Configuring Viva Connections in the Teams app allows users to use the Intranet portal directly from the Teams app (both mobile and desktop/web). Viva Connections Dashboard takes it to the next level and gives users additional sources of curated news, dedicated apps, navigation links, etc. In This blog post, I will show you how to configure the Dashboard and publish it on your Intranet.
Viva Connections Dashboard
The Viva Connections Dashboard is a dedicated component that you can use to create curated space for your users. The Dashboard is composed of cards – predefined components with a specific function (for example, display my tasks, show information, redirect to an external page). Microsoft prepared a set of predefined cards, but you can also create your own using SharePoint Framework.
By default, the Dashboard is designed for a mobile experience and is available in Teams mobile app by default. You can also add it to your SharePoint website using a dedicated webpart.
Create Dashboard
1.Navigate to your Home site (configured in the previous post about Viva Connections), open site Settings -> click Set up Viva Connections -> click the button View Dashboard
2. The Dashboard page opens with mobile view as a default. You can change it to Desktop. To start building your Dashboard click on Add a card icon
3. Select a card you need to add and then select the next free slot for cards.
4. Configure your card. Each card has a size setting (medium or large) and additional parameters unique for the card.
5. When you finish composing your Dashboard you can publish it using Publish Hurray! Your first Dashboard is ready.
Cards
To understand Dashboard capabilities, we will go through available cards. There are 7 cards created by Microsoft and you can use them right away:
ApprovalsCreate Approvals in Teams. The card redirects you to the Teams Approval application.
| Assigned TasksTasks assigned to you in Microsoft To-Do (if you use something else this one won’t be for you)
| Card designerCreate your own custom card using predefined templates and Adaptive Cards.
|
ShiftsShow information about your shifts from Teams Shifts apps. If you do not use the Shifts app, you always get an empty card
| Teams appLink to a Teams personal app or bots (for example, Microsoft Forms, Power Apps application, Viva Learning, etc. )
| Top NewsTop News from SharePoint. News that has been boosted will display in the Top news card. Large size is suggested for this card.
|
Web linkCard redirects user to internal or external link on a web site.
|
Design card
The Design card is the one that can be customized, and I will talk about that more. The card uses Adaptive Cards to format data and add actions to it. You can configure basic settings such as template type (Heading, Image, Description), card size, title, and graphic element (use image or icon).
Card action – choose what happens when a user clicks on the card. You can use:
- Show the quick view – display more information with actions (using Adaptive Cards)
- Go to a link
- Go to a Teams app
- Select Media
- Select location from a map
- Display a specified or current location
Quick view layout and data – use this section to design your quick view. You can display formatted text, images, tables, etc. You can add more buttons with specific actions. Check the Adaptive Cards Designer page for full specifications – Designer | Adaptive Cards. You can use the page to build a test your card.
3rd party cards
Microsoft prepared a limited set of cards. They provide basic functionalities and should be enough to start. Using a Design card, you can build a more advanced card without any coding, but it also has limitations. If you want to create your own unique card with advanced functions, you can create it using SharePoint Framework.
If you’re interested in this topic check the page Overview of Viva Connections Extensibility (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/spfx/viva/overview-viva-connections).
Audience targeting
You can promote each card to specific groups of people using the Audience targeting feature. To do this open a card in edit mode and find the Audience targeting section in the card details pane. You can add up to 50 groups in the field.
You can preview targeted cards using the Preview button.
Check a targeted group and preview the Dashboard.
Publish Dashboard
The last step is to publish your Dashboard. Click Publish or Republish (if it was already published) and check the results on the mobile Teams app.
You can also add Dashboard to any existing SharePoint page using a dedicated webpart. This enables a dashboard for all users (using mobile apps, web browsers, or standard Teams Desktop application). To do this go to your SharePoint page and enter Edit mode. Try to add a new webpart and search for Dashboard for Viva Connections.
Add it and publish your page. It will display all your cards on your SharePoint page!
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