A school intranet homepage has a lot to do. It needs to point staff and students to what matters today, whether that’s an event, an assignment or a link to a service, without turning into a wall of content.
The web parts you choose make the difference. In our latest video, we count down the ten we’d put on a school intranet homepage.
Here’s the list, and why each one earns its place.
How we chose the list!
This is our personal top ten, and we would love to hear about your favourites too!
What the web parts below have in common is that each one either helps people find what they need faster, or makes the homepage more worth visiting.
The top 10, counted down
10: Editorial Web Part: magazine-style content with little effort
The Editorial Web Part is one of our favourites because it makes attractive, magazine-style content quick to create.
You have full control over images, text, layouts and calls to action, so the same web part can look completely different from one page to the next.
Use your theme colours and images to create calls to action that look engaging, and the information on the page looks better for it.
9: Shared Calendar Web Part: one place for the dates that matter
One of the biggest challenges in most schools is keeping everyone aware of important events and deadlines.
The Shared Calendar Web Part brings them into SharePoint: your school calendar, sports calendar and music calendar can be overlaid in one place, adding something dynamic to the homepage.
We cover how it works in more detail in our Shared Calendar Web Part blog.
8: Dashboard Web Part: Viva cards on your homepage
The Dashboard Web Part is often overlooked, partly because it doesn’t look like a web part at all.
It brings the Viva cards you see in Teams, and on the Teams mobile app, onto your SharePoint homepage, giving people another easy way to reach that information.
You choose exactly which cards to show.
They work well in small spaces, which makes the Dashboard a useful alternative to filling a web part zone with lots of separate web parts.
7: My Assignments Web Part: what’s coming up, at a glance
My Assignments pulls assignments in from Microsoft Teams, so teachers and students can see what’s coming up without opening the app first.
It’s a quick, easy win, and it’s useful for staff as well as students.
6: Quick Links: attractive links to the places people use
Quick Links is a simple way to add good-looking links to other pages or services.
It can be displayed in lots of ways, including neat icons, big tiles and film strips, so it can suit a compact sidebar or a feature section.
5: My Class Teams Web Part: straight into the classroom
My Class Teams is a good companion to My Assignments. It automatically shows which classes someone has in Microsoft Teams, and they can click straight into any of them.
It’s great for students, and for staff who need quick access to their learning areas.
4: Microsoft Hero Web Part: big, full-width images
The first of our two hero web parts is Microsoft’s own Hero Web Part: large, attractive images running the full width of the page.
It can be displayed in a number of ways, but tile view is our favourite.
Pick good images and link each one to an important area you want everyone to be aware of, and you have a clear, attractive way to point people to what matters.
3: Hero Search Web Part: an image, a video, and search
The Cloud Design Box Hero Search Web Part puts an attractive image, or even a background video, behind a search bar.
People can search for documents across the site, or the whole intranet, from the top of the homepage.
If you’re curious about the video option, we’ve written about it in Video Backgrounds for Hero Banner and Hero Search.
2: Staff Directory Web Part: find and connect with colleagues
The Staff Directory Web Part helps people quickly find and connect with colleagues across the organisation.
It’s flexible too: it can show contact details, departments, skills, locations and other profile information that each member of staff chooses to share.
It could sit on your main school homepage, or you might prefer it on a staff homepage. Either way, it’s a strong addition to a school intranet.
And in at number one…
1: Profile Web Part: a personal dashboard for every user
Our personal favourite is the Cloud Design Box Profile Web Part, because it turns a standard intranet homepage into a personalised dashboard for every user.
It shows the person’s profile picture and a welcome message, with notification counts for things like emails, calendar events and assignments at a glance, plus links to the pages they use most.
It also doesn’t take up much space, which leaves more room for everything else on the homepage.
A simple way to choose:
You don’t need all ten. A few pairings tend to work well together:
- My Assignments and My Class Teams, so students and staff can see what’s due and jump into their classes from one place
- A hero web part with Quick Links, to give the page a strong visual lead and clear routes to the areas that matter
- The Profile Web Part and the Dashboard Web Part, to make the page feel personal without taking much room
- Shared Calendar and Editorial, to keep events and news looking current
Start with what your staff and students look for most often, then add from there.
What to consider before adding them!
A few quick checks will save time later. Agree who looks after each section of the homepage so content stays fresh, and if you’re using the Staff Directory, check what profile information your staff are comfortable sharing.
It’s also worth confirming which of these web parts are included in your package. If you’re not sure, our team can tell you.
How Cloud Design Box can help
Several of the web parts in this list, including Hero Search, the Profile Web Part and the Shared Calendar Web Part, are Cloud Design Box web parts, designed to make a SharePoint homepage easier to use and nicer to look at.
The Shared Calendar Web Part in particular is a great way to bring your school calendar, sports calendar and more onto the page.
If you’d like to see how these web parts could look on your school’s intranet homepage, reach out to our team.
FAQs
What is a web part in SharePoint?
A web part is a building block you add to a SharePoint page, such as a calendar, a set of links or a staff directory. You choose which ones to use and arrange them to suit the page.
How many web parts should a school intranet homepage have?
There’s no fixed number, and you don’t need all ten from this list. Start with the things staff and students look for most often, and add more only if they earn their place.
Which web parts help students find their classes and assignments?
My Assignments shows upcoming assignments from Microsoft Teams, and My Class Teams lists a person’s classes so they can click straight into them. They work well together.
Can people search the whole intranet from the homepage?
Yes. The Hero Search Web Part lets people search for documents across the site, or the entire intranet, and can sit over an image or a background video.
