SharePoint in Depth

On Thursday, Aug 13, 2026 I gave a presentation to the M365 User Group here of Washington, DC.  Here is my PowerPoint presentation in case you want to see or use it.

To summarize: list formatting, column formatting, and form formatting are done in JSON behind the scenes.  In advanced mode, you can customize the JSON code directly to achieve some pretty impressive results.  There is a repository of examples for you to copy and paste from at Github that give some impressive results instantly, so I wanted to introduce these.

Upon reflection, I should have went in a different order for my presentation.  I should have went straight from formatting a column via the GUI to the advanced column formatting examples from Github.  Then, discuss formatting the entire list with examples from Github.  Then introduce forms.  Formatting the forms (go over the Microsoft basic instructions page) should then lead to a wrap-up of the various form examples (mainly nice headers) from Github.  Live and learn.

Microsoft is releasing a new security feature for SharePoint Online pages. The new Content Security Policy (CSP) for SharePoint Online is a server-side security feature that works by running rules that tell your browser which scripts are allowed to run. The browser enforces those rules when rendering the page—blocking any script that isn’t from an approved source. [Read more]

If you or your users have created a column in SharePoint Online and chose its type as Number, then it will have commas as the thousands separator for numbers over 3 digits.  For fields such as EmployeeID or Invoice Number, you may not want the commas.  The solution is to Format the column, go to Advanced, and put in the following JSON code:

/* Add this to the JSON formatting section   */
/* This is for when a number field shows thousand separators */
{
  "$schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/sp/v2/column-formatting.schema.json",
  "elmType": "div",
  "attributes": {
    "class": "=if(@currentField > 0, '', '')"
  },
  "txtContent": "=toString(@currentField)"
}

I remember the Property Bag feature from long ago, namely SharePoint 2013.  I never used it.

Apparently, it’s still around and available for SharePoint Online.  There is no GUI for it so setting or viewing Property Bag key/value pairs is done either programmatically or via PowerShell.

Scripts are disabled by default on SharePoint Online modern sites.  So if you try to set a Property Bag key/value pair in PowerShell you will encounter an error.  To avoid this, you have to first run a PowerShell command to disable NoScript.  (The double negative means you’re therefore enabling scripts on the site.)   Once NoScript is disabled, you’re free to run your PowerShell script.

According to this article, starting in November, 2024 (i.e. now)  Microsoft is providing a new tenant-wide feature that will allow Property Bag scripts to run without first disabling NoScript.  In short, the Property Bag feature gets a pass.

If you’re thinking either “What is the Property Bag feature?” or “Who cares?  I’ll never use it.” then here is a very good article that describes the feature well and provides some very good use cases, such as auto-applying retention labels.

Definitely heed the part where you need to add the -Indexed parameter if you want this key/value pair to be added to Search.

I can see how the Property Bag feature could be quite useful in assigning Metadata values that are leveraged both by Search as well as Sensitivity or Retention labels.  So consider this hidden feature in your SharePoint Online development journey.

Want to edit the toolbar on a list in SharePoint Online as shown above?  April Dunham has provided an excellent and concise video on YouTube.   She covers how to hide, move, and edit the text on the various toolbar buttons on a SharePoint list by editing the JSON for the List view.

Caveat: You have to edit the JSON for each view separately.  And anyone with the permissions to create a new view can clearly do so and then enjoy the default buttons, thereby bypassing your cleverness.

She provides a high-level overview with a few examples.  This spurred me into looking for a complete list of commands and functions for editing a List toolbar.  So here it is: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/declarative-customization/view-commandbar-formatting 

Now go customize those list menus and impress your users!

I cannot say enough about Salaudeen Rajack.  His website – SharePointDiary.com – is awesome and I often find content there that one simply cannot find elsewhere.  Recently, he posted a list on LinkedIn of 10 excellent (and free) resource guides that he offers on his website.  So I’m copying and pasting the list here for those that may not see it on his LinkedIn profile.

Top-10 Guides for SharePoint Pros from SharePointDiary.com!

1. PowerShell Basics: Your Quick Reference Guide! https://lnkd.in/gsnDzp_M

2. How to Install the PnP PowerShell Module for SharePoint Online? https://lnkd.in/gi-sz2Xk

3. SharePoint Permissions – A Comprehensive Guide! https://lnkd.in/gGRrJs7M

4. SharePoint Admin Center: A Comprehensive Guide https://lnkd.in/gji3crfX

5. Mastering PowerShell Loops: An Essential Guide https://lnkd.in/gvrkYk-y

6. Site Collection Admins in SharePoint Online https://lnkd.in/gMTgHFRx

7. How to Connect to SharePoint Online from PowerShell?  https://lnkd.in/gkAYfvyH

8. Mastering SharePoint Document Library: A Comprehensive Guide  https://lnkd.in/gTX3E3Sf

9. How to Run PowerShell Scripts for SharePoint Online? https://lnkd.in/gdXPf_vT

10. SharePoint Recycle Bin: A Comprehensive Guide https://lnkd.in/geBRU6wc

It feels odd to write a non-technical post but I read an interesting article about product development around the SharePoint ecosystem at Microsoft over the past 8 years and it is worth sharing. This is an interesting behind-the-scenes view.  It seems to me that the focus lately has been on the end-user experience, the UI/UX, and the web content creator experience rather than the previous emphases on document management and process automation.  (Content types, document sets anyone?)  Anyway, draw your own conclusions.

If you’re keen to see the whole 23 year history of SharePoint in one nifty graphic, SharePoint Product Manager Mark Kashman put one up on recently on his Twitter/X account.  Here it is:

Yes I know it’s too small to read.  Right-click on it, then select “Open image in new tab”.

You’re welcome.