Orchestry Custom Features Overview

With Orchestry, you can provision workspaces custom objects built with Microsoft's PnP framework.   In the app, they are simply called 'Features' and can be uploaded and managed by Admins from the 'Features' page (Templates > Features).

Features can be used for a variety of use-cases, from adding web parts and apps to a SharePoint site to modifying site settings, user permissions and anything else you can create with PnP.

Custom Features Included with Orchestry

Orchestry comes with several features out-of-the-box.  Some are custom-made by Orchestry, while others are samples of SharePoint web parts that help serve as examples of what a PnP Feature can be.

Orchestry-Made Custom Features

How to Add Custom Features to Orchestry

Admins can upload and publish their own PnP packages to Orchestry as "Features"  within a few clicks.  These features can be later added to workspace templates to add customizations that are not possible with Orchestry's provisioning engine.

To Add a Custom Feature to Orchestry:

1. Click NEW FEATURE
2. On the DETAILS tab,
   1. NAME the Feature
   2. Write a DESCRIPTION (optional)
   3. Assign an ICON to the Feature
   4. ASSOCIATE it with the desired workspace templates (optional)
   5. UPLOAD a thumbnail (optional)
3. On the CONFIGURATION TAB
   1. UPLOAD your .PNP or .XML package
4. SAVE your changes

How to Add Extracted Templates As Custom Features

Admins can convert existing SharePoint sites in their tenant into custom Features in Orchestry by extracting them and then re-loading them to Orchestry as PnP packages.

How to Load a Extracted Template as a Feature:

1. Click NEW FEATURE
2. Complete the DETAILS page as outlined above
3. On the CONFIGURATION TAB
   1. Click "Use Extracted Template"
   2. In the pop-up window, you can
      1. Choose a previously-uploaded template, 
      2. UPLOAD A TEMPLATE that was previously extracted, or 
      3. extract a NEW TEMPLATE
4. SAVE your changes

Extracted templates are stored in the Orchestry SharePoint site.  They can also be viewed from the Tools page in Orchestry.

How to Associate Custom Features with Workspace Templates

There are two places Orchestry admins can associate PnP Features with workspace templates:

1. from the 'Features' page, when CREATING or MODIFYING a Feature, and
2. from the 'Features' tab of a workspace template.
   
   

How to add Associations from a Workspace Template:

1. Go to the 'Features' tab of a workspace template
2. Click the MORE FEATURES button to any Features uploaded to Orchestry
3. Click the 'REQUIRED' toggle to the OFF position for any Features that are SUGGESTIONS
4. If you added SUGGESTED Features, flip the "Allow users to customize.." toggle to YES
5. SAVE your changes

The End User Experience

In a workspace request, the 'Customize' page will appear for end users when

1. the associated workspace template includes SUGGESTED templates, and
2. End user customization is ENABLED in the workspace template

Questions and Answers

"What version of the PnP Schema does Orchestry support?"

Orchestry currently supports PNP schema 2021/03