This page provides common answers for SharePoint Online Sites to help you get started.

Should I use a Team Site or a Communication Site?

Two kinds of sites can be created in SharePoint Online - Team Sites and Communication Sites.

	Team site Open		Communication site Open

	Team site		Communication site
What is it?	A private space to collaborate with your team.		A space to share information that engages and informs viewers you choose within the University.
What's it used for?	Store and collaborate on files or lists of information with your team. The primary goal for a team site is to collaborate to create content with a small group.		Broadcast information to engage and inform others outside of your immediate team. The primary goal of a communication site is to inform readers – primarily for them to read, not create.
Possible uses	Collaborate with your team or others on a specific project Internal site/Intranet for an office or working group to document procedures, specifications, troubleshooting steps, or store important files Extranet site to collaborate with an external partner (specific external users; not the general public) Holiday party planning committee Internal site for club or interest group		Share information like news, announcements, events, reports, status updates, and more in a visually appealing format Internal portal, department site, or subject-specific site Engage dozens, or thousands, of viewers Share information with students in a particular school, major, or program Knowledgebase for policies, procedures, or troubleshooting information
Who creates content?	All members are content authors who jointly create and edit content.		Small number of content authors and a much larger number of content readers or consumers.
Who can view content?	Only members of your team or specific guests you share with.		Typically a small set of members contribute content that is consumed by a much larger audience.
Access/Security controlled by...	Microsoft 365 Group		SharePoint Groups
Site navigation menu	Left		Top
Comes with...	Site, workspace to share files, OneNote notebook, Shared Calendar, Planner board, email address for group, shared inbox, Microsoft Team, live chat (dependent on settings)		Site, workspace to share files

Read more:

• When should I create a team site?

• When should I create a communication site?

Can I make my SharePoint site open to the public?

No.  SharePoint sites are designed to be for "internal" University audiences only with login required for access.  The largest supported audience for a site is "the whole University", plus optionally specific external/non-albany.edu email addresses.

Should I use/store my files in Microsoft Teams or in SharePoint?

Microsoft Teams is the hub for teamwork. It allows for collaboration, document management, chat, calls, meetings, and much more.  Every Team has an associated SharePoint Team site where much of the Team's content, including files in Channels, is stored.

SharePoint Online is primarily an intranet site and a document management platform where you store, collaborate, and share information seamlessly across the organization, and is also part of Microsoft 365.

Read more: Should I store my files in Microsoft Teams or in SharePoint? An understanding of behind the scenes

How are Teams and SharePoint related?

When you you create a new Team, several other services are automatically created in the background:

• Microsoft 365 Group

• SharePoint Online Team site

• Exchange Online shared mailbox & calendar

• OneNote notebook

• Other services like Power BI and Planner

This means that when you share files in a Team, they are actually stored in the associated SharePoint Team site, not in Microsoft Teams itself. In other words, Teams and SharePoint are closely related because every Team has an associated SharePoint site for storing documents.

Read more: Overview of Teams and SharePoint integration

What are Hub Sites?

Hub sites provide a way to organize and bring together content from related sites.  ITS can designate your site as a hub site for you if you need to associate multiple sites (Team or Communication) with each other. If you need a hub site created, please submit an ITS Service Desk ticket.

Read more: Planning Hub Sites