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How to Identify SharePoint News Posts and Site Pages
Question details
Users need a reliable way to distinguish between news posts and regular modern site pages within a SharePoint site.
- Product
- Microsoft SharePoint
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Managing and organizing site content in the SharePoint Site Pages library where news posts and pages are grouped together.
- Observed behavior
- Both news posts and regular pages are stored in the Site Pages library without a default distinct visual property, making it difficult to tell them apart without checking specific technical columns.
Ensure you have Site Owner or Member permissions with edit access to view the Site Pages library and modify its column settings.
Use the Promoted State Column in Site Pages
The most reliable technical indicator to identify a news post in SharePoint is the Promoted State column.
SharePoint does not offer a simple 'Page Type' column by default. Instead, it relies on a backend property called Promoted State to track whether a site page is acting as a news post.
Open your SharePoint site, click on 'Site contents' from the left-hand navigation menu, and then select 'Site Pages'.
In the Site Pages library, click on 'Add column' at the far right of the column headers, select 'Column settings', and choose 'Show/hide columns'.
Check the box for 'Promoted State' in the right-hand pane and click 'Apply' to display it in your library view.
Look at the values in the Promoted State column. A value of '2' indicates a published news post, '1' indicates an unpublished news post, and '0' indicates a regular site page.
Check Publishing Action Buttons
You can distinguish a page type by looking at the specific action buttons available when editing or viewing the page.
Try WPS Office for Seamless Document Collaboration
While SharePoint manages your site pages and news posts online, you need a reliable office suite to create the documents you share with your team. WPS Office is a free, lightweight, and highly compatible alternative to Microsoft Office, providing a familiar interface to easily craft, edit, and share Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files before uploading them to SharePoint.
- 1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS Office website and download the free installer for your operating system.
- 2. Install the Suite: Run the installer and follow the quick on-screen instructions to set up WPS Office on your device.
- 3. Create and Share: Launch WPS Office, create your documents, and upload them directly to your SharePoint Document Library.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change a SharePoint news post back into a regular site page?
No, SharePoint does not currently support converting a news post or news link back into a standard site page. If you need a regular page, you will have to create a new site page and manually copy the content over.
What does a Promoted State value of 1 mean?
A Promoted State of 1 means the page has been created as a news post but has not yet been published. Once you click the 'Post news' button, the Promoted State automatically changes to 2.
Is there a specific 'Page Type' column I can use instead of Promoted State?
SharePoint stores both modern site pages and news posts under the exact same 'Site Page' content type. It does not provide a separate, user-friendly 'Page Type' property by default, making the Promoted State column the standard technical indicator.
