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Hey everyone — it’s John from On The Pulse.
How are you all doing this week?
In this week’s proper launch of On the Pulse, we’re looking at some new updates for Microsoft 365, including Planner, SharePoint, and OneDrive. We’re also discussing Microsoft’s attempt to combat political deepfakes!
This week’s topics include:
OneDrive’s new “Offline” mode.
Copilot in Microsoft Planner.
Microsoft vs political deepfakes.
Let’s Go!👇
Also — I’d love to hear what you think of On The Pulse. Whether you love it or hate it, or there’s something new you’d like to see included, hit “reply” and share your thoughts!
✉️ TOP STORIES (WITH OUR INSIGHTS)
🆕 OneDrive’s New Offline Mode
Microsoft recently added an offline mode to OneDrive, allowing users to access and interact with their files without an internet connection.
Full Story and Our Insights:
Last October, OneDrive for web received several new features and enhancements aimed at improving file retrieval and access across organizations. A new feature, offline mode, allows users to access and interact with their OneDrive files even without an internet connection, providing significant speed improvements and offline capabilities.
Steps to Use Offline Mode in OneDrive:
Offline Mode without an Internet Connection:
Open and interact with various views in OneDrive, including "Home," "My files," "Shared," "Favorites," "People," and "Meeting."
View folder structures, file names, and metadata.
Perform file management tasks such as renaming, sorting, moving, or copying files.
Open locally stored Office and non-Office files in their native apps and make edits.
Offline Mode with an Internet Connection:
Designate files or folders as available for offline access directly from OneDrive for web.
Free up local storage space by making files or folders online-only.
Experience up to 3X faster loading times when viewing and interacting with files in OneDrive.
Perform actions like designating files for offline access directly in OneDrive for web without switching to File Explorer or Finder.
Leveraging Local Cache for Improved Performance:
Offline mode utilizes the device's local storage to store file metadata, enhancing performance.
Accessing content from the local cache improves load times and speeds up file viewing and interaction.
By bypassing cloud service-related throttling issues, users can smoothly access large volumes of files.
Getting Started with Offline Mode:
Ensure the latest OneDrive sync app is installed on a Windows or Mac computer.
Log in to OneDrive for web in Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome to trigger automatic setup of offline mode.
Once set up, users can access and manage OneDrive files offline, with changes syncing once an internet connection is reestablished.
Controlling Files On-Demand Feature:
Users can control Files On-Demand directly in the browser, marking files for offline access or online-only storage.
Previously available only in File Explorer or Finder, users can now manage Files On-Demand settings from OneDrive for web.
Enhanced File Interaction in Offline Mode:
Users can work with various file types smoothly in offline mode, opening files directly in native applications for editing.
Changes made offline are synced back to OneDrive once an internet connection is available.
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🆕 SharePoint Framework 1.19
SharePoint Framework (SPFx) 1.19 introduces updates including Microsoft Viva support, layout options for Viva Connections, and improved technical capabilities.
Full Story and Our Insights:
Earlier this month, Microsoft released SharePoint Framework (SPFx) 1.19, which introduces several updates, including support for Microsoft Viva, improvements to the technical stack, and enhanced capabilities across Microsoft 365.
SPFx simplifies the development of enterprise solutions for Microsoft 365, offering features like automatic single sign-on and hosting, along with industry-standard web stack tooling.
Key capabilities in SharePoint Framework 1.19 include:
Introduction of new layout options for Viva Connections card view, such as graphical layouts for charts.
Support for Webpack 5.
Decoupling of build time packages release from SPFx versioning for faster issue resolution.
Various other improvements and adjustments based on user feedback.
As part of the release, new code samples demonstrating chart card experiences for Microsoft Viva are provided. Additionally, guidance is offered on adopting custom SPFx solutions based on font settings within the SharePoint Brand Center, currently in preview.
Developers can install SharePoint Framework 1.19 using the npm command provided:
npm install @microsoft/generator-sharepoint@latest --global🆕 Copilot in Microsoft Planner
Microsoft has introduced Copilot in Planner for users with Project Plan 3 or Project Plan 5 licenses, which can be used within the new Microsoft Planner in Teams.
Full Story and Our Insights:
Microsoft has announced the rollout of Copilot in Planner (preview) for users holding Project Plan 3 or Project Plan 5 licenses within the new Microsoft Planner integrated with Teams.
Here's how Copilot in Planner enhances project collaboration:
Planning: Copilot helps teams initiate project plans by generating tasks, goals, and buckets based on user prompts. By leveraging natural language processing, teams can ask Copilot to begin planning a project, and it will autonomously generate a work breakdown structure, simplifying the initial planning phase.
Managing: Effective execution is crucial for project success, and Copilot serves as a digital assistant to streamline this process. It helps teams identify priority tasks, break down complex work items into actionable steps, and manage resources efficiently. Copilot collaborates seamlessly with users, seeking feedback and approvals to ensure alignment between AI-driven recommendations and human decisions.
Tracking: Copilot provides real-time insights into project progress, priorities, and workload. By analyzing project data, Copilot offers answers to questions regarding progress status, upcoming tasks, and team members' workloads, enabling stakeholders to stay informed and make informed decisions.
Additionally, the new Planner in Teams introduces several other enhancements to enhance project management capabilities:
Timeline & Dependencies: Users can visualize project timelines and dependencies in a Gantt chart format, facilitating better scheduling and resource allocation.
Subtasks: Complex work items can be broken down into smaller, manageable subtasks, allowing for granular tracking and assignment.
Team Workload: Teams can assess workload distribution across team members, ensuring balanced resource allocation.
Custom Fields: Users can define custom fields to track project-specific information, enhancing project customization and flexibility.
Tasks Conversations: Teams can initiate Teams chats within the context of tasks, fostering seamless communication and collaboration.
Task History: Users can review the history of task changes, facilitating accountability and transparency.
My Tasks Integration: Individuals can manage all their assigned tasks across various projects and platforms within a single interface.
Simpler and Faster Experience: The new Planner in Teams features improved navigation, performance optimizations, and streamlined user interface, enhancing usability and efficiency.
Enhancements for Frontline Workers: Additional improvements cater to the needs of organizations with frontline workers, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility across diverse user groups.
🤖 Microsoft Joins the Battle Against Deep Fakes
Microsoft is teaming up with Truemedia.org to help train AI models to detect deep fakes in the lead up to the 2024 U.S. election.
Full Story and Our Insights:
TrueMedia.org, an organization dedicated to combating AI-based disinformation, is teaming up with Microsoft to enhance deepfake detection capabilities ahead of the 2024 U.S. election.
Leveraging Microsoft's AI for Good Lab, the collaboration aims to train AI models, share data, evaluate detection methods, and refine classification techniques.
This initiative responds to the surge in political deepfakes, driven by the accessibility of generative AI tools. With concerns rising, including recent hearings in the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the partnership aims to safeguard election integrity amid increasing reliance on social media for news.
🕟 4 WAYS TO SAVE 30 MINUTES A DAY WITH EXCEL
Save HOURS every day in Excel with these simple tips…
TIP #1 Remove Duplicates
Don’t waste time manually removing duplicate cells or rows in Excel. Instead, leverage the built-in tools to perform this action for you.
Start by selecting all the cells in your table.
Then click the “Data” tab in the menu.
In the Data menu, click “Remove Duplicates.”
To remove duplicates in a specific column, uncheck all columns except the one that contains duplicates.
Then click “OK” in the dialog box.
TIP #2 Flash Fill
The Flash Fill tool in Excel could save you hours of work by intelligently filling the empty cells in a column based on a pattern.
If you have a column of full names, type the first name into a new column.
Select the first name.
Then head to the “Data” tab in the menu.
Select “Flash Fill” or “Data Tools” > “Flash Fill.”
Excel will understand what information you’re trying to extract, and automatically fill the row for you.
You could also use this tool to reformat phone numbers or addresses.
TIP #3 Autofill
To fill a column full of values without pasting, or to increment a number, you can easily autofill by clicking and dragging the small square in the bottom right of the cell.
To fill a column with a specific value, enter the value into a cell.
Then select the cell, and click and drag the small square in the bottom right.
To increment a number, enter the first two numbers in the sequence.
Then select both cells, and click and drag the small square in the bottom right.
#TIP 4 Substitute
If your data contains unwanted characters, don’t spend hours manually deleting them. Instead, use the SUBSTITUTE function!
In this example, we have a column of names that contain unwanted commas.
Syntax:
=SUBSTITUTE(CELL, “old text”, “new text”)
To replace commas with nothing, starting from A2, we can enter:
=SUBSTITUTE(A2, “,”, “”)
For more time-saving functions, check out our Excel cheat sheet, FREE to download for all newsletter subscribers…
Excel Cheat Sheet
Grab your 🚀 FREE Excel Cheat Sheet, packed with 80 Excel functions to help you take Excel to the next level!
✅ Categorized functions
✅ Parameters
✅ Examples
✅ Links to resources
✅ WRAPPING UP!
That’s all for this edition of On The Pulse.
Thanks for reading and see you soon! 👋