News & Communication Recipe
Build a news and announcements page with important messages and news rollup.
Overview
This recipe creates a central news and communication hub with targeted announcements at the top and a comprehensive news feed below.
Page Layout
Step-by-Step Setup
Create the News & Communication Page
- Go to Site Contents → Site Pages → + New → Page
- Name the page "News & Communication"
- Add to site navigation
Add Section 1: Important Messages
Add a full-width section for announcements.
Add web part: Bonzai Important Messages
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Important Announcements |
| List | Important Messages |
| Items to Show | 3 |
| Enable Content Targeting | On |
| Title Icon | Info |
| Chrome Type | Title and Border |
| Fixed Height | 0 (auto) |
Dismissal is controlled per message
AllowDismissal Yes/No column on the Important Messages list. Set it to Noon critical announcements that must always stay visible.Place at the top for maximum visibility
Add Section 2: News Rollup
Add another full-width section for the news feed.
Add web part: Bonzai News Rollup
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Company News |
| List | Site Pages |
| Showcase Value | News Rollup |
| Display Template | List |
| Max News to Show | 20 |
| Show Paging | On |
| Items per Page | 5 |
| Show Date | On |
| Show Category | On |
| Show Comments | On |
| Title Icon | News |
| Chrome Type | Title and Border |
Curate news with the Showcase column
Add to Navigation and Publish
- Save and publish the page
- Add to site navigation
- Test important messages appear correctly
- Verify news articles display with correct styling
Use Content Targeting for relevance
TargetAudience column against the viewer's SharePoint group memberships. Items with an emptyTargetAudience are shown to everyone.Required SharePoint Lists
| List Name | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Important Messages | Alert messages with Category, dates, per-message dismissal, and optional targeting |
| Site Pages | News articles (built-in library) |
Site Pages requirements: Set the Showcase column (orFeatured / PromotedState) to News Rollup on each news page you want displayed. Optionally add a Category (Choice) column for category filtering and a TargetAudience (Single line of text) column for content targeting.
Important Messages List Schema
| Column | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Single line of text | Message headline |
| Body | Multiple lines (Rich text) | Full message content (HTML is sanitized at render) |
| Category | Choice | Info, Warning, Error, Success (case-insensitive, drives icon and color) |
| StartDate | Date and Time | When the message becomes active |
| EndDate | Date and Time | When the message expires |
| MessageActive | Yes/No | Manual toggle to enable/disable individual messages |
| AllowDismissal | Yes/No | Can users dismiss this message (the Dismiss button is hidden when No) |
| TargetAudience | Single line of text | Optional. SharePoint group name used when Content Targeting is On |
Final Checklist
- ☐ Important Messages showing active announcements (inside the StartDate / EndDate window and MessageActive = Yes)
- ☐ Category values displaying with correct icon and accent color (Info / Warning / Error / Success)
- ☐ Dismissal working for messages where
AllowDismissal= Yes (and hidden when No) - ☐ News Rollup displaying news articles curated by the Showcase column
- ☐ Paging working for long news lists (Show Paging + Items per Page)
- ☐ Content Targeting filtering correctly when enabled
- ☐ Page added to site navigation