With the latest array of preview features and enhancements, Microsoft continues to extend Power Pages.
Launched in 2023, Power Pages is a secure and enterprise-grade platform. This empowers organisations with a low code solution to create and manage process-driven external websites.
Let’s look at the most exciting upcoming features. These include the latest Power Pages announcements in the Power Platform 2024 Release Wave 1.
Create a Power Pages websites using Copilot
With Copilot, building websites becomes streamlined and accessible for every tech skill level. Copilot can craft your site theme, develop a sitemap, and offer layout variants based on your description.
Bypass the time-consuming process of website creation by starting with a Copilot prompt.
Copilot can also be used inside the design studio from these outputs to adapt further and edit your site, covered in our next point.
Public preview available now.
Make website improvements with Copilot Q&A
Use the power of Copilot Q&A to optimise a site and rectify potential issues.
The side-car panel offers access to Microsoft Learn content, documentation, and other trusted resources.
Spot accessibility issues or identify security vulnerabilities – Copilot will provide tailored, data-driven responses.
These assisted capabilities also include time-saving help to design web content. Copilot can draft new pages and sections using content from existing documents and presentations.
Public preview available now.
Configure customer-facing Copilot bots
This feature allows authenticated website users to find information quickly using natural language by receiving answers from a chatbot.
Copilot chatbots can be quickly deployed using a structured data search of tables, avoiding the need to painstakingly author bots. Instead, structured data in Dataverse can be used to answer questions.
Once a user is logged in, the bot will enforce the appropriate security roles and permissions to control the authenticated data shared in its responses. This could include answering questions about an active service case, a membership status, a recent purchase or any other example using structured data, Azure OpenAI and Bing.
Public preview available now.
File upload enhancements
Microsoft is set to revamp the file upload experience in Power Pages, supporting increased file size limits.
Additional improvements will include drag-and-drop file support, uploading files from cloud storage sources or cameras and a visual progress bar.
With increased capacity for sharing larger files, Power Pages will offer users a smoother process to upload files into SharePoint storage.
Increase uploaded file size limit generally available from February. Additional upload enhancements available from May.
Payment integration for Power Pages
This new integration capability will simplify completing digital payments through Stripe and other leading payment providers within a Power Pages site.
This no-code solution will support integration with a payment service provider or payment gateway using the API keys provided.
Quickly deploy sites that accept payments and donations within multi-step forms and securely complete transactions without users leaving the site.
Explore payment integration for Power Pages in more detail.
Public preview available now.
E-signature integration
Microsoft has also announced a similar Power Pages integration with leading e-signature services.
For example, connect DocuSign and other electron document signing services to streamline approval processes within a website.
Admin security and analytics views
Site admins will be able to gain quick insights into security scores, service errors, and user activity, among others, with the new Power Platform admin center views
Through this governance hub, site admins can access security scores, pinpoint service errors, monitor user activity, check authentication methods used, and more.
Public preview available now.
Create virtual tables to use external data sources
Power Pages will also simplify website creation through virtual tables. Using virtual tables, external data can be integrated with Microsoft Dataverse without data replication.
This feature will allow external data stored in SharePoint or SQL Server to be represented in Dataverse and translated into website pages automatically from virtual tables.
Public preview available from March.
Disable external authentication providers
Thanks to a recent update, site admins can block anonymous access to Dataverse data published in websites.
With this additional governance feature, site admins will be able to block or allow specific authentication providers to access their tenant websites.
Public preview available from June.
Get Ready for What’s Next
This is just a selection of Microsoft’s announcements. Please note, as always, that all pre-release features are subject to potential change.
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