Last Updated on May 31, 2022
Do you know anything about a newsfeed and a discussion board in SharePoint?
Well, both of them are popular in the classic experience. On the other hand, you may find better replacements in the modern experience.
In this article, I’ll share with you what I know about the newsfeed and discussion board feature in SharePoint.
Let’s get started.
Table of Contents:
In classic team sites, you will find a site feed on the homepage by default that looks a little similar to an old Facebook newsfeed.
Some functionality in the newsfeed include:
- Text box where users can start a conversation
- Embed an image to a post
- Use characters like @ and hashtags (similar to Twitter)
There’s no exact version of this feature in the modern experience.
However, there’s a web part called “My feed” that dynamically shows you a mix of content from across the whole Office 365 to the user.
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SharePoint has a discussion board, although it used to be more popular and heavily used in the past than today.
Specifically, the discussion board feature doesn’t come out of the box in the modern experience (without an equivalent in the modern experience).
Now, unlike with the site feed:
- Extra characters like hashtags and @ don’t work here
- Discussions from separate sites don’t aggregate
On the bright side:
- Discussions can be viewed in a list view
- Discussions can also be grouped and filtered
- Setting up alerts is quite possible
Note: Since a discussion board is basically a list, then you can pretty much do things with it like what you can do with other lists.
To find the discussion board in the modern experience:
- Click the “New” button on the site
- Select the “App” option from the list
On the next page, click on the “classic experience” link:
Finally, click the “Discussion Board” button on the next page:
Use better alternatives instead
Since modern sites have more advantages, I have little love for features from the classic experience that don’t translate well.
That’s why I believe that when it comes to newsfeed and discussion board, there isn’t any winner.
There are better alternatives for both these features, including:
- My Feed
- News
- Yammer
- Teams
Well, in the defense of those classic features, the alternatives I mentioned above either didn’t exist yet or were yet in their primitive forms.
How about you? What are your thoughts on newsfeed and discussion board? Share your thoughts below.
For inquiries and other concerns, please use the site’s contact form and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
