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Site

A Site in SharePoint is a secure container that brings together pages, files, lists, and permissions to support collaboration or communication.

Common Use Cases

  • Team collaboration spaces: a central location for teams to work on documents
  • Department portals: HR, IT, Finance, or Marketing sites for structured information sharing
  • Intranet architecture: building blocks for hub sites and organizational intranets
  • Project workspaces: temporary or long-term sites for project execution
  • Knowledge repositories: centralized locations for policies, procedures, and guidance
  • Microsoft Teams backing sites: file and content storage for Teams channels

Benefits

  • Three site types available: Communication Sites, Microsoft 365 Group–connected Team Sites, and standalone Team Sites without a group
  • Clear collaboration model: select the site type based on collaboration vs communication needs
  • Security boundary: each site has its own permissions and access control
  • Microsoft 365 integration: Group-connected Team Sites integrate with Teams, Outlook, and Planner
  • Scalable intranet design: sites can be connected to hubs for unified navigation

Key Considerations

  • Site type decision is critical: there are three site types: Communication Site, Team Site connected to a Microsoft 365 Group, Team Site without a Microsoft 365 Group
  • Group connection implications: only group-connected Team Sites include Teams, shared mailboxes, and calendars
  • Permissions are managed differently: permission management varies between group-connected and non–group-connected Team Sites
  • No site-type conversion: sites cannot be converted between Communication and Team Site types
  • Governance and sprawl: site creation should be controlled to avoid tenant clutter
  • Lifecycle ownership: sites should have clear owners responsible for content and access