general development call where I will be presenting a new List Formatting Quick Tip on each call!

Also, come get the full picture in my sessions about List Formatting at the SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas in May, or the European Collaboration Summit in Germany in May:

Thank you SPS Charlotte!

theChrisKent Column Formatting, SharePoint, SharePoint Saturday, SPFx, Web Parts , , , , , ,

This past weekend I was pleased to speak at SharePoint Saturday Charlotte. It was an awesome time and is one of the best SPS events out there. I had a great time presenting both Getting Started with the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) and Office 365 List Formatting (Slides can be found below).

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Photo courtesy of John Warner (@kingfumaster)

Both sessions were full of people asking great questions and actively participating. Presenting at these events can be a lot of work and requires not just the travel and the weekend time, but often many many hours of prep. Unfortunately, not every event feels worth it, but the attendees at SPS Charlotte were genuinely interested and engaged and I felt like I was able to both teach and encourage them to do awesome stuff.

Having spoken to several attendees (of not just my sessions) the overall sentiment was very positive. I wasn’t the only one amazed that these SharePoint Saturdays are FREE. The quality of speakers, sponsors, and attendees all put together by fantastic organizers is super impressive. If you missed it this year, be sure to correct that mistake next August!

P.S. – Charlotte has public electric scooters that are super cheap to ride. I rode all over downtown after the event and even went 4 miles on one the next day on my way to the airport. Even if you don’t use SharePoint, you gotta get to Charlotte just to feel the wind in your hair, the jealous stares of the walking pedestrians, and the unbridled feeling of freedom while traveling at 8 mph on a lime green scooter.

Resources

Join me at SharePoint Saturday Charlotte on August 11th!

theChrisKent SharePoint, SharePoint Saturday , , , , ,

I will be presenting Getting Started with the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) and O365 List Formatting on Saturday, August 11th 2018 in Charlotte as part of SPSCLT!

SPSCLTvan

Last year’s event was awesome! Don’t miss this opportunity for free training with keynotes by Bill Baer, Brian Alderman, AND Naomi Moneypenny (Not to mention all the other great speakers)!

I’ll be presenting Getting Started with the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) at 10 am. This session will provide an overview of all your customization options and focus on where the SharePoint Framework fits in that ecosystem. You’ll leave this session knowing what the SharePoint Framework is, what it can do, when to use it, and how to get there. I’ll also provide you a bunch of tips and tricks to get you going right away.

Then I’ll be presenting O365 List Formatting at 11:15 am. We’ll cover Column Formatting and take a look at the soon to be released View formatting. We’ll talk about both the power and flexibility of this approach along with some of the limitations. I’ll share the basics of list formatting, tips and tricks, and tools and resources available to enable you to get started immediately (including a demo of Column Formatter 2.0).

I’m really excited to return to SPS Charlotte. Great attendees, great speakers, and great SWAG all at a FREE event – don’t miss it!

Thank You SPSNYC!

theChrisKent SharePoint

This past Saturday I had the honor of speaking at the 10th annual SharePoint Saturday New York City. It was a great event and I really enjoyed presenting on Getting the Most out of SharePoint Patterns and Practices (Slides can be found below).

Photo Jul 29, 11 02 02 AM

Due to some kind of crazy weather in NYC, I had all sorts of trouble getting there. My non-stop, 2.5 hour flight from Indianapolis turned into 4 different flights (including one that just sat on the runway for 2 hours before unloading us) and took 26 hours. I ended up in Charlotte, NC (2 weeks early!) and had to scramble to make it to NYC on time. I showed up about 40 minutes before my session but I had no luggage.

I gave my talk wearing shorts and a random NC shirt I bought in the airport and everyone was very cool about it. In fact, the talk went very well. People seemed genuinely very interested in PnP and a lot of great questions were asked. I was able to talk to some of the attendees afterwards and while they had heard about some portions of PnP, there were several things that were new (and exciting) to them. So… mission accomplished!

I flew from NYC to Seattle for some meetings and just got home yesterday. I was reunited with my bag just in time to pay an additional bag check fee to bring it home (Bags normally take 6 days, right?). Oh well, things worked out pretty well in the end and they could have been far worse.

The SPSNYC event, however, was very well done. Great organizers, speakers, vendors, and attendees all in a cool location and all for free. If you missed it this year, don’t make the same mistake in 2019! Thank you to everyone that came out!

Resources