In Focus web parts that have existed since earlier versions of Atlas have now become "legacy" web parts and should be replaced before the start of 2025. In this article we will explain how to replace an existing legacy In Focus web part with the new version.
We recommend this task is undertaken by someone with experience in configuring Atlas web parts.
In this article:
- Check whether a specific web part is legacy
- Document the configuration
- Add a new In Focus web part
- Configure the new web part using the documented information
- Still need help?
Check whether a specific web part is legacy
Depending on your original Atlas version you may be using "legacy" In Focus web parts. You can see this when you edit the web part - legacy web parts show a message at the top of the configuration panel:
If you see this message you should consider replacing this web part with a new In Focus. If you don't see this message you are using the new version and do not need to make any changes.
Document the configuration
Having verified that you are using a legacy web part, you'll want to take note of the configuration. We do assume you have good knowledge of your system and web parts - we will suggest which parts of the configuration to check, but it is up to you to ensure everything works as expected after replacement and make further changes if necessary.
The key things to document are:
- Search section
- Query template - make sure you document any additional text filters added here
- Result Source - helps to identify which web part to replace with e.g. Documents or News
- Limit scope to this workspace - on or off
- Edit sort order - check which managed property is used for sorting
- Connection to filters, search box, verticals - we'll need to replace these too if being used
- Refinement filters - filters added using the Filters web part - check which filters are selected
- Synonyms - record any configured synonyms
- Paging
- Shown - yes or no
- Number per page
- Additional options
- Layout
- Web part title - to set the title for the new web part if it uses a title
- Layout choice
- Additional options
- Quick Add It
- On or off
- If on, which types can be added
If you document this well you will be able to easily transfer this information to a new web part.
Add a new In Focus web part
You may want to keep the original web part on the page to check result counts, or you could record these details and remove the web part to keep the page clean. Either way, you'll now need to add a new In Focus web part. These are named the same as the old web parts but you can be sure which to pick because the new versions use new colourful icons:
All previous named In Focus web parts are available using the new version, so add the one that matches the type of content you will be returning:
- Communication - News, Events, External Insights and Spotlights
- Documents
- Emails
- Events
- External Insights
- FAQs
- In Focus - generic, can be configured for any content type
- Knowledge - Documents, Emails, External Insights, Knowledge Pages, Landing Pages, Locations
- Knowledge Pages
- Landing Pages
- Location Pages
- News
- People Directory
- Spotlights
- Useful Links
Configure the new web part using the documented information
Once you have added the new web part make sure it is set to SharePoint Search unless you have a specific requirement to use Microsoft Search.
Now you can start configuring - replicate or copy and paste the information into the different areas. The configuration panel is not organised the same way as the old web parts but you should be able to identify the same configuration options.
Options previously under "Search" are now under SharePoint Search. Options under "Paging" are now under Layout, and "Layout" is split into Layout and Item styles. Synonyms have moved under Advanced Configurations.
If you chose the right web part initially you should not need to change the Result Source but you'll still need to set any other configuration options that differ from the default.
Add and reconnect any connected web parts
If your In Focus web part was connected to one or more of the Search Box, Verticals and Filters web parts you'll need to add the new versions of those and reconnect them to the new In Focus web part. As with the In Focus web parts, the new Filters web parts have different versions for the different In Focus web parts, and use new colourful icons:
The Verticals and Search Box do not have specific versions for different web parts so you can just add the one that is available.
In the new In Focus, connections can all be set from the Connections section in the configuration panel:
After connecting each required part you'll need to make sure any sub-configuration is set correctly and also check the new web part configurations.
Filters
Verticals and Search Box are configured just from the In Focus, but the Filters will need to be edited and connected back to the In Focus web part:
Verticals
If you are using Verticals, go to the Connections section of the In Focus web part and make sure you select all the verticals under the Display data only when the following vertical is selected:
Since the old In Focus web parts were always displayed for all verticals this should match the previous configuration. If you want to set up multiple web parts so that different web parts load for different verticals you can deselect certain verticals here and activate them in a different In Focus web part on the same page.
Search Box
After adding the Search Box and adding it to the Connections you should ensure you set the next few options correctly. If you are familiar configuring this in the legacy web parts this should be quite straightforward, but otherwise this configuration will simply send the Search Box text with the query to filter the results by that text:
If you had a more complex configuration please refer to the details you documented earlier and set up the search box connection to match your previous configuration.
Still need help?
If you are having trouble making these changes please get in touch via a support ticket and let us know in detail what problems you are having.
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