Overview
This guide reviews some basic customization options for a SharePoint team site. Any site owner, member, or guest can edit these settings.
Customization of a SharePoint site is optional, particularly if you are just using the document library feature of SharePoint for file storage and collaboration. However, adding custom links to the site homepage or navigation is a great way to spotlight information so that members don't spend too much time searching the site for important documents.
Accessing SharePoint
You can quickly access your SharePoint site from the SharePoint start page:
Setting up the site homepage
When your SharePoint site is created, it uses a default page layout created by Microsoft. You can edit this page and build your own custom layout featuring information important to your department or team.
Site homepage structure
The site homepage is made up of sections, which are single column or multi-column blank layouts you can add to the page. Within each section, you can add web parts, which contain your actual content (such as text, images, or calendars).
You can click to enlarge the labeled example below to see how web parts are contained within sections:
For more information about sections and web parts, refer to Additional resources.
Build a basic site homepage
Quick guide
- Go to the SharePoint site.
- In the upper right, click Edit.
- The homepage editor opens. By default, Microsoft has set the page up with a "one third right" layout section with the following web parts: News, Site activity, Quick links, and Document library.
- (Optional) To delete the default web parts added by Microsoft, click each web part and then select the Delete
icon in the toolbar.
- You can now begin adding sections and web parts. As you work, SharePoint will autosave your progress.
- Once you are done making edits, you can select an option in the upper bar:
-
Save as draft (upper left): This option saves your progress but does not update the homepage.
-
Republish (upper right): This option saves your progress and updates the homepage.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Go to the SharePoint site.
- In the upper right, click Edit.
- The homepage editor opens. By default, Microsoft has set the page up with a "one third right" layout section with the following web parts: News, Site activity, Quick links, and Document library.
- (Optional) To delete the default web parts added by Microsoft, click each web part and then select the Delete icon in the toolbar.
- You can now begin adding sections and web parts. As you work, SharePoint will autosave your progress.
- Once you are done making edits, you can select an option in the upper bar:
-
Save as draft (upper left): This option saves your progress but does not update the homepage.
-
Republish (upper right): This option saves your progress and updates the homepage.
Here are a few examples of web parts you can add:
Add a calendar
To add a calendar to a SharePoint site, you will first need to set up the calendar as a list, and then set up its calendar view. Once you do this, you can add the calendar using the
List web part. For more information, refer to our guide:
Add links to useful resources or important documents
If there are useful resources that you want your department or team to have easy access to, you can link to them from the homepage. Some web parts we recommend for this:
- To add simple links: Use Text or Quick Links.
- To add a link that includes a preview image and a description: Use the Link web part.
- To add links to SharePoint files: Use Text or Quick Links, or use the Document library web part.
Add text and image content
The Text, Image, and Quick links web parts make it easy to add basic content to the homepage, such as announcements or reminders for your department or team. If you want to create more interesting layouts, you can also use the following web parts:
- Call to action (similar appearance to banner)
- Hero (creates a carousel)
- Image gallery
Setting up the site navigation
When the SharePoint site is created, Microsoft creates default navigation (called the quick launch) in the form of a left menu with items such as Home, Conversations, Documents, and so forth. This menu is highly customizable, and it can be edited not just by site owners but also by site members and guests to whom you granted site access.
To edit the menu, click Edit at the bottom of the menu. Once in editing mode, you can:
- Add menu items: Hover over the location you want to add an item, and click the + icon.
- The Link option is particularly useful because you can link to SharePoint documents that your department or team frequently uses: open the document, copy the URL from the address bar, and paste it into the Address field when you are adding a menu item that is a link.
- Edit or remove menu items: Click the … icon next to the item, and select Edit or Remove.
- Reorder menu items: Drag and drop items up or down the menu to a new location.
- Create or undo sub links: Click the … icon next to the item, and select Make sub link or Promote sub link.
Make sure to click Save once you are done.
Customizing the site colors and logo
Quick guide
- Go to the SharePoint site.
- Click the Settings
icon and select Change the look.
- To change the main color, click Theme. You can select USCBasic1 to use USC's primary red color, or select one of Microsoft's options. Then, click Save.
- To change the logo and other header details, click Header. Make your changes, and click Save.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Go to the SharePoint site.
- Click the Settings icon and select Change the look.
- To change the main color, click Theme. You can select USCBasic1 to use USC's primary red color, or select one of Microsoft's options. Then, click Save.
- To change the logo and other header details such as the background color, click Header. Make your changes, and click Save.
Additional resources