The era of ranking with SharePoint folders is over! SharePoint offers you a much better solution: SharePoint sites! You’ll tell me, “Why not just import the current structure to SharePoint? ” Not at all! Read this article before migrating to SharePoint. You’ll see why SharePoint sites are the perfect solution!

If there is one thing to remember from this article, it is this: do not try to transfer your files as folders when you move to SharePoint. It is a frequent misstep that can easily be avoided. The solution? Create SharePoint sites!

By creating SharePoint sites dedicated to each project, service or client, you can easily prevent clutter in your files. It is well known, the accumulation of files can quickly become problematic and turn into a real jumble. Each member of the team adds files according to his ranking method, so we lose the thread quickly. SharePoint sites are a great way to list files by project or client, for example.

It’s also much simpler in terms of security if you use the sites. With folders, you have to constantly break the inheritance of permissions and assign new permissions – which is quickly becoming a real headache! SharePoint sites, which work closely with SharePoint groups, are a thousand times easier to manage. We have written an article on SharePoint permission levels. To read absolutely!

But that’s not all! With SharePoint sites, you can also add a wide variety of content such as:

• cutom lists;

• calendars;

• the People Web Part;

• video integration;

• Power BI reports

Now that you know that SharePoint sites are a much better idea than folders, it remains to determine what kind of site you will create. Here’s a summary of the benefits of SharePoint team sites and communication sites to help you make the right decision for your situation.

By definition, a SharePoint team site connects your entire team to the content, information, and applications you use every day for a specific project. In concrete terms, the team site allows you to:

• store common files;

• collaborate on the creation and modification of these files;

• create and manage lists of information.

With security settings, team members are the only ones who can access SharePoint site content.

The main benefit of using a team site is certainly the ease of exchanging information and collaborating to advance a common project.

We also like the fact that team sites are accessible in different ways:

• from the SharePoint Start Page

• from the Files section of the Office 365 group (just enable the Office 365 Group option);

• from SharePoint mobile apps.

Do you use OneDrive? You can search for your SharePoint files. What more?

Notice to users of Office 365 groups: : SharePoint Online has thought of you! An Office 365 group is automatically trained each time you create a team site with SharePoint. And vice versa: When you generate an Office 365 group in Outlook, a SharePoint team site automatically pops up. To do this, be sure to activate the Office 365 Group option!

What? You do not use Office 365 groups yet? I invite you to read our article to find out what we like about Office 365 groups. You too will love it!

In summary, I recommend that you opt for a SharePoint team site if:

• you are working on a team project;

• you want to share news and reports with other members of your team;

• you want to assign tasks and manage a common calendar

SharePoint communication sites have been designed to deliver information to a wider audience. This type of site is ideal for sharing information with a larger audience, while allowing a small core of users to edit the content. Three design options are available when creating a SharePoint communication site

• Rubrik for sharing news, events and other informative content;

• Presentation to showcase a product, team, event or other content;

• Empty to create your own SharePoint site design.

As you can see, SharePoint communication sites work closely with SharePoint permission levels. Key users are granted additional permissions (owners or members of the site) and other users remain observers (site visitors). They have access to the documents and other contents of the SharePoint communication site, but can not modify them.

You will also notice that SharePoint communication sites are not associated with Office 365 groups..

The settings of the communication sites are also very different from the team sites. For example, only a few applications can be added, such asLibrary, Calendar, Custom List, Import Spreadsheet, and Site Mailbox. However, you can enable the Team Collaboration Lists feature and all applications become available to the communication site.

In short, I suggest you create a SharePoint communication site if:

• you want to address a wide audience;

• you want to disseminate news or information on a larger scale using visual and modern.

In light of all the advantages of using SharePoint sites, admit that the files are out of date! Believe me, you will gain so much efficiency and productivity with SharePoint sites that you will not want to go back with the folders anymore!

And if you need a hand to migrate to SharePoint and set up your team and communication sites, you can count on us! At LS2, we assist various companies from different sectors in the implementation of SharePoint. We work closely with our customers to promote a smooth and successful migration. We can certainly simplify the task for you too!