SharePoint: New site creation experience

With this update, you will choose a site template based on your scenario to get started creating your site. When choosing a template you can see its capabilities, and even see a preview. This change will help site owners through the process by simplifying and providing additional guidance while creating the site.

As a part of this update, several site templates have been renamed to clarify their purpose and simplify the selection of a template as a part of the site creation process.

  • Standard team – the new name for the default team site template (formerly “team collaboration”).
  • Standard communication – the new name for the default communication site template (formerly “Topic”).
  • Training course – the new name for the template used to present training courses (formerly “Training and courses”).
  • Training design team – the new name for the template used by teams while developing training (formerly “Training and development team”).

We are also updating the content in several of our site templates with this update. This includes content updates to the following templates: Organization home, Event, Human resources, Volunteer center, and Crisis management.

To make template selection easier, we have updated the site template gallery to include a full visual preview, a list of site capabilities, and a list of pages and other features that come with each template.

Site Creation: Site template details

site template details
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Site Creation: Site template preview

site template preview
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Site Creation: Set site properties

site template create
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This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 141819

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out will begin rolling out in Late July

Standard Release: We will begin rolling out in mid-August to complete by early September.  

How this will affect your organization:

With this update, all users who create sites will experience the new site creation process. Both the end-user and administrator experiences now include the selection of a site template as a part of the site creation process. 

Site administrator site creation

site admin creation selection
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As a part of this update, several site templates have been renamed to clarify their purpose and simplify the selection of a template as a part of the site creation process. 

  • Standard team – the new name for the default team site template (formerly “team collaboration”).
  • Standard communication – the new name for the default communication site template (formerly “Topic”).
  • Training course – the new name for the template used to present training courses (formerly “Training and courses”).
  • Training design team – the new name for the template used by teams while developing training (formerly “Training and development team”).

We are also updating the content in several of our site templates with this update. This includes content updates to the following templates: Organization home, Event, Human resources, Volunteer center, and Crisis management. 

There are no further customizations to the site creation experience and if you have disabled self-service site creation this will not impact your users. Only users and administrators who create sites will interact with this updated site creation experience. 

What you need to do to prepare:

There are no actions needed to prepare for this update. If you use self-service site creation in your organization, you should consider educating or informing your organization of these upcoming updates. 

Message ID: MC650415


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I've been working with Microsoft Technologies over the last ten years, mainly focused on creating collaboration and productivity solutions that drive the adoption of Microsoft Modern Workplace.

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