How to Report SharePoint News Post Likes and Comments
Question details
The user needs a method to retrieve and report on the number of likes and comments received by intranet news posts and pages.
- Product
- Microsoft SharePoint
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Generating comprehensive usage and engagement reports for SharePoint intranet pages.
- Observed behavior
- Default SharePoint site usage analytics do not display social engagement values like likes and comments.
Ensure you have Site Owner or administrative permissions for the SharePoint site and basic familiarity with REST APIs or Power Automate.
Extract Engagement Data via SharePoint REST API
Use the SharePoint REST API to programmatically query and retrieve likes and comments metadata from your Site Pages.
While standard SharePoint analytics focus on views and unique visitors, social metrics are stored as metadata on the individual items within the Site Pages library. By using the REST API, you can extract these exact values.
This method is highly scalable and can be automated using tools like Power Automate to generate regular CSV reports.
Determine the REST API URL for your Site Pages list. This typically looks like: _api/web/lists/getbytitle('Site Pages')/items.
Append query parameters to your endpoint to explicitly select and expand the social engagement fields, such as $select=Title,LikedBy,Comments.
Create a Scheduled Flow in Power Automate and use the 'Send an HTTP request to SharePoint' action to call the API endpoint you constructed.
Add a 'Parse JSON' action to format the API response, then use a 'Create CSV table' or 'Add a row into a table' action to export the likes and comments data into an Excel or CSV file.
Leverage Community Scripts and Templates
Utilize pre-built scripts from the Microsoft Tech Community to simplify the extraction of news article comments without writing API calls from scratch.
Need a lightweight tool to analyze your exported SharePoint reports?
Once you have exported your SharePoint likes and comments data via the REST API, WPS Office provides a powerful, free, and highly compatible alternative to Microsoft Office for organizing, analyzing, and formatting your reports.
- 1. Download and Install: Get WPS Office for free from the official website and install it on your device.
- 2. Open Exported Data: Launch WPS Spreadsheet and open the CSV or Excel file generated by your SharePoint API flow.
- 3. Analyze Engagement: Use pivot tables and charts in WPS Office to visualize your SharePoint news likes and comments effectively.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn't standard SharePoint analytics show likes and comments?
Built-in SharePoint usage reports are primarily designed to track web traffic patterns, such as page views and unique visitors. Granular social engagement metrics on individual items are not aggregated in these default dashboard views.
Can I use Power BI to visualize SharePoint news post likes?
Yes. By connecting Power BI directly to the SharePoint REST API or the Site Pages list, you can fetch the underlying metadata and create custom dashboards that track total likes and comment trends over time.
Are comments and likes permanently stored in SharePoint?
Yes, SharePoint stores these user interactions as hidden metadata and related list items attached to the specific Site Page or news post, making them accessible for programmatic retrieval even if they don't appear in default reports.
