We are using Office 365 and investigating Stream as the video tool for a communication solution. Stream is interesting, but we hit some stumbling blocks. Let me share some of the lessons we learned setting up a channel, allowing the right people to upload videos into it and trying to achieve a smooth end-user experience.
We are working on a communication solution to share safety information with the entire organization. In addition to pages about safety rules et cetera, the team is making videos to explain safety measures and inviting vloggers to create videos about their safety experiences on the job. Because it is very important that the information follows the official safety rules, the content is curated assiduously.
In this organization we are rolling out Office 365, so we got started with a Communication Site in SharePoint Online and Stream for the videos. We were guided by Microsoft’s Overview of Groups and Channels, which was helpful but not enough to pull us through.
Set-up a channel where the right people can upload videos
Permissions are not set on Channels but on Groups
In the old Video portal in Office 365, you set permissions on the channel. In the new Stream, permissions are not managed on the channel, but directly on the video or on Groups. The channels are only meant to structure the collection of videos that the Group is publishing. In our situation, a small group of editors should upload the videos and everyone in the organization should be able to view them. So following Microsoft’s Group & channel examples, we set up:
- A Public Group in Stream, where we Allow all members to contribute: everyone can see the content of this Group, but only the Group can contribute.
Create a Public Group, so that everyone can view the content and the users add to the group can contribute
- In that Group, we created a Group channel. The Owners can change the settings of the Group and the channel, and the people they add as Members can upload and manage the videos in the channel.
Create a group channel, so that the group can upload videos
In the Group and the Channel,
- Owners can change the settings of the group the channel, add members and other owners, upload and manage videos
- Members can also manage the group and channel settings like the title, and they can upload and manage videos. But they cannot add other members.
- Everyone in the organization (because it is a public group) can view the content, but not contribute.
The Group Owners can add members and other owners, in the tab Membership of the Group.
Even Group owners cannot upload videos if video uploads are restricted centrally
Even the Owners of Stream Groups cannot upload videos, if video uploading is restricted in the central settings. We hit this problem. In our case, some owners could upload videos and others could not, and it took us a while to find out why. You will find this option in Stream itself (not in the central Office 365 Admin portal), in the menu under the gear icon: Admin settings.
Link to the Admin settings in Stream.
The check the settings under Content Creation. You are fine if the option to Restrict video uploads = Off.
Content creation settings in Stream: Restrict video uploads is Off.
If video uploads are restricted, you have to make sure that the people who are supposed to upload videos in your channel are added to the ‘whitelist’.
Content creation settings in Stream: Restrict video uploads is On.
So if the editors cannot upload videos check this setting. And ask the governance board for your Office 365 environment if they can please relax this setting and stop the restriction on video uploads, because managing this ‘whitelist’ of unrestricted users will be a nightmare.
Finding the options
Keep titles short: Channels titles cannot be more than 30 characters
When you create a channel, This title only just fit in ‘’Test video companywide channel’, even though the title field looks much bigger. And even so, under 20 characters are displayed in the channel over view cards.
In the Group, the tab Channels displays the channels of this group, but only short version of the channel titles
Editing the Group properties
Owners and (if members are allowed to contribute) can change the settings of the group and its channels. The entry point to the edit-options are somewhat hidden: follow the dot dot dots…you see in the group itself and in the overviews.
Click on the ellipsis next to the title in the group or channel, or in the overviews.
You cannot change the Group picture in Stream
You can edit the title, description and access options. But you cannot change the picture here.
Editing the Group properties.
You have to go to the Group settings elsewhere in Office 365. After all, the Group we use in Stream is a regular Office 365 Group.
To change the picture, go to the settings in Office 3656 Group.
Stream on a SharePoint page does not work properly
Stream web part is in Preview and slows Internet Explorer 9 terribly
We have a Communication Site in SharePoint Online for the non-video content. In that Modern template, there is a web part (app part, whatever it’s called nowadays), to display a Stream video or channel on the page. But that is a Preview.
Putting the Stream preview on the page is a performance killer in Internet Explorer 9. This old Internet Explorer does not work well with the Modern interface.
Preview Stream webpart on a Communication Site
Videos don’t play on iPhones
Because the Stream web part does not work properly on the laptops, we embedded key videos directly on the page. On the laptop that works.
However, in the SharePoint App on the iPhone, that does not work. On the iPhone, you get a message to log on. And that does not work…
On an iPhone, you do not get the video, but a log on message. Which does not work.
Unfortunately, this is a show stopper for us: most users will probably use their iPhone to view the information, including the videos. Hm. So we have to keep looking…
