Page (ASPX)
Common Use Cases
- Site home pages: department and intranet home pages that pull in news, events, and documents
- News posts: announcements that roll up to the home page, hub sites, and the SharePoint start page
- Policy and knowledge pages: articles authored and updated by content owners without code
- Landing pages: entry points for projects, programs, and initiatives
- Dashboards of links and content: Quick Links, Highlighted content, and lists in one layout
- Templated pages: repeatable layouts saved as page templates for consistent authoring
Benefits
- Live web parts: News, Events, Highlighted content, and document libraries update automatically
- Author-friendly editing: content owners edit in the browser with no code or files to manage
- Full publishing workflow: drafts, scheduling, approvals, and version history are built in
- Consistent branding: pages inherit the site theme, header, navigation, and footer
- Collaboration: co-authoring, comments, likes, and page analytics are available
- Fully supported: the out-of-the-box canvas stays supported through Microsoft updates
Details
- Feature Category: Pages & Publishing
- Storage: the .aspx file is stored in the Site Pages library
- Building blocks: sections, columns, and web parts on a modern canvas
- Page types: standard pages, news posts, and page templates
- Licensing: included with SharePoint in Microsoft 365, with no extra license
- Availability: every modern team site and communication site
How It Works
- Create from a template: + New > Page offers blank and prebuilt templates
- Sections and columns: authors add one-, two-, or three-column sections, vertical sections, and backgrounds
- Web parts: each section holds web parts for text, images, news, events, lists, and more
- Save, publish, or schedule: drafts stay private until published, or publish on a set date
- Promote as news: a published page can be promoted to a news post or emailed
- Audience targeting: navigation links and selected web parts can show content to chosen groups
Limits and Nuances
- Fixed layout grid: sections and web parts limit how far the design can depart from the standard look
- No custom code: script and custom HTML are not allowed on the canvas without SPFx solutions
- Limited typography: fonts come from the site theme and the text web part’s built-in styles
- Web part constraints: each web part offers only the layouts and settings it ships with
- Complex layouts take effort: magazine-style designs need careful section planning
- Large pages slow down: many heavy web parts on one page can affect load time
Common Questions About ASPX Pages
What is an ASPX page in SharePoint?
An ASPX page is the native modern SharePoint page, stored as an .aspx file in the Site Pages library. Authors build it in the browser from sections and web parts, so text, images, news, events, and documents sit on one canvas. It is the page type behind every site home page, news post, and page template in modern SharePoint.
What can an ASPX page do that an HTML page cannot?
ASPX pages host web parts that pull live content, such as News, Events, Highlighted content, and document libraries. They also support news posts, page templates, scheduling, approvals, co-authoring, comments, and audience targeting. HTML pages offer more design freedom but cannot hold web parts, become news posts, or be saved as templates.
What is the difference between a page and a news post?
Both are ASPX pages in the Site Pages library. A news post is a page flagged as news, so it appears in News web parts, rolls up to hub sites and the SharePoint start page, and can be emailed. A regular page stays in place and is reached through navigation, links, or search.
How do sections and web parts work?
A page is divided into horizontal sections, each with one to three columns, plus an optional vertical section on the right. Each column holds web parts, such as Text, Image, Quick Links, News, or Events. Sections can carry background colors or images, and web parts can be rearranged by drag and drop while editing.
Why can I not add custom code to an ASPX page?
Modern pages block script and raw HTML on the canvas to keep sites secure and supportable. Custom behavior on an ASPX page requires an SPFx web part deployed through the app catalog. For layouts that need custom HTML and script without development, SharePoint HTML pages are the out-of-the-box alternative.
When should I use an ASPX page instead of an HTML page?
ASPX pages are the right choice for home pages, news, and any content that changes often or draws on lists, libraries, and events. HTML pages fit rarely changing reference content that needs a richer layout. Greg Zelfond, the consultant behind LookBook 365, builds department home pages on out-of-the-box web parts and adds HTML pages only where a secondary page benefits from a custom design.