Article Description

This article explains how to create a SharePoint site that is not affiliated with a department or college.

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If you want to create a SharePoint site within your college or department SharePoint site, please consult this article: Creating a SharePoint Site in an existing Department or College SharePoint Site Collection.

This article details the process for creating a SharePoint site that is not tied to a specific department or college.

What is the purpose for creating this SharePoint site?

• Do you want a space to hold your resources or projects for your own benefit?
• Do you want to collaborate with people outside of your college or department?
• Do you want to chat with your coworkers as you collaborate?

If your goal is to create a collaborative space for a team, then we recommend you look into creating a Microsoft Team, which comes with additional functionality including Microsoft 365 Groups, a chat feature, and a collaborative environment where you can have conversations as well as share and discuss files.

If your goal is to create a space to hold your resources or projects for your own benefit, then follow the instructions below:

1. Log on to the Office Portal at http://my.office365/vt.edu.
2. Click on the All Apps icon (located at the bottom left of your browser).

   

3. Click on the SharePoint app.
   
   • The SharePoint app gives you quick access to all the SharePoint sites you follow and the SharePoint sites you frequent.

     

4. From within the SharePoint app, click on Create site.
   
   • You will have the two site options (Team site and Communication site) as shown in the following screenshot:

   

   

5. Name your site and give it a description. Once you begin typing in the Site name section, the fields will expand for further personalization. Depending on which option you choose, you may have additional fields to complete (i.e., if you choose Team site, you will have a Group email address text box and a Privacy drop-down menu.)
   
   • The name you give your site will also become the URL as well as the email address, so we suggest you name it first with what you want your URL and group email to be, then later rename the site itself to something more useful to you.
   
   Team site
   
   
   
   
   
   Communication site
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Choose whether or not your site will be accessible to all Virginia Tech users, or whether it will be limited to only invited people.
   
   • Optional: The next screen will ask you to add more people to your Microsoft 365 group. This is optional as you can always add people later.

   

7. Once you have created your site, if you want to rename it, go to the Gear and choose Site Information.
   
   • You can rename your site at this point. The URL and the email address will not change.