POWELL Intranet · RELEASE NOTES

 

Release Note 2026 - October 19.
Greater impact.

Discover the latest updates and improvements to make your Powell experience even more powerful.

❤️ Combined Search: readable text on Squares tiles

The Combined Search widget’s Squares view now supports configurable text panels to keep tile content readable over images, including light images and images with embedded text.

❤️ Content Builder: configurable heading level for section titles

Contributors can now choose the HTML heading level used for Content Builder section titles, improving page structure and screen-reader navigation.

• Choose H2, H3, H4 or H5 in the section display configuration.
• The setting changes HTML semantics only; the visual appearance of section titles remains the same.
• Keyboard interaction and accordion expand/collapse behaviour remain unchanged.

❤️ Manager: categorization of custom views

Custom views can now be categorized, making them easier to find in the widget view selector.

• The Custom tab in the view catalog displays sub-categories based on the categories assigned to custom views.

❤️ Gamification: boost multiplier

The Is boost toggle on gamification actions is now fully functional. When enabled, the points earned for that action are doubled.
 

• Without boost, users earn the base points defined for the action.
• With boost, users earn twice the points.
• Boosted points are reflected in user scores, history and leaderboards.
• A tooltip next to the toggle explains its effect.

❤️ Events webpart: “See more” button

The grid view of the Events webpart can now display a “See more” button, allowing visitors to reach a full event listing, such as a “See all events” page.
 

• Enable it in the new See more button section of the Cards settings tab.
• Configure the destination with standard link settings: same tab, new tab or iframe. Navigation tokens in the URL are supported.
• Add an optional custom label. Otherwise, the translated default “See more” is used.
• The button appears below pagination. It is not shown in calendar view or when the grid has no events.
• The option is off by default, so existing Events webparts look as before.

Global Search in the All features panel

Global Search now has its own card in the All features panel. Administrators can configure the search bar’s behaviour, queries, appearance and scope from one place.

 

❤️ Site collections inherit the portal’s search nodes

In Powell Manager, a new Global Search nodes setting lets each site collection choose where its search navigation nodes come from.

• Based on site’s portal (default): the site collection inherits the nodes of its portal’s Global Search configuration.
• Custom nodes: define nodes specific to the site collection in a table similar to the site structure view, with a Create node button.
• Site collections that already have custom search nodes keep them. The setting opens on Custom nodes and lists the existing nodes.

❤️ Search Webpart : Search beyond your own tenant

Content Search can retrieve content from a second Microsoft 365 tenant. This is useful after a merger or when several entities keep separate tenants while sharing an intranet: employees can search both environments from one place.

Settings

• Tenant: choose the target Microsoft 365 tenant. Leave it empty to search your own tenant, as before.
• SharePoint URL: specify the site collection URL in the target tenant.
• Selecting an external tenant also switches term labels to that tenant’s localization, so refiners and metadata are displayed correctly.

Permissions and rollout

• No additional consent is needed on the Powell Intranet application for this capability; the SharePoint resource is already part of the setup permission set.
• Access follows the target tenant’s rules. Users need access rights there, typically as guest users invited to the tenant and granted permissions on the relevant sites.
• Results are trimmed per user. Users without access to a target site will not receive its content.
• Plan guest access and site permissions before rollout; without them, the webpart returns no results.

Search Webpart : Microsoft Graph as a search source

Beyond SharePoint search, Content Search can query Microsoft Graph, including external items indexed into Microsoft 365 from third-party systems through Graph connectors, such as ticketing tools, HR systems and document repositories.

The companion Refinement Panel follows automatically: filters align with the Graph source without extra configuration.

Settings

• Graph search: off by default. When enabled, the webpart queries Microsoft Graph instead of SharePoint search.
• Entity types: choose List Item (SharePoint content through Graph) or External Item (content published by a Graph connector).
• Content sources: for External Item only, select one or more Graph connections published in your tenant.

Important notes

• Graph search overrides tenant selection; these two evolutions are not cumulative for now.
• Existing webparts are unaffected. Graph search remains off unless enabled, and previously configured webparts keep querying SharePoint search.

Permissions

• Searching external items requires the additional permissions ExternalItem.Read.All and ExternalConnection.Read.All.
• When External Item is selected, a Grant admin consent for tenant button opens the Microsoft consent screen. A tenant administrator must approve it.
• Once granted, the permissions remain on the Powell Intranet application for the tenant and the button no longer appears.
• If the content sources list is empty after consent, no Graph connector is publishing content to the tenant yet. Connectors are configured in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

❤️ Newsletter: Audiences column and filter

The newsletter list now shows which groups each newsletter was sent to, making it easier to check distribution and track campaigns without opening each newsletter.
 

• A new Audiences column lists the target groups.
• When a newsletter targets several groups, the first ones are shown followed by “+N more”; hover to see the full list.
• A newsletter with no target group, such as a draft or an item in error, displays “No audience defined”.
• Search and filter the newsletter list by target audience.
• Pagination and column sorting continue to work as before.

❤️ Newsletter: content type and date filters when selecting items

When adding articles and documents to a newsletter, two filters are available next to the search box.

  

• Content type: shows only content types present in the results (news, documents, pages, etc.), with the number of items for each. Multiple types can be selected.
• Last modified: filter by last 7 days, last 30 days, last 6 months or this year.
• A filter with no matching value is hidden.
• With no filter selected, the picker behaves as before. Clearing filters restores the full list.
• Filters narrow existing results only; they do not change which content can be searched.

Preview · Ai Page Builder

AI-powered SharePoint page creation

AI Page Builder turns a natural-language prompt into a ready-to-preview SharePoint page. It is available in the Boost package for now; this may evolve. Administrators can activate it from Powell Manager > Tenant settings > Global settings > Powell Admins > Products.

How it works

• Describe what you want to create. AI Page Builder generates a draft with structured sections, written copy and relevant images, using existing Powell components. The preview is a real, interactive page rather than a static mockup.
• AI Page Builder is accessed from Contribution. Each draft is tied to an ongoing conversation that can be resumed later.
• Refine the draft manually by adding, replacing or reordering components, editing content inline or switching templates.
• Refine it through further prompts, for example to replace a section or adjust the tone. Changes are applied to the preview and explained.

Draft history, preview and publishing

• Every draft state is saved so you can review or revert changes before publishing.
• Preview an individual section at another breakpoint, such as mobile, without resizing the browser window.
• Publish the finished page directly to SharePoint in one step.
• This release introduces page creation. Site creation, including brief-based template matching, is planned for a future release. Dedicated documentation is coming soon.

❤️ Loading time optimisation

We've optimized Advanced Analytics to deliver a smoother, faster experience. Enjoy reduced loading times and improved overall performance.
 

Global release
 

❤️ Global visual rework

The Powell Mobile App is rolling out a new design across its native components. Improvements on iOS and Android include:

• Enhanced Search Engine: the search bar is optimized for News and Powell Buddy queries for smoother navigation.
• Flexible Social Interactions: administrators can hide likes and comments in an item’s detailed view.
• Display Corrections: image-rendering issues are fixed and the Powell Buddy icon displays correctly in light mode.

Native components: News, Events, Orgchart, Flexdesk, Buddy and more

This release introduces a new generation of native components, each dedicated to a use case and designed specifically for the mobile app.

• App-dedicated UX: these components do not reuse desktop intranet design or navigation logic; each screen is built for mobile.
• Opening to Frontline: several components are accessible to deskless profiles without an intranet licence, making them the only option available to Frontline employees.
• Social engagement: users can like and comment on News and Events directly in the app.

This native components covers licensed employees looking for a dedicated mobile UX and Frontline profiles without an intranet licence.

Events Hub: register and add to calendar

Mobile users can manage event participation without leaving the app.

• Register or unregister from event details. Registrations are shared with the intranet Events Hub webpart, so app and intranet registrations stay synchronized.
• Registration is unavailable when an event is full, its deadline has passed or it is over. Unregistering is always possible after confirmation.
• For events requiring approval, registration remains pending until an organizer approves it.
• When notifications are enabled, users receive a confirmation email with a calendar attachment and event contacts are notified.
• Add to calendar opens the native iOS or Android calendar flow, pre-filled with the title, dates, location, description and event link. Users choose which calendar to use.
• Administrators enable these interactions per Events node in Powell Manager, using the same options as Events Hub: registrations, approvals, email notifications, add to calendar and remaining slots.

These settings apply to SharePoint events; Frontline events are not concerned.

Auto-deploy to Store & Microsoft Intune
 

Organizations distributing their Powell mobile app through App Stores & Microsoft Intune no longer need a manual upload for every build. After automated deployment to the App Store and Google Play, each new build can be published and assigned directly in the Intune tenant.

• Configure Intune auto-deployment per mobile app configuration in Powell Manager, separately for iOS and Android, without changing store deployment settings.
• Register an application in your own Entra tenant and share its tenant ID, client ID and client secret with Powell. The permission is created, scoped and revocable by you.
• Credentials are stored per tenant and are never displayed again after saving.
• An expired or invalid client secret, or a build without an incremented app version, causes deployment to fail with an explicit error.

Requirements: a Microsoft Intune licence. iOS distribution through Intune also requires an Apple Developer Enterprise account.

The feature is rolling out progressively. Contact your Powell representative to enable it.

Search & webparts

• Refiners and saved user preferences now handle accented and special characters correctly.
• Webparts no longer appear empty on first load in some configurations, and removing a Refinement Panel no longer requires clearing the browser cache.
• User preferences are retained after a webpart is edited.
• Advanced Search now follows the AI-generated query when a full sentence is typed and no longer over-filters results.
• Graph search respects the maximum number of items, and Viva Engage comment counts appear in search results.
• In ready-to-use webparts, authors see all the webparts they created and category counters are accurate.
• Printing a Powell page to PDF now includes the whole page.

Navigation

• A “See more” button added directly from the site is saved.
• Tools labels are displayed in the correct language, and several nodes can be deleted at once.

Notifications & personal settings

• Mobile and email notification preferences are applied as configured, and subscription-based notifications reach every subscriber.
• My Links, must-read history and guided tour state are better preserved, including after accessibility settings change.
• The disclaimer no longer reappears when the device time zone changes.

Publishing & Powell Manager

• Publishing from the Powell form works as expected after page-template synchronization, and template synchronization is more reliable.
• On team sites, pages created in “no header” mode can be promoted.
• Synchronization jobs no longer remain stuck in “Pending” or “In progress”.
• Site templates now display a clear message explaining why a list still used by pages cannot be deleted.
• UTC can be selected as a site collection time zone, user export is available again, and the consent message appears only when consent is needed.

Advanced Analytics

• Likes are counted when content is liked from another site.
• Sentiment options are available in Analytics configuration, and dashboard tables display correctly when scrolling.
• Security groups set as Powell administrators are recognized.

Content Builder & Flexdesk

• Content Builder selection of long text in edit mode is much faster and no longer slows the browser.
• Automatic translation (Boost) preserves rich-text formatting.
• Buddy section generation displays its preview correctly.
• Flexdesk’s booking panel no longer stays on its loader when a request fails.

Languages, Microsoft Teams & display

• The language switch works on Safari, and webpart setting labels use the correct language on variation sites.
• German translations have been reviewed.
• Event dates follow the configured format.
• Intranet in Microsoft Teams handles the sign-in window correctly. After sign-in, the page loads immediately and no longer remains blocked if the window is closed; this also addresses Welcome webpart counters and profile pictures.
• External users can update their profile picture.
• On-premises favorite applications are displayed again.

Mobile application

• Improved stability, including when sharing the screen during a Teams meeting.
• Smoother scrolling and image display in news, more reliable filters and search components, and corrected dates and icons.
• Powell Manager now reliably saves mobile application configuration, including components, navigation and Frontline settings.

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