Introduction
If your organization is still using classic team sites in SharePoint Online but desires the modern look and feel of communication sites, fear not! Converting your classic team sites to modern communication sites is a straightforward process that can greatly enhance your team's collaboration and productivity. In this blog post, we'll walk you through the steps to successfully make this transformation.
Requirements
The restrictions listed are prerequisites or conditions that must be met for the successful conversion of a classic team site to a modern communication site using PowerShell cmdlets.
- Classic Team Site Not Connected to a Microsoft 365 Group: The classic team site should be standalone and not associated with a Microsoft 365 group. Microsoft 365 groups provide a shared workspace for collaboration that includes resources such as a shared mailbox, calendar, and files. This restriction ensures that the site is not already part of a group, as the conversion process might conflict with existing group settings.
- Top-Level Site in the Site Collection: The classic team site should be the top-level site within its site collection. In SharePoint, site collections can contain multiple subsites, each with its own unique content and settings. This requirement ensures that the conversion process is applied to the main site within the site collection, rather than a subsite.
- User Permissions: The user executing the PowerShell cmdlet must have full owner permissions on the target site. Full owner permissions grant unrestricted access to the site, allowing the user to make changes, manage content, and perform administrative tasks. This ensures that the user has the necessary rights to initiate and complete the conversion process successfully.
- SharePoint Publishing Features: The site collection and site must not have SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure enabled at the site collection level or SharePoint Server Publishing enabled at the site level. SharePoint publishing features are used to create and manage web pages, including page layouts, content types, and publishing workflows. Enabling these features can introduce complexities during the conversion process, so they should be disabled to ensure a smooth transition to a modern communication site.
Additionally, if these publishing features were previously enabled but have been deactivated, it's important to ensure that the site does not still contain a Pages library. Pages libraries are used to store published pages in a publishing site, and remnants of these libraries can cause issues during the conversion process.
Microsoft documentation regarding this requirement and enabling team site to communication site: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/modernize-classic-team-site.
Understanding the Difference
Before diving into the conversion process, it's essential to understand the key differences between classic team sites and modern communication sites.
Classic Team Sites
- Traditional SharePoint sites with a structured layout.
- Limited customization options and outdated design.
- Primarily focused on document management and team collaboration.
Modern Communication Sites
- Sleek and visually appealing design with responsive layouts.
- Enhanced collaboration features, including news, events, and Yammer integration.
- Dynamic web parts for displaying content from across SharePoint and other Office 365 services.
By migrating from classic team sites to modern communication sites, organizations can provide their teams with a more intuitive and engaging platform for communication, content sharing, and collaboration.
Convert Team site to Communication site using PnP PowerShell
$SiteURL = "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/teamsite"
#Connect to SharePoint Admin Center
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Interactive
#Convert Classic team site to Communications site
Enable-PnPCommSite
Conclusion
Converting classic team sites to modern communication sites in SharePoint Online offers organizations a pathway to enhanced collaboration, communication, and productivity. By following the outlined requirements and utilizing PowerShell cmdlets, organizations can seamlessly transition their classic sites, unlocking enhanced features and capabilities.