October 2024 Snapshot

Make Your Intranet
Accessible to Everyone

This month’s Snapshot is filled to the brim with
exciting news and updates.

April 2022

Dear ShortPoint Community,
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Welcome to the final stretch of 2024! It's time to wrap up those projects! We're excited to bring you the latest scoop on all things ShortPoint.

What's New
- New Text Editing Experience
- Video Tutorial on Transforming Classic Pages to Modern
New and Updated Support Articles
Tech Tip: Make Your Technical Content More Readable
Locations of ShortPoint: Dubai, UAE

Yvette Tunguia
ShortPoint Content Unit Manager

What’s New?

Taking your Text Editing Experience to the Next Level

Have you tried editing text in ShortPoint recently? Have you noticed anything different?

We’re excited to share a revamped text editing experience with the release of the new Inline Elements Editor in ShortPoint version 8.3.8.0 and beyond! With this improvement, editing text content became much easier and more intuitive. Before, you have to open the Settings window to edit text. But now, you can simply double-click on a line of text and see all the text formatting options available in the Rich Text Editor including font size, font color, alignment, and more.

To take it to the next level, you can also use the Rich Text Editor to add Inline Design Elements. Inline Design Elements allow you to turn any line of text into a button, a link, an abbreviation, and SO MUCH MORE! With this, you can create unique pieces of content that will draw your users to your page. You can learn more about this in Introducing ShortPoint Inline Design Elements.

Want to see for yourself how the new editing experience works? Watch the video tutorial now! You can also check out Text Editing Experience in ShortPoint for a detailed guide on the new editing experience.

New Tutorial Video: Transforming Classic Pages to Modern

As Microsoft's upcoming deprecation of scripting capabilities for Classic pages in SharePoint Microsoft 365 environments draws near, we continue providing resources to transform your Classic pages into Modern. This crucial step helps avoid potential intranet issues due to the change while leveraging the exciting features exclusive to the modern experience.

New to this update? Discover more in our support article on Microsoft 365 Classic Pages Deprecation: Transforming Classic Pages to Modern Pages. It's packed with all the essential information you need to know.

If you have questions or need further assistance in transforming your Classic pages into Modern ones, please don't hesitate to submit a ticket at support.shortpoint.com. Our team is always on standby to help you.

Articles

New Articles

Updated Articles

5 Inline Design Elements to Make Your Technical Content More Readable

Are you experiencing a delay when loading your SharePoint page? If so, it’s time to optimize your page performance! Optimizing page performance is essential for providing a positive user experience. Your SharePoint site viewers are more likely to stay and engage with your page’s content if it loads quickly. In contrast, slow loading time can frustrate and discourage them from using your page.

If you’re looking for ways to improve your page’s loading time, we got you covered! ShortPoint provides its users with 4 easy ways to optimize their pages:

Enable Lazy Render / Lazy Loading Options
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ShortPoint has two features that improve loading time exponentially. The first one is called Lazy Render. This feature delays the loading of Sections that are not yet visible on the screen, reducing the amount of rendering time that the ShortPoint engine has to do. The second one is called Lazy Loading Options. This feature delays the loading of images that users aren’t currently interacting with. The images will only load once a user starts engaging with them.
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Learn how to enable these features by checking out Enable Lazy Render / Lazy Loading Options on ShortPoint Elements.

Enable Caching on Connected ShortPoint Design Elements

If you have a connected Design Element on your page, ShortPoint will read the information from the connected source every time you load the page, which will affect your page loading time. Enabling caching for connected Design Elements will reduce your page load time. Good thing that ShortPoint has two cache options that you can use:

(a) Smart Cache+ (Recommended) - this will allow the element to load quickly from the cache. Then, after the page finishes loading, it will retrieve the latest data in the background and show it.
(b) Cache for a Set Period of Time - this will allow you to set the period to clear the cache. Data from the cache will be shown for the selected time, then the latest data will be retrieved after that set period expires.

Writing technical content is challenging. You often use business or technical jargon, assuming your readers understand it. Sometimes you're trying to describe steps or concepts that only a handful of people are likely to grasp. You can't cram too many explanations and parentheses into your content—it will become tedious to read. I would know. I live and breathe writing technical content.

So, I handpicked 5 Inline Design Elements I use to ensure readers have all the information they need to fully grasp my content, making it easier to read. I will list them here. For full details on each Inline Design Element, check out our article Introducing Inline Design Elements Feature for ShortPoint Page Builder.

Abbreviation

Switch to Grid Mode and access the Performance and Caching category in the Connect tab of your Design Element. To learn how to enable these caching options, check out Enable Caching on Connected ShortPoint Design Elements.

Do you have many WCAG’s, SOC2’s, and ISO’s in your business unit? I am just pulling random abbreviations off the top of my head. But if you do, then you can attach their full meaning every time you use them without having to add parentheses. This is the value of the Abbreviation element.
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Find out How to Customize the Abbreviation Design Element from the Inline Text Editor.

Tooltip

When using unavoidable business jargon or technical terms, don't assume all your readers understand them. Some may skip these parts, missing important information you meant to convey. Others might stop reading entirely. After all, who wants to read content that's difficult to understand?
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This is where a Tooltip comes in handy. As readers hover over business jargon or technical terms, they'll see a brief explanation pop up. This feature ensures everyone can grasp the meaning without interrupting their reading flow.

We have an article on How to Customize the Tooltip Design Element from the Inline Text Editor.

Popover

Next, we have the Popover. This element displays additional information when you click on a specific term or phrase. It's ideal for longer explanations, as it allows you to include a title and more detailed content. Use Popovers when you need to provide comprehensive information without cluttering your main text.

Our article on How to Customize the Popover Design Element can provide you more details.

Link

I've used the Link Inline Design Element a lot in this article. Like us, you may have documentation or data elsewhere that you don't want to include directly in your content. Instead of copying information that's already available somewhere else, guide your users to it with a Link. This approach allows you to focus on key facts or points in your content. If readers want to delve deeper, they can simply click the link for more details.
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Click this link to read our article on How to Customize the Link Design Element.

Emoticons

Finally, if you're allowed to inject some fun into otherwise dry content, consider sprinkling in a few emoticons. These can set the tone and make your writing more engaging. However, use them sparingly—you don't want to risk your manager's raised eyebrows for being overly informal.
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I hope these ideas help make your technical content more enjoyable to write and, as a result, more readable for your audience. Keep an eye out for next month's Tech Tip!

The Locations of ShortPoint

Location Spotlight is on Dubai, UAE

For our next Location Spotlight, let's jet across the ocean—a 16- to 20-hour flight from our take-off point in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We're heading to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), home to another ShortPoint office and the city where two of our colleagues reside. This vibrant city is where you'll find Muhammad Faisal, our Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Sidra Afzal, our HR Manager.
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Sidra manages all HR responsibilities primarily from her home and has been doing so for over three years. She appreciates the ability to customize her workspace, allowing her to create an environment where she's most productive. Occasionally, she works from the ShortPoint office in the Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus (DTEC). It's there that she interacts with Muhammad, who, in contrast, works from the office most of the time. He does, however, take advantage of working from home during the winter season. This allows him to avoid the heavy traffic caused by the influx of tourists during that period, saving valuable time.
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Muhammad manages a wide range of financial and operational activities. He coordinates with multiple stakeholders—employees, Founder & CEO, and investors. As ShortPoint is a remote-first company, these responsibilities extend beyond traditional office boundaries. He sees remote work as a great advantage, especially as a CFO in a tech company working with global teams across time zones. But he acknowledges that there are challenges. “Although there are many benefits of remote working and video calls are an effective mode of working remotely, there are moments where face-to-face interaction builds better trust or helps clarify complex issues more easily. It’s also easy to blur the lines between work and personal time when your workspace is your home. I have to ensure clear boundaries are set so that I don’t overextend myself,” he says.
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Now for the exciting part! When asked to describe Dubai, Sidra paints a vivid picture that Muhammad fully agrees with. “Dubai is quite unique, it's known for its skyline and the rich mix of cultures you can experience here. It’s really lovely. One of the best things for me about it is how modern and traditional vibes come together. You’ve got futuristic skyscrapers right next to historical sites, and that contrast is just awesome!.”
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Sidra provided a whole list of places that we should definitely check out when in Dubai:

Green Planet**:** It’s an indoor rainforest where you can see some really cool exotic wildlife.
Bluewaters Island: This place has great hotels and restaurants, plus Ain Dubai [Dubai Eye], which is the world’s largest observation wheel.
If you visit in winter, you can enjoy some charming winter markets! The views of Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) and Dubai Marina are amazing and just a short walk away.
Souk Madinat Jumeirah: This spot has such a lovely vibe with its traditional market feel. Perfect for picking up souvenirs for your friends and family. There is also a cool Theatre of Digital Art where you can see famous artworks in a whole new light.
Kite Beach: If you love the beach, this is the place to be! You can do everything from biking and kitesurfing to swimming and playing volleyball. They even have a reading library if you just want to chill.
Alserkal Avenue: This is where the art scene is at! Tons of galleries and exhibitions featuring up-and-coming artists, plus there are always fun events happening here.
Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood: You can shop for great souvenirs like Kashmir shawls, perfumes, and spices, enjoy some delicious food, and even take a lovely boat ride while soaking in the local culture.
Mohammed Bin Rashid Library: The Mohammed Bin Rashid Library is a stunning architectural gem, it has a vast collection of books, and beautiful spaces for reading and learning. You will lose track of time there!
Ski Dubai: Yes, you can ski in the desert! It’s an indoor ski resort where you can hit the slopes or enjoy some fun rides and activities.

With Sidra's comprehensive list, you won't need a tourist guide. Add these spots to your itinerary, and you'll capture the vibe of Dubai. What an exciting adventure it will be!

See you in November

More exciting news is planned for November. Stay tuned! And if you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback, please send us a note. We love to hear from you.
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See you next month, ShortPoint hero!