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Use your own custom Teams background

Use your own custom Teams background

While Microsoft is always working on expanding the capabilities of its Teams app, the rapid acceleration in the use of MS Teams during the global COVID-19 pandemic has also accelerated implementing some of the features on the backlog in an effort to compete with other group conferencing applications like WebEx and Zoom. Some of these capabilities include allowing the user to blur the background during video calls, as well as changing the background and increasing the number of video participants visible in the gallery.

UPDATE: North American Collaboration Summit

UPDATE: North American Collaboration Summit

UPDATE

Due to the global pandemic, NACS has been rescheduled for Sep 28-30, 2020. Click the image above for the latest information

UPDATE-AUGUST 14

NACS is officially a go for Sep 28-30, 2020. The event sill be the first hybrid conference! Click the image above for the latest information, including what session(s) I will be presenting!

If you haven’t heard, there is an awesome conference being held in Branson, MO, April 2-3, 2020. In addition to having many of the same speakers at the large Microsoft conferences, this is one of the most affordable conferences in the country, almost 10 times less than the major conferences. There are 70+ sessions over the two day conference and 7 additional full-day workshops. I hope to see you there!

New Debug Options for SPFx (Edge)

New Debug Options for SPFx (Edge)

As the development pendulum has swung back to the “front end,” I find a majority of my time in VS Code. Back in the early days of VS Code, I missed the rich toolset of Visual Studio, but as I became more comfortable with the combination of command line and graphical interfaces in VS Code, as well as the explosion of awesome extensions for VS Code, I found myself opening Visual Studio less and less. (Honestly, when I open Visual Studio these days, it’s because the icon is next to VS Code in my taskbar and I accidentally click the wrong one. As long as it’s open, I apply the latest updates and close it back down.)

Uninstall app with PowerShell

Uninstall app with PowerShell

I recently found myself in a situation on a client’s device where I needed to remove an application, but I was not a local administrator on the device. After evaluating options (like the slow WMI client), I turned to PowerShell. PowerShell provides a simple and fast way to search for and uninstall MSI-installed applications.

Skip to the code!

After exploring a few options, including the glacially slow WMI client, I decided to turn to my old friend PowerShell. And voilà! PowerShell provides a simple and fast way to search for and remove applications.

Ignite 2020 returns to the Big Easy

Ignite 2020 returns to the Big Easy

NEW DATES. NEW LOCATION. NEW EXPERIENCES.

Ignite is moving to New Orleans! There’s no place quite like New Orleans and we’re planning an event that’s equally dynamic, with amazing opportunities for you to engage with experts, expand your skills, and explore the latest technology.

You can pre-register today to make sure you get the latest information as soon as it’s available.

Pre-register here

I’ve already started looking forward to the parties … errr … I mean the awesome sessions, keynotes and sessions. Hope to see you there!

SharePoint Framework (SPFx) Quick Start

SharePoint Framework (SPFx) Quick Start

DEPRECATED: This article has been updated. Please see the latest version at SharePoint Framework (SPFx) Quick Start (Gulp toolchain for SPFx v1.21.0 and earlier)

This article left in place for historical reference.

For the several years now, I have concentrated on helping developers to get started coding in the SharePoint Framework (SPFx). My primary message has always been that, “despite it being a complete departure from previous coding approaches in the SharePoint, it’s not as difficult as it seems and you should just give it a try.” I am updating that presentation to include recent changes to SPFx as I prepare for upcoming engagements at North American Collaboration Summit (NACS) and ShareCloud Summit and will post it on this site when available.