Microsoft is rolling out a feature using which you can create rules in SharePoint Online and Microsoft lists to set reminders and send notifications to users based on changes to list information, Roadmap. In this blog I will explain how to create a rule in SharePoint Online modern list or Microsoft lists.

Previous options to send notifications

Before this feature, if you wanted to send notifications about changes in a SharePoint Online or Microsoft List, you had below two options:

Create an alert

SharePoint alerts are email notifications that are sent to SharePoint users when something changes in a list or library. You can create an alert for:

• Whole list or library
• Folder, file, or list item
• SharePoint search criteria

However It doesn’t provide the ability to send notifications for column level changes. This is where you will find list rules very helpful.

Create a Power Automate/Microsoft Flow

Another way of getting notifications for file or list item changes is to use Power Automate with the SharePoint connector.

Using Power Automate, users can create simple change notifications as well complex, multiple condition-based notifications. However, some users may find it difficult to create a Power Automate flow from scratch without any development experience or assistance.

Creating list rules

Creating list rules is very easy as compared to creating power automate flow and you have much more control using list rules compared to the existing alerts functionality.

With this feature update, SharePoint users with edit permissions on a list can create and manage simple if/then rules based on changes to list information, to set reminders and send notifications. Users with read-only permissions will not be able create or manage rules.

Follow below steps to create rules in SharePoint online/Microsoft lists:

• Go to SharePoint Online/Microsoft list where you want to create a rule.
• Click on the Automate option from command bar and then select Create a rule.

There are four different conditions that triggers the rule as shown in the below image:

• Under Notify someone when, select a condition that will trigger the rule. For example, A column changes.
• Creating rule is like writing a sentence. Select each of the underlined portions of the rule statement to customize the condition by choosing a column, the value of the column, and who to notify.

For example, to notify Author when a Status column changes, you need to choose the Status column, and then select Author from Suggestions list. Suggestions from this list shows the Person or Group columns from the list.

If you want to notify yourself, you could select Me from Other suggestions. You can also select the users by using Enter a name or email address option.

• When you’re finished customizing the statement, select Create. You’ll see your rule on the Manage rules page and the rule will be turned on by default.

Now when Status column changes, list rule will send notification email to Author. The notification email will contain a link to display/view form of SharePoint list item. These notification emails will be sent from Microsoft 365. Check below image for reference:

Notes:

• Users will be able to create a maximum of 15 rules per list.
• Currently it is not possible to customize the email notification template

Editing a list rule

You can edit a list rule from the Manage rules page. Follow below steps to edit a rule for a list:

• Go to SharePoint Online/Microsoft list, select Automate from command bar and then Manage rules.

• From manage rules page, you can create/edit/delete a rule. You can also turn off the rule by changing the slider to Off.
• To edit the rule, click on the rule and then change the underlined portions of the rule statement.

• After making all changes, Click Save.

Deleting a list rule

When you no longer need a rule, you can either turn it off or delete it from the Manage rules page. Follow below steps to delete a rule for a list:

• Go to SharePoint Online/Microsoft list, select Automate from command bar and then Manage rules.
• Select the rule you want to delete and click Delete rule at the bottom of the Edit rule page, .

Supported/Unsupported column types

List rules allow sending notifications when a column or it’s value changes. However, it does not support all column types currently.

Supported column types

Currently below column types are supported while using when a column changes and when a column value changes conditions:

• Single line of text
• Choice (single & multiple selection)
• Number
• Date and Time
• Yes/No
• Person or Group (single & multiple selection)
• Created By & Modified By (while using when a column value changes condition)

Unsupported column types

Below column types are not supported currently:

• Multiple lines of text
• Currency ($, ¥, €)
• Lookup
• Hyperlink or Picture
• Calculated
• Image
• Managed Metadata

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When you store your company’s documents in SharePoint, a valid concern is data integrity. Is my data in SharePoint Secure? was one of the articles I wrote a while back. It addressed the concern of whether or not the data stored in SharePoint and OneDrive is safe and secure. The data loss can occur in one of two scenarios: security compromise at Microsoft data centers or a human (employee) factor (by accident or intentional). Most likely, each organization, large or small, is concerned about data loss due to rogue employees or inadvertent mishandling of its files and folders due to user error.

While user errors or intentional mishandling of documents can happen as a result of the mass download of company documents or external sharing to unauthorized users, probably the worst offense is when the files and folders are deleted in bulk from a given SharePoint site, which can eventually result in irreversible damage if there is no backup in place.

Luckily, there is a way to set up alert policies for such behaviors, so you are notified immediately after such issues occur.

How to enable Alert Policies to monitor for unusual activities in SharePoint Online

Policy alerts are available within the Microsoft Purview (Compliance Center). So you need to be either a Global Microsoft 365 Admin or be given a direct role to access the Compliance Center.

1. From the Microsoft 365 App Launcher, click Compliance
2. Once in Microsoft Purview (Compliance Center), click Policies > Alert policies
3. You will now be on a screen where you can create alert policies. You will probably note that some default policies for most common scenarios already exist. For example, you will notice two policies that could be of interest to you: Unusual volume of file deletion and Unusual external user file activity
4. However, those are built-in/default policies, and you will not be able to alter their logic/triggers. For example, the Unusual volume of file deletion policy assumes that the “unusual” number is based on AI/your company’s SharePoint usage, and you can’t really control it. You will be able to turn it off, if necessary.
5. To create a new custom alert policy, click New alert policy
6. Next, give it a Name. You can then choose its Severity and Category (those have nothing to do with the trigger and are just ways for you to categorize a given policy for your own benefit). Click Next.
7. On the next screen, you will set up a trigger. You can choose from a list of available triggers/activities; in our case, the activity is file deletion.
8. Just below triggers, you will need to choose the conditions for the alert. Please note that if you do not see this option, that means you do not have the proper license and will need to purchase a more expensive license to customize these settings. In my case, I am setting up an alert when a user deletes 15 or more files within 1-hour span.
9. On the final setup screen, you can specify to who the alert will be emailed to. You can also limit how many of these alert emails you want to get within a day. Click Next.
10. Finally, you can review the settings and enable the alert policy immediately by clicking Finish
11. You will now see the policy created, and it will be part of a table where the other alert policies are stored (default or custom)

Important Notes

• It does take up to 24 hours for the alert policies to take effect. (Image below courtesy of Microsoft)
• Some settings I describe might not be available in your tenant due to licensing. Make sure you have proper licensing assigned to the Admins. (Image below courtesy of Microsoft)
  
• As mentioned above, Default policies cannot be altered and are based on internal logic. (Image below courtesy of Microsoft)
  

Policy Alert in action

Once the suspicious activities match the trigger you specified in policy alerts, the recipients you specified during alert policy creation will receive an email similar to the one below

Example of the email received by an Administrator or designated recipients when the alert policy is triggered

Clicking Alert Details from the email above provides additional details on the Activity (in the use case above, it notified the Administrator that the user shared a document externally – this was another alert policy I set up in my tenant).

Alternatives to Alert Policies

The above-mentioned policy alert might be an excellent mechanism to be notified as soon as destructive activities occur in your tenant. However, you can also be a bit more proactive and set up other mechanisms that complement (or replace) the policy alerts.

Retention policies

Setting up proper retention or record policies will prevent content from being deleted in the first place. I explained this in a previous post.

Security and permissions

Quite often, things happen on a given site or team simply because users have access to the content when they should not have. So avoid oversharing and make sure proper security and permissions are set up.

Training

Finally, do not forget Training. Many things happen not because of bad intentions, but rather by accident and lack of knowledge and understanding of what happens due to certain actions in SharePoint and Teams. So do not ignore some basic training for your staff.

The post How to enable Alert Policies to monitor for unusual activities in SharePoint Online appeared first on SharePoint Maven.

Planner application proved to be a great task management tool for small and lightweight projects that do not need to follow a formal Waterfall project management approach. Of course, as you assign and update tasks on a plan you want to notify the recipients of their assignments. At the same time, when a given user is part of many plans, getting all these emails and notifications might be a bit too much. In this post, I would like to explain how Planner notifications work and how you can tweak them.

What is Planner?

If you are wondering what Planner is, I suggest you check out this article first.

Planer is part of a Microsoft 365 Group

To understand how some notifications work, it is essential to understand the relationship between Planner and Microsoft 365 Group. Planner is an integral part of the Group and does not exist out there in space. To understand this relationship further, check out this article.

Plan (Group) Notifications

If you are the owner of the Plan (Microsoft 365 Group), you can adjust a setting such that an email will be sent to the whole group (Group Distribution List) when a task is assigned or completed.

1. Once in the plan, click three dots > Plan settings
2. Click the Notifications tab, then check the box next to Send email to the group when a task is assigned or completed. Then click Save.
3. This is what the group email will look like (delivered to the Microsoft 365 Group Inbox). Those group emails are not delivered to user’s inboxes, even if the user opted to receive group emails in their Inbox – more on this below.

Personal Notifications

There are also some additional settings individual users (team members) can adjust for themselves as well. Unlike the section above, those personal settings affect just the user logged in.

Task Assignment Emails

1. Once in  a Plan, click three dots > Plan settings
2. The team member can check the boxes next to Someone assigns a task to me or A task assigned to me is later, due today, or due in the next 7 days

Comments on a Task Emails

Anytime someone leaves a comment on the Task, an email is sent to the Microsoft 365 Group Inbox.

Comment on a Task in Planner

Email received by the team members in the Group Inbox or Personal Inbox (if subscribed)

There is no way to disable those emails. However, the user may choose to receive or stop receiving those emails in their Inbox by adjusting the settings in Outlook. I described the mechanism in an earlier article.

The post How Planner Notifications work appeared first on SharePoint Maven.

One of the most powerful ways to “spice up” a list or a library is to create some rules that will notify you of the changes happening in that list or library. Thanks to the recent changes made by Microsoft, we can do so quite easily now. So in this article, I would like to explain how you can create Rules on a list or library.

Lists vs. Libraries

First, let’s get terminology out of the way here. If you are wondering about the difference between a list and a library – you might want to check out this article first.

The old SharePoint alerts

It is important to note that this Rules feature is not new. For ages, we had the Alerts feature, which I described back in 2015. The alerts allowed you to set up personal notifications based on changes within a list or library (i.e., a document deleted from a document library or a list item changed or added). So think about the Rules feature as the modern equivalent (replacement) of alerts.

How to create rules on a list or library

It does not matter whether you create a rule on a list or a library; the process is the same. So for this example, I will use a list of projects I have to create a rule and then call out nuances related to the Rules on a Document Library.

1. Under Automate, choose Rules, then Create a rule
2. You will be presented with four scenarios that will trigger the email notification: A column changes, A column value changes, A new item is created, An item is deleted. Most of those are self-explanatory. Let me choose A column value changes to demonstrate how it works.
3. You will be presented with the wizard you need to complete to set up a rule
4. In my case, I want to set up an alert when the Status of a Project changes to Closed, send an email. So this shows the completed rule. Click Create once completed.
5. It will now show the rule created. From this point on, you will be getting emails that fit this trigger.

How to manage Rules on a list or a library

1. If you ever want to manage the rules you created, just click on Automate > Rules > Manage rules
2. From there, you can either temporarily disable a rule via the toggle switch
3. Or delete the rule altogether after you click on it

Rules limitations and nuances

• There is a limit of 15 rules you can create per list or library
• You can’t customize the email messages sent
• There is no way to introduce additional logic into notification without reverting to Power Automate
• The rule cannot be created on a column that has multiple lines of text
• If you are creating a rule on a Document Library, A column changes and A column value changes triggers probably only make sense if you use metadata in a document library. Otherwise, you will have a very limited selection of system metadata columns to choose from.

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