What is Microsoft Power Pages? | A Complete Guide

9 September 2022

In 2019, Microsoft introduced a game-changing solution called Power Apps Portals. This innovative tool enabled companies to securely expose their databases to external users, revolutionizing data accessibility. Fast forward to today, and Microsoft is unveiling the evolution of this technology: Microsoft Power Pages.

Microsoft Power Pages represents a significant step forward in the world of low-code website development. This powerful tool empowers businesses to effortlessly create secure, scalable, and user-friendly websites, all while minimizing the need for extensive coding.

While Power Apps Portals certainly provided a gateway for data-driven business web applications, it was not without its limitations. Users within the Microsoft community were well aware of its maturity issues, limited low-code capabilities, and scalability challenges. Recognizing these shortcomings, Microsoft has taken the decision to retire Power Apps Portals and introduce the more advanced and adaptable Microsoft Power Pages.

What Sets Power Pages Apart?

Power Pages, much like Power Apps Portals, is firmly rooted in the low-code paradigm. However, its differentiating factor lies in its integration with a comprehensive enterprise-grade hosting platform. In recent years, Microsoft has gleaned valuable insights from its collaborations with various organizations.

One key lesson learned is the need for solutions that are highly scalable, robust, and offer precise control, especially when dealing with branded external platforms. Consequently, Microsoft has strived to ensure that its next-generation platform provides enterprise-level capabilities for building websites, encompassing elastic scalability, high availability, and built-in features for authentication, authorization, and platform security.

Empowering Users with the Low-Code Maker Experience

The low-code maker experience is designed to empower users in low-code development through the introduction of Power Pages Maker Studio, a Templates Hub, and advanced data modeling and visualization tools. Accessible via the dedicated URL make.powerpages.microsoft.com, the Power Pages Home Screen offers a familiar environment, similar to the Power Apps Platform, allowing users to manage their working environment conveniently from the upper-right corner.

This URL serves as a gateway to all the sites within your current environment, building upon the established Power Apps Portals framework. Notably, Microsoft has confirmed that there will be a seamless transition for existing Portals within the environment; no migration efforts are required. It’s important to emphasize that the change in branding to Power Pages won’t impact any of your existing capabilities – Microsoft is simply introducing innovative tools to enhance your low-code development experience.

Microsoft Power Pages Learn Hub

Introducing the Power Pages Learn Hub, a game-changer in the world of web development. Microsoft has taken note of the frustrations faced by the community when tackling website framework challenges. Often, users find themselves navigating through a maze of webinars, TechTalks, and forums to gather the technical know-how needed to solve their problems.

With the Microsoft Power Pages Learn Hub, Microsoft has streamlined the learning process. Now, you can access a wealth of Power Pages-related knowledge directly within the Power Platform itself. This centralizes your learning experience and seamlessly integrates it with your project workflow. While the Learn Hub does provide links to Microsoft Docs for additional information, the core learning resources are all right there within the platform. Say goodbye to the endless search for relevant content, and say hello to a more efficient and productive learning journey.

Microsoft Power Pages Templates Hub

The Power Pages Templates Hub is a valuable feature within the Power Pages platform, designed to enhance the user experience by providing a wide array of user interface options and practical templates. Think of it as akin to the Power Apps template library, but tailored specifically for Power Pages. Microsoft has taken the initiative to broaden the selection of pre-built scenarios, thereby encouraging diverse use-cases for this exciting new product. These templates are thoughtfully crafted, some even incorporating API functionalities for added versatility.

Microsoft’s ambition is to expand this hub into a vast collection, offering hundreds of templates that cater to various needs. To achieve this, they are actively seeking feedback from the community, relying on users to identify and prioritize the most sought-after use-cases. Moreover, Microsoft has plans to establish a “Template Community” where Microsoft Power Pages users can seamlessly share their customized templates within their organization, fostering collaboration and innovation.

Power Pages Workspace

Power Apps Portal introduces a game-changing feature called “Power Pages,” anchored by the innovative Pages Workspace. Initially rooted in its low-code capabilities, Power Apps Portals faced limitations in terms of design flexibility. In 2019, Microsoft embarked on the journey to empower users with low-code styling options, and with Power Pages, this capability has evolved significantly. This dynamic tool empowers customers to swiftly prototype, design, develop, and launch their portals with unprecedented ease.

Furthermore, Microsoft has revamped navigation within the Pages Workspace, enhancing the user experience. Notably, even previously uneditable pages, like the 404 error pages, can now be customized. With Power Pages, the Power Apps Portal ecosystem takes a giant leap towards empowering users to shape their digital experiences effortlessly and efficiently.

Styling Capabilities & Workspace

The Styling Workspace offers a versatile platform for tailoring the visual elements of your content, such as headers, buttons, footers, forms, and lists. This tool simplifies the process of aligning your design with your brand identity. It comes equipped with 13 templates and themes to kickstart your styling journey, allowing you to save your customized styles for future use.

Microsoft encourages starting with these preset themes and then enhancing them to suit your specific needs. Each theme empowers you to tweak the color scheme, background hues, font choices, section margins, and button designs within your template. Notably, customization options go beyond these themes. Dileep Singh, in a recent announcement, confirmed that custom CSS remains an option and is slated to be seamlessly integrated into the Styling Workspace in the future.

Data Workspace

Recognizing the vital role of data exposure in portals, Microsoft has developed the Data Workspace. This workspace is designed to simplify the process of external users engaging with Dataverse data. Microsoft has been actively collaborating with the Power Apps Portals Community to gather valuable feedback and refine data-related features to ensure user satisfaction.

Exploring the Concept of Security within Microsoft Power Pages

When it comes to presenting data to external users, prioritizing security is absolutely essential. Security measures are in place to guarantee that information from Dataverse and other data sources can only be accessed by the individuals it’s intended for.

Power Pages, much like Power Apps Portals, comes equipped with its own security framework designed to ensure that vital business data reaches the right people. To manage access to a portal created in Power Pages, various components are employed.

• • Authorized User
  • Web Roles
  • Access Control for Tables
  • Access Control for Pages

Authorized Users:

In a portal, users fall into two categories: Anonymous Users and Authenticated Users. Anonymous Users have not logged in and can access any data. Authenticated Users, on the other hand, go through a login process, which can be integrated with platforms like LinkedIn, Microsoft, and others.

These Authenticated Users are represented as contact records in Microsoft’s Dataverse database. They are then assigned specific web roles that determine their access level to the site and the data it contains. This approach allows organizations to control and customize user access to their portal and its data securely.

Web Roles

Web Roles in Power Pages grant users access to data points and actions on a website. These roles are associated with user profiles, table permissions, and page permissions. In Power Pages, you can assign multiple web roles to a single contact, allowing for customized permission stacks. When a new user is created, they are automatically given the Authenticated Users web role as a default setting, granting them initial access privileges.

Permissions for Tables and Pages Table permissions serve as a vital safeguard to protect sensitive data within a portal or website. They offer organizations the flexibility to tailor access and privileges for Dataverse records. After configuring table permissions, they are linked to specific web roles, enabling controlled access for users.

Conclusion

Microsoft Power Pages represents a revolutionary advancement in low-code website development, effectively addressing the shortcomings of its predecessor, Power Apps Portals. With its robust set of features, including the Power Pages Maker Studio, Templates Hub, and enhanced styling capabilities, it empowers users to effortlessly create secure and scalable websites. The centralized knowledge hub, Learn Hub, and versatile Templates Hub streamline the development process.

Power Pages prioritizes security, ensuring precise data access control. Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to user feedback and collaboration promises an exciting future for this platform. Unlock the potential of Microsoft Power Pages with the support of our expert Power App consulting services. Call us today to explore its limitless possibilities.