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If you’ve ever wanted to launch your app and take your users exactly where they need to go, then you need deep linking in Power Apps Canvas Apps. Deep linking allows you to pass data and navigate directly to specific items or screens in your app using URL parameters. Sounds hard but, it is not. This post will walk you through: What deep linking is and why it matters How to use the Param function in Power FX How to work with multiple parameters Real-world examples of deep linking By the end, you’ll understand how to implement deep linking in Power Apps. Next week, we’ll build on this with a fully functional vacation request app that puts these mechanics to work. Note: While it isn't hard, there are a lot of moving parts. If you are struggling to implement, check out this video for a full walkthrough of Power Apps Deep Linking: Updated: Power Apps Deep Linking What is Deep Linking in Power Apps? Deep linking in Power Apps is the ability to launch an app with URL parameters that can be read by the app to perform actions like navigating to a specific screen, displaying a custom message, or even opening the exact record the user needs to review. Typically, these records are created in your app and then sent to the user via Outlook emails or Teams messages. Why it matters: Better user experience  – take users where they need to go immediately. Simplified navigation  – eliminate extra clicks. Integration with Microsoft tools  – use deep links in email, SharePoint, or Teams. The OnSelect property of a Power Apps button that dynamically generates a deep link for the selected Item in the Gallery. The link has 2 parameters. Cow is set to 1 and EID is set to the ID of the Item. Step 1: Using Param in Power Apps with Power FX The Param function is your starting point for deep linking. It’s a Power FX function that reads data from the URL. Here’s a basic example: Label.Text = Param("Msg") Now, if you open your app with this URL: https://apps.powerapps.com/play/e/default-9416a1d9-2b7f-4847-8223-18c2057145e3/a/a8faf8f2-96b7-45da-9c54-d17f877847f9?tenantId=9416a1d9-2b7f-4847-8223-18c2057145e3&hint=705bc13c-a6b0-438e-97ce-ee04e1d6c65f&sourcetime=1754079731074&Msg=Hello%20World. Your label will display “Hello World.” Note: This is a URL of my app, it will not open for you. You would replace everything before &Msg with the URL of your app. Step 2: Navigating with Param You can also use Param to decide which screen a user should see first. You would place the following code in the App > StartScreen property: If(Param("Screen") = "Approvals", 'Approval Screen', Welcome ) With this setup, if you open your app using: https://apps.powerapps.com/play/e/default-9416a1d9-2b7f-4847-8223-18c2057145e3/a/a8faf8f2-96b7-45da-9c54-d17f877847f9?tenantId=9416a1d9-2b7f-4847-8223-18c2057145e3&hint=705bc13c-a6b0-438e-97ce-ee04e1d6c65f&sourcetime=1754079731074&Screen=Approvals The app will take the user directly to the Approvals screen. Step 3: Using Multiple Params in Power Apps Deep linking gets even better when you combine multiple parameters. So we could combine the two previous examples and have them both in the same URL. https://apps.powerapps.com/play/e/default-9416a1d9-2b7f-4847-8223-18c2057145e3/a/a8faf8f2-96b7-45da-9c54-d17f877847f9?tenantId=9416a1d9-2b7f-4847-8223-18c2057145e3&hint=705bc13c-a6b0-438e-97ce-ee04e1d6c65f&sourcetime=1754079731074&Screen=Approvals&Msg=Hello%20World. This deep link will: Navigate the user directly to the Approvals screen Display “Hello World.” in a label Keep in mind, you can have as many Parameters in your URL as you need, though I have never needed more than two. Typically, one to control the screen and a second to control which record is displayed on that screen. Pro Tips for Power Apps Deep Linking Use clear parameter names  – keep them short and descriptive (e.g., Screen, Msg, RecordID). Combine deep linking with variables  – use Power FX to store Param values and reuse them across screens. Store them in Formulas if they aren't going to change, Global Variables if you need to manipulate the variable throughout the app. Test your links in multiple browsers to make sure URL encoding works correctly. Include deep links in Power Automate notifications , Outlook emails ,  or Teams messages for a seamless experience. Real-World Use Cases Approvals:  Send managers a link that opens directly to their pending approvals. Data-driven navigation:  Link to a specific record for quick access. Notifications:  Add deep links to email or Teams messages to reduce user clicks. What’s Next This post focused on the mechanics of deep linking in Power Apps Canvas Apps. Next week, we’ll take it a step further with a fully functional vacation request app that puts deep linking to work. In the meantime, check out the full deep linking video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inHj96OGc5I Need Help? If you’re ready to add deep linking or any other Power Apps feature to your app but don’t have the time or want expert guidance, the team here at PowerApps911 is happy to help. Fill out the contact form , and we’ll get to work making your app awesome.

We’re following along with Microsoft as they’re releasing new features for Public Preview including the new Power Platform admin center, the new Power Apps Plan designer, the new Data Workspace functionality, and new SQL to Dataverse features. The Power Platform admin center  has been upgraded, and you can select the toggle at the top right of the home screen to see what it looks like. You’ll note the new by-task organization of it in clickable links on the left-side navigation rail. For example, if you want to manage your Environments, you select the Manage button. Also new in this interface are the new Monitor (which is still being rolled out) and Deployment hubs. Lastly, the home screen of the admin center allows you to customize your view by adding/removing cards as well as drag-and-drop functionality with the cards to arrange them just so.  The Power Apps plan designer  is a new way to enlist Copilot to help you in crafting solutions to your business problems. You can get to it by toggling on the new Power Apps experience from the top right of the home page. Now you can add natural language prompts to let Copilot know the specifics of your business problem. Copilot will provide an outline of your business problem, giving you some proposed apps, data tables, and flows as a solution. Copilot allows you to continue to add prompts through the design process to help you refine what’s going on. Shane has recently provided a video of how this works if you want to see it in practice. You will need to have a Dataverse equipped environment to experience this functionality, but it is a superb way to streamline the business problem process, getting from problem to solution in a very short time.  Power Apps plan designer showing the Doggie Daycare Manager The Data Workspace  is the new visual editor to see your tables created on a canvas and to view them together along with their relationships. It’s a great way to create, add, and modify new tables manually or with Copilot’s help. You get there from the Create new tables  choice from the Tables  tab. You can toggle which columns you want to show, add new columns, and create/manage table relationships. Microsoft is working to add this same functionality with existing tables, but for now, you can add existing tables to the Data Workspace in “read-only” mode. If you want to edit existing tables, you’ll still have to open that table in a separate tab. Overall, this is a really nice interface for interacting with your tables and their relationships. Data Workspace showing the tables from the Doggie Daycare Manager solution Microsoft gave SQL developers some love in January. They’ve included the ability to define SQL Server environment variables in your solution. As you create the environment variable, you can now select “SQL” as the connector and then enter the connection details in the “New environment details” parameter. New Environment dialogue showing SQL Server option under the Connector Also, connections to virtual tables now include PostgreSQL . It’s easier than ever to connect to your SQL data with Dataverse. Virtual table creation showing PostgreSQL option. We’ll certainly be trying out these new features this month!

Let’s be honest: most internal apps don’t exactly scream “award-winning user experience.” And maybe that’s fine - until it isn’t. When users don’t engage with your app or when support requests start piling up, it’s easy to point fingers at functionality. But more often than not, the real culprit is design - or the lack thereof.  The apps you build today will live longer, cost less, and work better if you get design right from the start. Design Drives Adoption We have all been in the place where we quit something and walk away because it feels overwhelming, and your users are no different. You can build the most functional Power App in the world, but if it feels clunky, cluttered, or confusing, users will avoid it. Design is not decoration, it’s communication. Your design should communicate to users where to look and what to do. Good User Experience (UX) Extends the Life of Your App Apps with poor UX age faster. They break under the weight of user frustration. They get rewritten, reworked, or worse - abandoned. On the flip side, a well-designed app becomes a reliable part of a team's workflow. People learn it faster, require less training, and adapt to changes more easily because the foundation is intuitive. People tend to invest in the success of things that are more attractive to them. They excuse small errors and are more likely to contribute to its success by providing feedback. The better the UX, the longer your app stays useful and relevant. Quality Design = Lower Long-Term Cost Quality user experience often gets missed in project budgets: Good UX might cost more upfront, but bad UX costs you every day after launch. Poor design slows adoption, increases support needs, and leads to avoidable rework. Designing for the user early reduces long-term friction, minimizes maintenance, and saves serious money – whether measured in hours, help desk tickets, or actual rebuilds. Good design isn’t an expense. It’s an investment. Show, Don’t Tell Telling you is one thing, but a picture is worth a thousand words. Take the example below: Don’t worry, we’re not using a real app for the “bad” example here. But I’d be lying if I said I haven’t seen designs this rough out in the wild. The consultant who helped me mock it up practically needed eye bleach, and rightly so. It’s cluttered, overwhelming, and hard to use. Both screens are meant to show color options for a templating app, designed to help users build Power Apps that follow a consistent brand style. And yet, one of them is clearly worse. Why? The colors are similar, and the core functionality is the same. Now take a look at the cleaner version. Instructions are still available, but they’re tucked behind clearly labeled buttons instead of being splashed across the screen. You’re not losing information. You’re gaining clarity. The original version is packed with controls meant to showcase how your color choices might look in action. But the updated screen achieves the same goal with a single large image that demonstrates gradients and contrast more effectively. Ask yourself: Which one would you rather use? Which one feels more approachable? Which one would your users be more likely to adopt and give feedback on? Here’s the real kicker. The well-designed app screen was built over two years ago, and it’s still in use today with very few changes. That’s the power of good design.   How to Level Up Your Design Game First of all, you don’t have to hire a graphic designer or become a creative professional to implement principles of good UX. The internet is packed  with resources teaching the basics of interface design, and if you want to improve the design of your Power Apps – or anything else you’re building – you can start here: Learn the principles.  Start with the basics of visual hierarchy, spacing, alignment, and contrast (they’re simple, but powerful). Check out https://lawsofux.com/  for a great series of resources that covers the basics (with advanced topics as well). Watch how people use your app.  User behavior is a better guide than your opinion. Create interfaces, then physically watch users interact with your app, either in person or via screenshare. You’ll learn a ton by watching mouse movement – are your controls placed intuitively, or is there a lot of searching around to find where to click? If your test users have to ask questions, consider that an opportunity to improve your design. Remember, every question you get from your test users is a possible support call down the road. Design in such a way that instructions are unnecessary. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.  Study interfaces you enjoy using. Figure out why  they work. Study designs on sites like https://dribbble.com/  and try to replicate them in the Power Apps Studio. Check out the training projects on https://www.frontendmentor.io/ and complete the challenges in Power Apps. Don’t trust defaults.  The current generation of Modern Controls lacks a lot of customization options. And the default settings for classic Power Apps controls are, quite frankly, ugly. But classic controls still give you the most flexibility, and you can  make them look good.  Just get to know all your properties. Get professionally trained!   PowerApps911 offers hands-on training to help you raise your game. Check out our live Extreme Makeover, Power Apps Edition  training, offered throughout the year. Of course, the other option – if you’d rather skip the learning curve – hire us.  We offer: UI/UX design services  for Power Apps. Maybe you’ve got a brilliant app that is functional but lacks in the design department. We can handle the design load and help bring creativity to your great functionality. Ground-up app design .   We can handle it all, from start to finish, and you can get a strategically and creatively designed app that hits the ground running from day one. Workshops and trainings  to help your team get hands-on design skills that actually apply to what you’re building   Final Thought Design is often treated like frosting on a cake. In reality, it’s the flour. You can’t bake a good cake without it. If you care about usability, longevity, and return on investment, design can’t be an afterthought - it has to be built in from the beginning. And if you’re ready to do that, we’re here to help! 👉 Power Apps Makeover  – our hands-on course to level up your app design game! Our need help with something else? Just Contact Us !

Shane was looking for help brainstorming content the other day and said to me, “You seem to be good with the negative of Copilot.” And I thought, woah woah woah—I happen to be very excited about the possibilities of AI and Copilot! But then, if I’m being honest, he might have a point. Thinking that maybe some of our customers share a similar hesitation, I thought I would write about it. Am I a huge fan and excited for personal productivity? Absolutely yes! And I genuinely hope everyone is using AI for personal tasks. But do I start to feel nervous when I think about AI automated solutions for our internal processes and customer experience? Also yes. As business leaders, we constantly strive to make the right decisions. We’re focused on growing the business, providing opportunities for our employees, and one wrong decision could put that at risk. When I think about the possibilities AI offers for furthering our business, the ideas flow easily. But when it's time to actually execute, these are the things that slow me down: Consistency and Control  – If we build something that answers HR questions or addresses client inquiries, I need confidence that it gives the same answer each time to the same question. Trust can quickly erode if this consistency isn’t guaranteed. To tackle this, we're starting with processes already heavily documented internally—like our training materials and knowledge base. This helps train the tool accurately and minimize risk. Brand – At PowerApps911, we work hard to execute according to our values, and any tool we use has to embody that brand. We’re planning careful internal tests first, ensuring the solutions we implement reflect our values, and don’t inadvertently compromise what makes us unique. Fear in the Organization  – That’s right—even at PowerApps911, where Shane passionately talks about AI at least once a week, people still worry. We hear concerns like, “It only takes me a few seconds to do that; why automate?” or, “There are so many variables to consider in the setup—can we really trust AI with all those decisions?” or even, “Am I helping build my job replacement?” I genuinely understand the anxiety around job security. Just this week, I reiterated that our goal isn’t replacing jobs—it’s about removing repetitive tasks, allowing everyone to focus on more meaningful and rewarding work. Yet, despite these fears, the AI train has left the station, and I’m not going to allow our company to be left behind. We’re learning about the technology every day to better serve our customers (I think Shane spent at least 100 hours on Microsoft Copilot Studio in March!). But beyond learning, as CEO, it’s my responsibility to ensure we actively advance our service delivery and customer experience with AI. Here’s how we’re approaching AI in our organization: Encourage People to Use It  – This is the most obvious step, but also critical. Bi-Weekly Tech Deep Dives  – We already hold regular sessions, and now we’re adding sessions specifically focused on AI. This way, our internal AI enthusiasts can keep everyone else informed. Automate Tasks People Dislike  – We’re looking at processes within our organization that people dread. Let’s boost morale by automating those unloved tasks. People are usually more supportive if AI removes something they didn't enjoy doing in the first place 😊. Improve Weak Processes  – Next, we’re targeting processes we don’t currently execute well. It’s hard to resist improvements if the AI-driven solution clearly makes things better. Internal Testing Before Customer Rollout  – For customer-facing solutions, we build and test internally first. Our consultants thoroughly vet solutions to ensure the responses align with our standards. For one solution, we are adding a review step, requiring consultant approval before any response goes out. Human oversight remains crucial to ensuring quality and reducing fear. Transparency with Customers  – Our customers have questions and concerns too. They want efficiency but also reassurance about quality and control. We'll be transparent about what’s automated and where human oversight is essential. Change as significant as AI is tough, but as I said—the AI train has left the station, and there’s no turning back. If we don’t leverage AI to improve our business operations, a competitor will. They'll deliver similar products better, cheaper, and faster. If you're hesitating about AI, start small. Choose just one repetitive, unloved task in your business and test the waters. Your future self (and your employees!) will thank you. Curious about how AI could fit into your business, but not sure where to start? Let’s figure it out together. Our team can help you explore where AI makes the most sense—whether it’s improving internal processes, enhancing customer experiences, or tackling that one workflow nobody loves. If you're ready to take the first step (or even just have the conversation), let’s talk about a project . We’ll meet you where you are.

How about we all stop tracking Incidents in these ridiculous oversized Excel spreadsheets? They are clunky, hard to use, and share too much info with everyone. I can’t tell you how many customers have shown me their current solution and there is a whole lot of PII for anyone to steal. 😢 Today let me show an example of an Incident Reporting app based off of some customer apps and discussions we have had. Nothing too elaborate but hopefully gets your mind going on what is possible when you build your own custom solution using Power Apps. With solutions like this we focus on a few things: • Ease of use, anyone should be able to pick up the app and use it, no training required • Well structured and secured data, what could does it do to collect the data if you can’t keep it safe and generate reports on it later • The ability to capture photos and witness in a structured, related manner • Follow our business needs, too often when using off the shelf solutions the process follows the software, here we make the software follow the business process Okay. That is enough of the setup, let’s see it. And speaking of seeing it, if you want to see the app in action then check out the video Power Apps Advanced Example: Modern Incident Reporting . The video shows the working demo and some of the code behind the scenes. Incident Reporting Apps Walkthrough Below is a break down of all of the screens and some key details. Remember with Power Apps you can make the app anything you want, so this is meant to inspire you, not dictate to you how it all works. Mobile App Welcome Screen Often Incidents happen away from your desk (unless you are clumsy like me🤕) so we often build these apps as Mobile apps. That way they can be opened on any modern phone or tablet and get to work. The Warehouse, the breakroom, the job site, or even your desk, the app is always ready to go. Creating a New Incident By making it quick and simple to log incidents—even in high-stress situations—this app helps ensure more complete data capture, which leads to better reporting and faster resolution of safety hazards. After clicking New the user is taken to one screen that will prompt them for the information they need to capture. All fields are optional in this example. The goal often with these apps is to encourage them to get as much information as quickly as possible. When reporting on a spill it isn’t critical but this same app will be used to report a traffic accident or other possible stressful events. Getting as many details as possible is the key. Some customers choose also to have different logic when they choose high severity. So while only the safety coordinator is notified when there are trip hazards, the entire executive tier is notified when there is an injury requiring medical attention or worse. The great part about Power Apps is you can easily add that custom logic based on your business. One other nice thing about this screen. When you go to enter Location that is usually simple so you just have a small line, but when you enter Description you actually click the + and you are taken to a full screen for getting the description entered. This encourages maximum detail. Adding Witnesses with Proper Relationships With Power Apps connected to Dataverse, sensitive data like personal information can be secured with role-based permissions. This means only authorized personnel can access PII—unlike Excel files that often get emailed around without restrictions. Sometimes there are zero witnesses of the mystery spill in the breakroom; sometimes there are 25 of Timmy falling off the table with a lampshade on his head at the company holiday party. 🤣 Either way, the app needs to be flexible unlike that Excel solution that just has a bunch of columns. Here they can add as many witnesses as available. Each one will be stored as its own record in a separate table and then related back to the incident. Your typical parent child data model. Faster and more flexible for reporting. Awesome. Oh yeah, and unlike that Excel solution we can actually secure the child data, like PII. Do you know how often we see that type of data leaked in the XLSX file? 😲 Remember, if you need help with building this Incident Reporting Apps, or any other ideas you have we are happy to help. Contact A picture is worth 1000 words Like witnesses sometimes you need 1 picture and sometimes you need a dozen. So once again there is a flexible, many to one relationship for photos. Also, while this screen just grabs the image, keep in mind that adding metadata or notes about the image would be very straightforward. Sometimes 1000 words doesn’t cut it so letting the user add notes can be helpful. You could even add the ability to add annotations but now I am just showing off. Submitting the Incident Report Now that they have captured all of the information it is time to Submit it. This will save all of the data and establish all of the relationships so you can easily report on it later. But it doesn’t have to end there. On Submit you could add logic to do a multitude of things: • Send an email to the safety team with a link directly to this incident (deep linking) • Generate a PDF of the incident for saving or submitting to insurance • Have notifications or alerts go based on the priority or severity of the event • Start an approval or assignment process to get incident taken care of Once again, the great part about Power Apps is that you can make the software do what the business process dictates, not the other way around. View Existing By breaking things up into two apps you build a best of class solution for each app, instead of a big crazy app for everyone. This approach not only keeps the reporting app simple and user-friendly but also ensures that the management app can offer more advanced functionality tailored to supervisors and administrators. In the demo app there is a simple screen for finding and viewing existing Incident Reports. Often with this screen you would limit the incidents to the ones submitted by the logged in user or for their area of responsibility. You will notice that this app does not have edit capabilities. That was a design decision for the demo. Typically you will have 2 apps. One app for easily submitting the Incident Report and then another for responding to and managing the incident. The management app is often a desktop app because you do that work at your desk, not in the field. By breaking things up into two apps you build a best of class solution for each app, instead of a big crazy app for everyone. Remember when we started, one of our goals was to make our reporting app as easy to use as possible without training. Adding a bunch of editing and other functionality they don’t need just clutters things up. Closing thoughts Incident reporting apps are very common in the businesses we talk to. By building a straight forward Power Apps app to manage the process they get better data and better outcomes based on their business needs, not what the 3rd party app can do. If you need help with this or any Power Apps project let us know. Click that Contact button and we will be happy to give you a hands-on demo of this app or discuss any of the thousands of business solutions we have built for customers that range from a one woman shop in Alabama to multiple companies across the globe who are on the top of the Fortune list.

Have you ever felt like navigating SharePoint is a bit like wandering through a massive library without a librarian? You're pretty sure the information you need is somewhere on the shelves, but finding it feels like a treasure hunt without a map. Well, guess what? Microsoft just handed us the map—and it's called the SharePoint Copilot Agent ! A few important notes and limitations you should be aware of before getting started. To use the SharePoint Copilot Agent features you will need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Currently, SharePoint Copilot Agents only work with files up to 3 mb. SharePoint lists are not currently supported with Agents. How to use the existing SharePoint Copilot Agent. From your SharePoint site, in the upper right corner, you will see a Copilot icon. Click on the Copilot  icon, and you will see a flyout with a Chatbot specific to your SharePoint site, with a few default choices. The chat bot can search through all of your Documents and pages in your SharePoint site. Below is an image to the supported document types. Now, from the open chatbot window we can ask a question like, Are we off for Christmas You will see we are then presented with a response as well as a reference as to where it got this information. Which was an internal document on this SharePoint site. Now, what happens if you have documents with conflicting information? Well let’s see. So, we are now going to ask a question like, Can I bring my dog to office?   In this case, we know we have 2 documents on our site for pet policy. One is in our Customer Docs folder and the other is in our Documents (Company Documents) Library. Since we want to know what our company’s policy on pets, we are going to navigate to the Documents  Library. From the Document library we can now click on the Copilot Agent Site , and from the dropdown select our Documents agent 1  which we created specifically for this library. Now if we ask if the same question again, Can I bring my dog to office?  We will get a completely different response because we are only looking for this information in this specific document library. Now It's time to create your first SharePoint Copilot Agent! In our example, we will be navigating to our Customer Docs  Library. At the top, click on Create an agent . You will get a new agent pop up, that is ready to go right away. But we want to make a few changes and refine the scope a little. Click Edit . In the Edit agent pop up, feel free to change the Name, Image, and Description. Then, click on Sources . With Sources, you have the ability to add additional sites if you want. Or you could select specific files you want to include so the chatbot knows to search those as well. In this case we only want it to search this specific Document Library, so we won’t be making any changes here. Now click on Behavior . From Behavior, you can set a custom Welcome message. Letting users know what is going on. You can set your own Starter Prompts. These are basically suggestions for what the ChatBot can do. These will help your users get started using the chatbot. You can also set instructions for the agent. This will tell the agent how to interact when using the chatbot. We like to keep things fun around here so we changed our instructions a little, see screen shot below. (You don’t have to do that, you could also leave the default instructions if you wanted.) Then just click Save  and then close the Agent window. Great job! You just created your first SharePoint Copilot Agent! You will notice the Agent is now selected and we can start prompting to test it out. So, let’s ask it the same question we asked earlier to kick things off, Can I bring my pet to work?  (You will see the response in the screenshot, and it is only looking in this document library for the answer.) You will also notice we can view the Reference document where it got this information from, it’s never a bad idea to verify. Now if we ask, Could I ask my manager for more information?  Something important to note here is that your Copilot Agent has access to the Microsoft Graph. So, it pulled in Shane’s managers name, Nicola, which is really nice. Another cool feature of the SharePoint Copilot Agent is the ability to select a specific file and ask questions just for the selected file. So, in our example we will select a file and then ask the chatbot, Summarize this file please . And just like that, it summarized our document! Ok, switching gears for just a second. We are going to head back over to our Documents  library to show off another cool feature of SharePoint Copilot Agents. Let’s say you have 2 similar excel files in your document library and need to compare them. With your SharePoint copilot agent, this is no problem! In this example, we have 2 Payroll files and want to compare them so it will find the differences, we can simply ask, Compare these files please . We will then see, it gives us the key difference between the 2 files, saving us time from having to do it manually. We also previously mentioned you could create SharePoint Copilot agents for Sites and Libraries. But you can also quickly and easily create an agent for a specific folder or file as well. If you select a file in your document library and click the ellipses , from the flyout you will see Create an agent . This agent will be specific to the file selected. Switching back to our Customer Docs  Library, notice you will now see a Customer Docs Chatbot.agent  file. If you click on that file, it will open the Chatbot in a full window for you. So how do users access these SharePoint Copilot Agents? Are they just instantly available for users after it’s created? Great questions! In the upper right, click on the dropdown  next to the agent. 27.  You will see 2 different sections, you have Approved for this site  and Recommended for you . The Approved Agents have been shared and are accessible to all of your users with Copilot license. Whereas the Recommended one, is only available to Shane since it has not been shared yet. To make our Customer Docs Chatbot available to everyone, we can click on the ellipses next to the chatbot. From the dropdown, select Set as Approved  and then it would be globally accessible. You may notice there is also a Share  button. By using the Share button, you could select specific users or groups who you would like to share this Agent with. There is a third option for sharing your Chatbot, and that is you can share it to Teams and use it in Teams. (We did not have this option show up for us for whatever reason, but just know it is possible and should be available) – NOT SURE WE WANT TO INCLUDE THIS. As a final note on sharing and security, if a file(s) are not shared with users for security reasons, the chatbot will not use those documents in it’s response. This is important to know. Hopefully this was helpful in getting you started with SharePoint Copilot Agents. And helps get you thinking about how you could use SharePoint agents to help you and your team work more efficiently. Shane also has a video that goes along with these steps, you can watch here .   Wrapping It Up: Time to Level Up Your SharePoint Game The SharePoint Copilot Agent is more than just a chatbot; it's like having a personal assistant who's always on call, ready to help you navigate the maze of information with ease. What would you ask your Copilot Agent first?  Drop your ideas in the comments below—we'd love to hear how you plan to make the most of this game-changing tool!

At PowerApps911, we rely on efficient and cost-effective business tools, just like you. Instead of settling for generic, subscription-based apps that only partially meet our needs, we’ve embraced the Power Platform to create tailored solutions that address our specific challenges. Why Build Custom Solutions Instead of Buying SaaS? Traditional software often requires businesses to adapt their processes to fit the tool—a frustrating and inefficient experience. But with the Power Platform, we’ve flipped this dynamic. Now, we can design solutions that align perfectly with our workflows, empowering us to operate more effectively. The Advantages of Custom Solutions: Tailored Fit:  Each app is built to match our exact processes, ensuring seamless integration with our operations. Rapid Development:  Thanks to low-code tools, we can build functional apps in days rather than months. Empowerment:  Business experts can create these solutions directly, reducing reliance on traditional developers. Below, I share six examples of how we’ve solved real business problems using Power Apps and Power Automate. These solutions are tailored for our needs but can serve as inspiration for how specific and effective your own tools can become. Are these solutions a perfect fit for your business? Not exactly—they’re tailor-made for ours. However, they showcase the adaptability and customization potential of the Power Platform, inspiring you to imagine just how precisely you can address your own unique challenges. Also, keep in mind even though we have built 1,000s of apps and flows for customers we rarely build our own tools with that much focus. Many of them are on iteration 50 or more as we are constantly improving and tweaking it. Another beauty of the platform, the tools and the apps are at their best when things are very agile. Oh yeah, and if you want to see any of these business solutions in action then check out the video 6 Apps & flows that run our business - Power Automate & Power Apps Examples Applicant Tracking System Managing hundreds of job applications annually can be overwhelming, especially for a team of 30. To address this, we use a custom Applicant Tracking System (ATS) built with Microsoft Forms, Power Automate, and SharePoint. Process Overview:  Applicants submit their information via a Microsoft Form embedded on our careers page. Power Automate processes the form responses, applies filters for priority applications, and stores the data in a SharePoint list. Key Feature:  Automated Teams notifications allow reviewers to evaluate key responses quickly and collaboratively make hiring decisions. Enhancements:  Custom Power Apps forms on SharePoint streamline the data review and rejection process. Weekly Meeting Scheduler For our Power Platform University program, we host weekly classes for rotating groups of students. Managing these meetings was once a time-consuming task until we automated the process. Solution Details:  I fill out the app with the subject and body and hit Send. It triggers a flow that gets the current list of students from the Training API. It then generates a Teams meeting and sends each student a proper Teams invite. Time Saved:  Previously, it took 30 minutes to prepare these invites manually. Now, it’s done in under a minute. Bonus Feature:  Custom logic ensures recurring schedules (e.g., Thursdays at 3 PM) are automatically accounted for. Help Request Manager Customer inquiries are central to our business, and we handle thousands of them annually. Our Help Request Manager flow ensures no request goes unnoticed. If you have ever filled out our Contact Us form, you have been in this process. Core Functionality:  A Cognito Form collects customer requests, which Power Automate then routes to the designated team member for the day. The flow then facilitates all of the back and forth via Teams with the consultant and emails to the requestor. It might be the most complicated flow I know of. Adaptive Cards in Teams:  Responses are managed directly within Teams, eliminating email clutter for the PowerApps911 team. Additional Benefits:  The flow automatically updates SharePoint with inquiry statuses and tracks correspondence. Also, if the requestor says yes, they can automatically add themselves to our mailing list. I decided a picture of the whole flow was most interesting. 🤣 To say it does a lot is an understatement. Office Hours Scheduling One of the best features of being a paid Training student is the monthly live office hour sessions where you can get your own questions answered. The problem was not enough people were attending. So, we gave them an option to get a real meeting invite, none of that ICS garbage. How It Works:  Students select their preferred session (AM/PM), triggering a flow that adds them to a hidden list of attendees in a Teams meeting. Key Advantage:  Students receive calendar invites directly, enhancing attendance and reducing friction. I almost forgot, this solution has a full build video here . Do you want to get your questions answered? Sign up for one of our paid training options with Office Hours and you can attend and get your answers! Custom CRM System Our custom-built CRM, powered by Dataverse and integrated with QuickBooks, is at the heart of our operations. It’s a sophisticated model-driven app that simplifies customer and project management. Highlights: Tracks client details, projects, time sheets, and billing information. Seamless integration with QuickBooks through a Dataverse plugin. Biggest Win:  Automating time entry approvals and syncing data with QuickBooks saves over 10 hours of manual work weekly. Troubleshooting with Blank Apps Troubleshooting large apps or flows can be challenging, so we rely on creating “blank apps” to replicate issues in an isolated environment. Fail Fast Philosophy:  By recreating the problem in a controlled app, we can quickly identify whether the issue lies in our code or the platform itself. Key Takeaway:  This approach reduces debugging time and prevents unintended disruptions in live apps. Final Thoughts Building apps and flows isn’t just about solving problems; it’s about empowering teams and enhancing user experiences. Each of these solutions has not only made our operations smoother but also inspired us to push the boundaries of what’s possible with the Power Platform. If you need help with solving some of your business problems with your own custom solutions, then hit that contact button and let us know. We can help you with anything from a 30-minute bug fix to a 30-year partnership. Training, mentoring, architectural double checking, and more. We are experts and happy to share that expertise with you.

As we wrap up the year, we know everyone is already in holiday mode, so instead of diving into complex new stuff, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the exciting functionality updates across the Power Platform in 2024. This year has been filled with innovation that continues to empower makers and users alike. Let’s dive into the highlights, broken down by product, to give you a quick recap before the new year. Power Apps The Power Apps Studio saw updates this year with the addition of Copilot , new Modern controls , and an updated interface for makers : Copilot:  Made the formula bar more intuitive, automatically suggesting formula inputs as you type. You can even add remarks to your formula code, and Copilot will interpret these as coding suggestions. Modern Controls:  Many modern controls are now production-ready, offering robust theming and customization options. These sleek controls, like combo boxes, date pickers, and the new data table (still in preview), make creating polished apps easier than ever. Enhanced Interface:  The updated interface introduced hover menus for controls like galleries and combo boxes, providing quick access to settings without extra clicks. Tree view icons now better represent control types, while the Data and Media panels simplify resource management with smart removal buttons for unused assets. Power Automate Power Automate delivered notable updates in 2024, focusing on usability and integration: Modern Designer:  Bugs have been ironed out, and Copilot now provides intuitive suggestions while designing and testing flows. Power Automate Desktop:  Seamless integration between desktop and cloud flows is now possible, with Power FX support for desktop flows and improved functionality for the recorder tool. Tweaking automations has never been easier. Copilot for Automations:  Copilot has improved significantly, turning natural language into functional automations. If you haven’t used it yet, now is the time to explore this game-changing feature. Power Pages 2024 Power Pages updates focus on enhancing the way makers create and connect their web experiences: Copilot for Pages and Forms:  Easily create pages and forms using Copilot, which leverages natural language and the summarization API for actionable insights. Add insights to your lists and forms with Copilot integration with the summarization API. Improved Data Connectivity:  A new setup wizard simplifies the creation of virtual tables in Dataverse and linking to external data sources, making integrations more accessible than ever. Power Fx Integration:  While still in preview, Power Fx began rolling out in Power Pages, giving makers more flexibility to customize logic directly within their sites. Enhanced Data Model:  All new sites now include an enhanced data model by default, setting a strong foundation for scalable and efficient data management. Power BI Power BI delivered some powerful updates in 2024, focused on enhancing collaboration, visual storytelling, and data-driven decision-making: Copilot Integration:  Introduced natural language queries, AI-generated report summaries, and automated data cleaning to streamline workflows and enhance usability. DAX Enhancements:  Released the general availability of DAX Query View, support for live connections, and new INFO functions for improved metadata insights. Feature Updates:  Added visual calculations, dynamic format strings for measures, and enhancements to card and slicer visuals, offering greater flexibility and interactivity in reporting. Improved User Experience:  Features like Dark Mode, advanced geospatial mapping with the Path Layer, and small multiples in card visuals further enhanced Power BI's analytical capabilities and ease of use.   Shane releases new videos on his YouTube Channel , and those videos, plus exclusive extras (app downloads, code snippets), are available ad-free on our training site for just $15 per month (you can include office hours for $20 per month)!

Nicola here, CEO at PowerApps911, sharing my honest thoughts on AI – I'm both thrilled and a little terrified. If you're leading an organization, a department, a team, or working in product development, you've likely been thinking about AI and its potential to boost productivity or enhance your product/service. I know I have. Initially, I felt like many of you – a bit hesitant but happy to use ChatGPT for things like content improvements, brainstorming games for team meetings, or drafting PTO flyers for school. This was easy to jump into since I spend around 14 hours a day with Shane, who brings up something AI-related at least once an hour 😊. I loved the productivity boost, especially since ChatGPT helped in areas that aren’t my strong suit, but I still didn’t quite grasp the game-changing potential. Then, the team working on our AI services asked us to brainstorm problems and inefficiencies in our organization that we’d love to solve. I was hesitant at first, still unclear on AI’s unique capabilities. I even asked, “How is this different from the solutions we already build with the Power Platform?” Their answer? AI doesn’t just follow instructions – it can interpret data and provide insights. Unlike standard automation, AI can think critically about the data it processes and give meaningful answers. And then… the wheels really started turning. I began thinking about areas of our business I’d love to make more efficient to better serve our clients and create a better work environment for our team. Some ideas were: Creating a solution to simplify time entry. We’re a time and materials-based consulting company, and as much as we might wish to avoid timesheets, they’re essential. Making that process easier for our team would be fantastic! We have a lot of meetings; maybe AI could look at calendars and suggest (or even prepopulate!) time entries based on meeting data. It could analyze historical patterns and recommend or prepopulate entries, streamlining the whole process. Improving the resource shuffle. If you manage resources like we do, you know the challenges of adjusting as projects delay, new projects arise, or skill needs change. We have a solid resource management tool and a team of skilled project managers juggling resources constantly. But what if AI could make it just a bit easier? Imagine AI recommending resource shifts that optimize skills and availability or suggesting allocations based on our project pipeline. Before this brainstorming, we were working on an internal project to make it easier to identify completed projects similar to new opportunities. In many organizations, this information is stuck in people’s heads. Someone asks, “Have you ever done a project that uses XYZ?” and we rely on team memory, sometimes asking everyone to find an answer. We tried solving this by tagging documents with skill and technology information and short project descriptions, but with a backlog of projects dating back to 2018, it was slow going. Then Daniel LeMay, one of our AI experts, stepped in and suggested AI could solve it faster and better. Now, he’s working on a solution to analyze all our past project content and automatically tag new ones as they’re completed. These are just a few examples. Once I fully grasped the possibilities, I quickly came up with ten ideas. If you're like me and need a quick discussion with someone to understand AI and its potential, contact us . We’re excited about what AI can do, and we’d love to brainstorm with you. If you decide to move forward with AI, we offer AI Services and Training – we can build for you or teach you to build. We’re here to be the partner you need.

Interest in Power Pages as a solution has become one of the fastest growing requests from our clients.  And it is pretty easy to see why.  Need a student registration website? An ordering portal for your vendors? A scheduling tool for subcontractors? Power Pages offers a secure solution for external users and connects seamlessly to your Dataverse environment. If you have processes that involve people outside of your company and right now rely on manual processes (email!), then consider Power Pages.  Yes, there are licensing costs, but we ran some ROI numbers for our own org and building a Power Pages solution will ultimately save us time and money! But how low code is it? Power Platform is working to make application development accessible to people with little to no coding experience, and Power Pages is no exception. However, it is not quite as low code as some of its companion tools. As the child of Dynamics 365 Portals, Power Pages is built on Dataverse and is essentially a model-driven app on the back end. In its current form, you can only achieve so much with out of the box functionality and will need HTML, CSS, JavaScript and/or Liquid to go further. Currently, organizations can make very basic pages using low-code and need to leverage full dev to create more sophisticated interfaces. The Microsoft team is working to include more and more Power FX to Pages , which is great news, but it is still in the early stages. You can build for two different types of users: Authenticated or Anonymous  Building for Authenticated Users Power Pages Authenticated users are users who obtain secure access to your website by logging in through an authentication provider website. More simply put, authenticated users are logged in to your website. Before you decide to start building for authenticated users, understand how you want each type of user to use the site.  We call this, user roles. User roles help define what each type of user can access, view, and modify within the website. By establishing clear roles, you can tailor content and features to specific user needs, ensuring that sensitive information is only available to authorized users. When planning a Pages project, map out who will use your solution, and the different functions they will perform. Identify what tables in Dataverse they will have access to and make a plan to configure and test each users access role as you develop. Keep in mind that security in Dataverse is not relevant to Power Pages. It has its own thing which operates on the account and contact tables. By carefully planning user roles and enforcing security measures, organizations can create robust, secure websites that serve your audience’s needs without compromising on safety or compliance. Anonymous Users and Power Pages If you have no need to restrict the content to only certain users, then building for Anonymous users might be the right way to go. Anonymous access does not require users to log in. In these cases, your user role planning is focused on one user type- everyone. Even though user roles for anonymous users may seem simple, it is important to carefully plan and control what information is accessible. While sharing event details and documents is straightforward, it’s essential to ensure that sensitive data or internal resources are restricted and properly secured. Defining clear boundaries for anonymous users helps maintain the integrity of your organization’s information while still providing a user-friendly experience. Ready to build? Join our live three day workshop , November 12-14 (only $650!!), which will give you all the tools you need to get started with Power Pages. If you are still not sure, check out these videos or just reply to this email and ask us a question. Intro to Power Pages ( youtube.com ) How to Configure Power Pages for Item Redirection ( youtube.com )

Welcome to our in-depth guide on leveraging SharePoint forms, Microsoft List, and Power Apps to enhance your data management processes. In our latest video, we dive into these tools, exploring their features, benefits, and limitations. Whether you're new to SharePoint or a seasoned user, this guide will provide you with valuable insights to optimize your workflows. If you want to see all of the tools in action this check out this video on Getting SharePoint Data? Use the right tool! SharePoint Or Microsoft Lists default form The Built in Experience When you create a SharePoint list whether through the SharePoint or Microsoft Lists experience, there is automatically an included experience to Create, Edit, and View your SharePoint data. With that default form you can make some tweaks by using JSON. It let's you make them look a little different but doesn't really change their functionality. Still, sometimes that is all you need and if so cool. It has literally worked for millions of people over the last 20 years. Understanding SharePoint Forms The New SharePoint Forms Button Recently, Microsoft introduced a new forms button in SharePoint, aimed at simplifying data collection. This feature is perfect for quickly setting up forms without needing extensive technical knowledge. However, while it's user-friendly, it comes with some limitations, such as lack of advanced customization and branching logic. Also, keep in mind these forms only work when you send someone the link. They don't change the default SharePoint experience. You cannot change the look and feel much but collecting data simply is where they shine. Use Cases and Limitations Quick Data Entry:  Ideal for simple data collection scenarios. Security Considerations:  Allows data entry without requiring users to have access to the entire list, which can be useful in controlled data collection environments. Leveraging Microsoft Forms for Data Collection Introduction to Microsoft Forms Microsoft Forms is a versatile tool within the Microsoft 365 suite, designed for creating surveys, quizzes, and forms. Unlike the other tools discussed, Microsoft Forms is not directly tied to SharePoint, but it offers a flexible and easy-to-use interface for collecting data from both internal and external sources. Features and Integration User-Friendly Interface:  Microsoft Forms provides a straightforward setup, allowing you to quickly create forms with various question types, including multiple choice, text, and more. External Access:  One of the standout features of Microsoft Forms is its ability to collect data from external users, making it ideal for public surveys or feedback forms. Data Storage:  Data collected through Microsoft Forms is stored in an Excel file, which can then be integrated into other tools or systems using Power Automate. Limitations and Considerations No Direct SharePoint Integration:  While Microsoft Forms is excellent for collecting data, it does not natively integrate with SharePoint lists. This means that additional steps, such as using Power Automate, are needed to transfer the data into SharePoint. Customization Limits:  While it offers basic customization, Microsoft Forms does not provide the same level of control and customization as Power Apps. Advanced Customization with Power Apps Power Apps Integration Power Apps is the go-to tool for creating highly customized forms and applications that interact with SharePoint data. It provides extensive capabilities, allowing users to create complex, multi-step workflows and custom interfaces. With Power Apps there are two ways to use it here. First, you can use it to make SharePoint better by replacing the SharePoint default form. This will replace that default SharePoint form with one you build in Power Apps. Making the SharePoint Browser experience better. Second, you can build a complete standalone custom app, and have it save data directly to SharePoint. This works great in those complex business scenarios. One of our specialties here at PowerApps911. Pros and Cons Customization:  Power Apps offers unparalleled customization, from simple color changes to complex data manipulation and workflow automation. Security Requirements:  Requires proper permissions for users, making it less accessible for broader, anonymous data collection. Choosing the Right Tool Choosing the right tool depends on your specific needs: For simple data collection:  The new SharePoint forms are quick and easy to set up. For a more user-friendly interface:  Microsoft List offers a clean and straightforward experience. For a flexible experience you can use anywhere: Microsoft Forms allow a host of security options, including anonymous but do require you to build a Power Automate flow to get data into SharePoint. For advanced customization:  Power Apps is the best choice, providing a comprehensive suite of tools for building sophisticated applications. Comparison Table To help you choose the right tool, we created a table comparing the options: Conclusion Our goal at PowerApps911 is to help you navigate the complexities of Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform. If you have any questions about these tools or need assistance with other Power Platform or Microsoft 365 solutions, we're here to help. Just scroll down and fill out the contact form, and one of our experts will be in touch!

A lot of businesses are trying to find ways to pilot AI in their organization and for many of them trying out chat bots seem to be the answer. And of course, in the Microsoft ecosystem that means Copilot Studio, formerly Power Virtual Agents. The reason for the popularity of these tools now is their ability to use Generative AI. So instead of going in and defining 100 Human Resources questions and the answers manually now you can point it at your documentation and let it answer the questions using a large language model (LLM). Since most businesses have things like HR policies and procedures, PTO policies, and the Employee Handbook available to all employees in a SharePoint site today building a Copilot can be done in literally minutes. But the fun doesn’t stop there. The latest iteration of these chatbots can also easily include actions. You add actions for things like submitting a request for time off or requesting a meeting and the AI can take those actions for you. This allows for an interactive and action-oriented conversation, a drastic improvement from the wall of text people are used to getting from HR documents. Is it Copilot or Chatbot? Yes. 😊 To build these things we traditionally called chatbots you use Copilot Studio. In Copilot Studio you build a copilot, which we used to call a chatbot. So for this context Copilot and Chatbot are interchangeable. I use both throughout the article to hopefully drive home they are synonymous. Demo of an HR Copilot with Generative AI Since we receive a lot of requests for this specific use case, I built a demo bot to show off some of the cool. Below I will walk you through the key features with screenshots. If you want to see the Copilot in action, then check out this video demo I did HR Assistant Copilot using Copilot Studio  for all of the fun. For this Copilot I built and published the bot as a Teams app. Copilot Studio can be used to publish to many different channels that are both publicly and privately accessible. But in case where you are looking to use internal content, like SharePoint, and you want to have authentication then publishing to Teams is the path of choice. Answering HR questions with Copilot Studio Alright, let's ask this bot something. How about an important question like “Can I bring my dog to the office?” Now in this case we have never trained the bot on this topic but the fine folks in HR have addressed it in our employee handbook. So, when the question is asked the Copilot looks through the handbook, finds our pet policy and responds with the appropriate answer. Notice the blue colored 1s at the end of the response. These are the links to the documents that Copilot referenced to come up with this response. So, if you want to dig in deeper or just validate things before you purchase your pup some business attire you can click the link and you will be taken to the document. Now you can see where the pot belly pig stuff came from, not AI’s imagination but from the actual policy. 🤣 Maybe I shouldn’t be in charge of HR. Fun pigs aside, this is really powerful. By just giving Copilot access to the proper content, it is able to provide accurate answers to random questions and provide attribution so you can validate those responses. And look, all I did to set it up was give the Copilot a link to the SharePoint site and made sure everyone had access. That was it. And while SharePoint seems to be the default in our Microsoft 365 based world, there are a lot of other supported data sources in preview right now. Providing a structured response via Topics Now sometimes you don’t want Generative AI to provide an answer, you want to specify exactly how a conversation goes when they ask about a specific subject. In this case you will provide a topic. When a user asks a question topics to take precedence over generative AI. In this case, if they ask anything about getting a raise, I want to simply redirect them to the manager or HR. With topics you can go anywhere from this simple response to full on multi-step conversation with conditions and actions. You could ask them for additional info, you could trigger a flow or action to get more information or submit a ticket, etc. All of the traditional chat bot activities. Add a new employee with a Power Automate action Okay, so far, we have just gotten information but what if we want to take action. You can add actions and/or Power Automate cloud flows to your copilot. When you add them you give it a description of what the action can do and then Copilot will use AI to determine when to invoke to action and how to get the inputs the action may require. For the example of creating a new employee I wanted to add a record to my SharePoint list. I started by creating a flow that is triggered by Copilot and has 4 inputs. These inputs will be used as dynamic content within the flow. Now we add a SharePoint Create Item action, configure the site and list, and then fill in the fields with the Dynamic content. And finally, we set the flow to respond with a message back to Copilot to let it know you are done. Perfect, the flow is ready. Now you add it as an action to your Copilot. As part of adding it you will then tell it how to get the information for each of the inputs. The default, let Copilot figure it out and prompt the user as needed, works great. If you need more, there is extensive customization options available. Same deal with output. You can configure a message saying “Success” or let AI generate the appropriate response or just not respond with anything if it isn’t necessary. Now that you have configured the action the chatbot will call it as necessary. Here you can see I asked it to create an employee and since I provided no other context Copilot asked for the inputs. If you are enjoying this, then be sure to check out our training classes for both Copilot and Power Platform . We have both on-demand and live classes available to help you learn. But, if I ask it to create a new employee and provide all of the context it needs, then it will just do the action.   I think the coolest part of that is it understood that Buddy Young was the full name, and it broke it into First name and Last name properly when it created the record in SharePoint. 😲 Remember, I didn’t write any logic or explain to copilot this was what to do. It understood the context and did it itself. This is the power of generative AI at its finest for me. Conclusion Using Copilot Studio to build a copilot or chatbot from existing content today is a powerful first step into bringing AI to your business. And the flexibility of generative AI, topics, and actions allows you to build so much more than we could before. Even if you are thinking “I am not ready to do this yet” I encourage you to dig into Copilot Studio. I think it will play a big role in our AI futures and those of us who have already embraced low code tools like Power Platform are primed to lead that charge. If you need help with this or anything else Copilot or Power Platform related let us know. Just scroll down and fill out the contact us form below. We have free help, quick help, dedicated resources, or traditional project services, all designed to help you be more awesome!