Bauer Automate - Blog , Microsoft 365

Unlock the Power of Microsoft 365 for Lawyers

Tue, 12 May 2026 10:55:49 -0600

How Lawyers Can Maximize Their Microsoft 365 Subscription to Streamline your Legal Practice

Introduction

Microsoft 365 is much more than just email and Office apps; it’s a powerful ecosystem that can help law firms streamline workflows, improve branding, and enhance client experiences. By fully leveraging the tools available in their subscription, lawyers can simplify their operations, maintain professionalism, and grow their practices with ease. In this blog, we’ll explore the best ways for lawyers to make the most of Microsoft 365.

Key Features of Microsoft 365 Lawyers Can Use to Their Advantage

1. Personalized Login Experience

A small but impactful feature of Microsoft 365 is the ability to customize the login experience with your law firm’s branding. Branded login screens allow you to display your firm’s logo, colors, and typography, creating a professional and cohesive look that reinforces your brand identity every time team members log in.

2. Use Microsoft Bookings for Client Scheduling

Microsoft Bookings is an invaluable tool for law firms. It allows clients to schedule consultations directly into your calendar, eliminating the need for back-and-forth emails. You can customize your availability, automate confirmations and reminders, and ensure a seamless scheduling process. This not only saves time but also enhances the client experience by making it easy for them to connect with your firm.

3. Advanced Website Analytics with Microsoft Clarity

Microsoft Clarity is a free tool that provides advanced analytics for your website. With features like heatmaps and session recordings, you can analyze user behavior, identify areas for improvement, and optimize your site’s navigation and content. For law firms, this means better insight into what potential clients are looking for, helping you attract and convert leads in a competitive digital market.

4. Centrally Manage Devices and Branding with Microsoft Intune

Microsoft Intune allows you to manage all your devices and deploy branding elements like logos, wallpapers, and typography consistently across your team. With Intune, you can:

Ensure that all team members have the same tools and resources.

Streamline onboarding and offboarding processes for employees.
Securely manage your team’s devices and applications from one central hub.
For growing law firms, this level of control and consistency is invaluable.

5. Document Templates in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Setting up branded templates in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is a must for any law firm. Templates for letterheads, client presentations, and other essential documents save time, reduce errors, and maintain a polished and professional appearance. With Microsoft 365, you can easily create and share these templates across your team to ensure consistency.

6. Additional Ways to Maximize Microsoft 365

Streamlined Collaboration with Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams is an excellent tool for secure internal communication and client collaboration. Use Teams to host virtual meetings, share files, and collaborate on cases in real time. By integrating Teams with SharePoint, you can further simplify document sharing and management.

7. Using Microsoft Planner for Task Organization

Microsoft Planner is an ideal tool for organizing tasks and actions per client, case, and internal project(s). It allows law firms to:

Create dedicated plans for individual cases or clients.
Assign tasks to team members with due dates and priority levels.
Track progress visually with boards, charts, and timelines.
Planner ensures that no detail is overlooked, improving coordination and accountability across your team.

8. Automating Workflows with Power Automate

Power Automate enables you to automate repetitive tasks and workflows. For example:

Automatically save email attachments to a specific SharePoint folder.
Create workflows for client intake forms and follow-up reminders. These automations free up time for lawyers to focus on billable work while ensuring that important tasks aren’t overlooked.

9. Advanced Email Security and Compliance with Microsoft 365 Defender

Data security is a top priority for law firms, and Microsoft 365 Defender helps protect sensitive legal communications. From advanced threat protection to compliance management, this tool ensures your firm’s data remains secure and adheres to industry standards.

Why Branding Consistency Matters in a Legal Practice

Maintaining a consistent brand is crucial for building trust and credibility. By using Microsoft 365 tools like Intune for device management and Word for branded templates, your firm can ensure that every client-facing touchpoint reflects your professionalism. For even greater consistency, consider centralizing your email branding with Bauer Automate’s Email Signature Automation Tool. This tool ensures that:

Every team member’s email signature aligns with your firm’s branding.
Updates to email signatures are implemented firm-wide instantly.
Your branding is consistent across all devices and platforms.

Conclusion

Microsoft 365 offers an array of tools to help law firms enhance efficiency, maintain consistent branding, and deliver exceptional client experiences. From branded login screens and scheduling tools to advanced analytics and workflow automation, the platform is a game-changer for lawyers looking to grow their practices. To take your branding to the next level, explore Bauer Automate’s Email Signature Automation Tool and centralize your firm’s professional image today.

An interesting work around for version history in Power Automate

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 22:40:04 -0600

An interesting work around for version history in Power Automate

Using previous flow runs to restore your flow changes

Have you ever made a change to a Power Automate flow, only to run it and realize you need to undo them? For all the reasons you might need a previous version of a flow, version history is not yet available in general availability at the time of writing. Even if it was, without good version comments, this is still a challenge. I've also had trouble using the new editor and the undo function.

I don't know how it happened, but I accidentally right clicked on a step in a flow run history within the new view and noticed that the "Copy action" was available on the step.

I copied that into another flow and confirmed it worked as if I had copied the step within the editor. I also had some changes to undo in my current flow, so I was able to go back to the last few runs and reconstruct the steps I'd deleted within seconds!

Now you have 28 days of version history from each instance you ran from the tests that we both know you ran after each major change 😉

Using Power Automate to Create a Photo Library and Add it to the Navigation

Sat, 01 Apr 2023 21:42:55 -0600

Using Power Automate to Create a Photo Library and Add it to the Navigation

Adding a photo library programmatically

Using Power Automate to Create a Photo Library and Add it to the Navigation

One of our clients came to us with a request for creating a SharePoint site automatically based on a project management list. If a project was set to "Start", then a SharePoint site would be created. That will be covered in another article, but one of the interesting asks was to automatically include a photo library that would also be displayed in the QuickLaunch Navigation.

I referenced this article for the API syntax: http://www.ludovicperrichon.com/sharepoint-rest-api-call-with-powerautomate/#createlink

Create your flow however you like, a simple way to set this up is to create an instant flow and use the button trigger with a single input for the SiteURL.
Create a "Send HTTP request to SharePoint" step.

Site address: SiteURL
Method: POST
URI: _api/web/lists
Headers:

Accept | application/json;odata=verbose
Content-Type | application/json;odata=verbose

Body:

{

"__metadata":{

"type": "SP.List"

"AllowContentTypes": true,

"BaseTemplate": 109,

"ContentTypesEnabled": false,

"Description": "Photo library for __________",

"Title": "Photos"

}

Add another "HTTP to SharePoint" step

Site address: SiteURL
Method: POST
URI: _api/web/Navigation/QuickLaunch
Headers:

Accept | application/json;odata=verbose
Content-Type | application/json;odata=verbose

Body:

{

"__metadata": { "type": "SP.NavigationNode"},

"IsExternal": false,

"Title": "Photos",

"Url": "SITEURL/photos"
}

Get Started Now

Clone a SharePoint Site to a Global Template

Sat, 14 Jan 2023 17:56:00 -0700

SharePoint Online is a powerful tool for creating intranet sites, and it's even more powerful when you can create and use custom templates to streamline the process for multiple projects or clients. Unfortunately, creating a template from an existing SharePoint Online site can be a difficult task, especially for non-programmers.

In the past, creating a template was as simple as a few clicks in SharePoint classic, but with the new SharePoint Online, it's not so easy anymore. I've tried various methods, such as using flows and http requests, but I've found that the best way to clone a site multiple times is by using PowerShell to export the existing site and create a template from it.

I created a simple script based on Microsoft's documentation, and even corrected a typo in the documentation regarding spaces in list and library names. I even corrected a typo on the docs! The internal names, such as "Shared%20Documents" had to be used instead of "Shared Documents".

In the upcoming Part 2 of this post, I will review the entire workflow, from a SharePoint list for projects, to a Power Automate flow that creates the site, provides permissions, applies the template, copies over some template files, and even applies customizations to the home page.

In summary, publishing an existing site as a template using PowerShell is the best way to clone a site multiple times. It's a little technical, but with the right script and a little bit of tweaking, you can make this process a lot more manageable.

Before proceeding, make sure to install the SharePoint Online Management Shell. The script I've provided includes a check and installation for the module, but I recommend installing it beforehand.

Open PowerShell as administrator and try my sample code below. Adapting the sample script with some parameters and handling the module installation, we can use the following:

# install the module if you don't already have it

if(

-not (

Get-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -ListAvailable)){

Install-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -Scope CurrentUser -Force

}

# Choices for operations, set to either $true or $false

$exportFromWeb = $true

$exportBackupFile = $true

$createGlobalTemplate = $true

# SharePoint base URL

$baseURL = "ryleybauer"

$companyDisplayName = "Bauer Automate"

# Edit these parameters to define your template

$newSiteTitle = "Quick Project Template"

$shortName = "Projects"

# These variables are generated from the parameters above

$adminURL = ' https://' + $baseURL + '-admin.sharepoint.com'

$siteURL = 'https://' + $baseURL + '.sharepoint.com/sites/' + $shortName

$outFolder = $env:USERPROFILE + '\Downloads\' + $newSiteTitle + ' \ '

$outFile = $outFolder + $newSiteTitle + '.txt '

# Select Source Data

$lists = "Shared%20Documents", "SitePages", "Lists/Losses", "Lists/Projects%20List"

# Connect to SharePoint Online

Connect-SPOService -Url $adminURL

# Generate Script from existing site

if ($exportFromWeb){

$sourceSiteScript = Get-SPOSiteScriptFromWeb -WebUrl $siteURL -IncludeLinksToExportedItems -IncludedLists ($lists)

}

# Optionally create a backup file in the user' s documents folder

if ($exportBackupFile) {

New-Item -Path $outFolder -ItemType Directory

$sourceSiteScript | Out-File -filepath $outFile

}

# Optionally publish as global template and site design

if ($createGlobalTemplate) {

$SiteScript = Add-SPOSiteScript -Title $newSiteTitle -Content $sourceSiteScript

$SiteDesign = Add-SPOSiteDesign -Title $newSiteTitle -WebTemplate 64 -SiteScripts $SiteScript.Id

}

# Get site template list to show the ID of the newly created template and confirm it was successful

Get-SPOSiteDesign

When I first started working with SharePoint Site Designs and Site Scripts, I hadn't used them before and wasn't familiar with their structure. However, I found a great resource in DevFacto's blog post on Getting Started with SharePoint Site Designs and Site Scripts. It helped me understand the anatomy of a site script, which was especially helpful when I needed to split my template file...

...

I didn't want to split the template file

...

I initially didn't want to split the template file, but I learned that site scripts are limited to 100,000 characters. My site had multiple lists and libraries with lots of columns and formatting, so I realized that I had more work ahead of me. Excited for the challenge, I decided to split my file by list and library. This way, it would be more modular for future use and each list/library file could be used individually in a new template if needed. If your template is simple and the file is less than 100,000 characters, then you can skip the next section where I discuss splitting the file.

Reading DevFacto's post was particularly helpful as it gave me a better understanding of the structure of the site script. The post does a great job of outlining the basic structure of the script that I had to use for each file:

The structure of the script helped me to split my file by list and library which made it more modular for future use. My template site had 3 libraries and 7 lists, so I created 10 files. Each file had the same structure and looked something like this:

My template site had 3 libraries and 7 lists, so I had created 10 files. If you opened the files, each of them looked basically like this:

{

"$schema": "schema.json",

"actions": [{

"verb": "createSPList",

"listName": "Shared Documents",

"templateType": 101,

"subactions": [{

"verb": "setDescription",

"description": "Project team can use this Documents Library to store deliverable documents."

}

//EXTRA STEPS HERE

]

}

"bindata": {},

"version": 1

};

Once we put all of that together, and understand the anatomy of a site script, we can clone very complex site templates.

If you take the original script from above and add a few more parameters to check if the script should import one or more files instead, you get the following:

# install the module if you don 't already have it

if (

-not (

Get-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -ListAvailable

)

) {

Install-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -Scope CurrentUser -Force

}

# Choices for operations, set to either $true or $false

$exportFromWeb = $true

$importFromFile = $false

$importFromMultipleFiles = $false

$exportBackupFile = $false

$createGlobalTemplate = $false

# SharePoint base URL

$baseURL = "ryleybauer"

$companyDisplayName = "Bauer Automate"

# Edit these parameters to define your template

$newSiteTitle = "Project Template"

# Select your existing site. The short name is the URL section after "https://bauerautomate.sharepoint.com/sites/SHORTNAME"

$existingSiteShortName = "Projects"

# These variables are generated from the parameters above

$adminURL = ' https://' + $baseURL + '-admin.sharepoint.com'

$siteURL = 'https://' + $baseURL + '.sharepoint.com/sites/' + $existingSiteShortName

$outFolder = $env:USERPROFILE + '\Downloads\' + $newSiteTitle + ' \ '

$outFile = $outFolder + $newSiteTitle + '.txt '

# Select Source Data

$lists = "Shared%20Documents","SitePages","Lists/Losses","Lists/Projects%20List"

# Generate a name for each script - same as above - add as many as needed to match above

$inFile1Name = $newSiteTitle + " - Projects"

$inFile2Name = $newSiteTitle + " - Documents"

$inFile3Name = $newSiteTitle + " - SitePages"

# Input files from existing template that was split into multiple files - add as many as needed, and I recommend 1 per list/library to keep it modular

$inFile1 = $outFolder + ' \' + $inFile1Name + '.txt '

$inFile2 = $outFolder + ' \' + $inFile2Name + '.txt '

$inFile3 = $outFolder + ' \' + $inFile3Name + '.txt '

# Connect to SharePoint Online

Connect-SPOService -Url $adminURL

# Generate Script from existing site

if ($exportFromWeb) {

$sourceSiteScript = Get-SPOSiteScriptFromWeb -WebUrl $siteURL -IncludeLinksToExportedItems -IncludedLists ($lists)

}

# Apply Script from existing single file

if ($importFromFile) {

[string]$sourceSiteScript = Get-Content $inFile1

}

# Optionally create a backup file in the user' s documents folder

if ($exportBackupFile) {

New-Item -Path $outFolder -ItemType Directory

$sourceSiteScript | Out- File - filepath $outFile

}

# Optionally publish as global template and site design from single file

if ($createGlobalTemplate -and -not $importFromMultipleFiles) {

$SiteScript = Add -SPOSiteScript -Title $newSiteTitle -Content $sourceSiteScript

$SiteDesign = Add -SPOSiteDesign -Title $newSiteTitle -WebTemplate 64 -SiteScripts $SiteScript.Id

}

# Apply Script from existing multiple files - add as many as needed

if ($importFromMultipleFiles) {

[string]$sourceSiteScript1 = Get -Content $inFile1

[string]$sourceSiteScript2 = Get -Content $inFile2

[string]$sourceSiteScript3 = Get -Content $inFile3

}

# Optionally publish as global template and site design from multiple files - add as many as needed

if ($createGlobalTemplate -and $importFromMultipleFiles) {

$SiteScript1 = Add -SPOSiteScript -Title $inFile1Name -Content $sourceSiteScript1

$SiteScript2 = Add -SPOSiteScript -Title $inFile2Name -Content $sourceSiteScript2

$SiteScript3 = Add -SPOSiteScript -Title $inFile3Name -Content $sourceSiteScript3

# add as many as needed to the end of this line to add all of the scripts to the site design

$SiteDesign = Add -SPOSiteDesign -Title $newSiteTitle -WebTemplate 64 -SiteScripts ($SiteScript1.Id,$SiteScript2.Id,$SiteScript3.Id)

}

# Get site template list to show the ID of the newly created template and confirm it was successful

Get-SPOSiteDesign

See how we can help today!

Classic Web Parts in Modern SharePoint Online

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 00:46:45 -0700

How to Customize your Modern Microsoft SharePoint Online Site using Classic Features Webparts and Content Types

BONUS: Read more to find the hidden SharePoint classic button for webparts and apps!

As someone who's been around SharePoint for a while, I have gotten used to a few of the classic features that have recently been changed. The other day, I was trying to add a "Photos" library to my site and couldn't find it in the options with the new UI. Turns out they've done a good job of hiding the "classic experience" button. Read below to see the button's new location!

If you're a seasoned veteran to SharePoint and trying to customize your new Modern Microsoft SharePoint Online (SPO) site, then you've come to the right place.

I'm going to show you how to use classic features of SharePoint and web parts to customize your new site.

Let's get started!

Navigate to "Site Contents:"
Select "New"
Choose Option: "App"
Hidden within the first paragraph click on "Classic Experience"
Select your desired App

Below are screenshot guides to better help you...

Some of my favourite Classic SharePoint content types to use are:

Calendar: This is a great way to keep everyone up to date on what's going on in the office. It's also a good way for meeting minutes and other important information. The calendar can be displayed on the front page or within an individual page as well.
Photo / Picture Library: If you need pictures for your site then this is a great place to start! You can add pictures from your local computer or from any other computer connected to the network by using File Explorer, or you can use Microsoft Photos
Wiki: A wiki is a great way to put together Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) or create knowledge base articles about your business. If you have any questions about something then just ask them here! The community will help out with answers too!
Announcements: This is a great way to let people know when there's an event happening at your company or if it's time for an update on your blog posts or social media accounts like Facebook Twitter , Instagram etc.. You can also add links back into these pages so that people can easily find them

SharePoint is a powerful tool for online collaboration. It's the ideal place to host your company's information and projects, if you are looking for help on how to better use this tool, feel free to connect with me:

If you found this blog post and guide helpful, buy me a coffee

See How We Can Help Today!

Get Full Value From Microsoft 365 Licensing

Wed, 28 Dec 2022 15:53:24 -0700

Maximizing the benefits of upgrading your Microsoft 365 Enterprise licenses

Are you using Microsoft 365 Enterprise licenses for your business but wondering if upgrading is worth the investment? Upgrading can bring improved collaboration, security, and access to the latest features. In this blog, we'll explore the key reasons why upgrading your Microsoft 365 Enterprise licenses is a smart move for your business and how it can help you get the most out of your subscription.

To review your knowledge here is a list of the main enterprise licenses:

Office 365 Enterprise E1 - Basic cloud apps for enterprise with enhanced security beyond the business suite
Office 365 Enterprise E3 - Office 365 E1, but also with the desktop apps and basic records management
Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 - Office 365 E3, but also with advanced security and device management
Office 365 Enterprise E5 - Office 365 E3, but also with phone, Power BI, automatic records management and advanced privacy
Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 - Office 365 E5, but ultimate security features for controlling, protecting and auditing access to sensitive data, including connections to on-premises systems

For more of a breakdown of these licenses - click here to review the different licenses

Note: you can see all the details when you download the full comparison table

Major Benefits when upgrading licenses

Office 365 Enterprise E1 to Office 365 Enterprise E3

Choose to upgrade to E3 when you need full access to the desktop apps and would like to leverage some basic data protections, such as manual retention and sensitivity labels, or you work with sensitive data with compliance requirements to preserve basic activity.

Office 365 Enterprise E3 to Office 365 Enterprise E5

Phone System License (requires minutes add on/calling plan)

Office 365 Enterprise E5 is the best choice when balancing security with advanced productivity features. Since the increase includes the Teams phone system and Power BI Pro, all of the other security features are essentially "free". Choose E5 when you have compliance requirements to automatically manage retention, manage records, protect from data leakage, audit access and restrict the sharing of confidential information internally.

Office 365 Enterprise E3 to Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3

It's worth taking the leap from Office 365 to Microsoft 365 when you require advanced security and advanced control of your devices (computers and mobile). From automated setup of your new computers to preventing access outside of the country or a virtual desktop in the cloud, the upgrade to the Microsoft 365 suite empowers automation and enhances security.

Office 365 Enterprise E5 to Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5

For ultimate privacy and security, Microsoft E5 includes everything for classifying and protecting your data for alignment with compliance. It also includes ease of use features, like Windows Hello for Business, which allows for a secure, password-less experience and automatic labelling, and also includes a connector for your on-premises systems.

Upgrading your Microsoft 365 Enterprise licenses can bring a range of benefits to your business, including improved collaboration, security, and access to the latest features. With a range of enterprise licenses to choose from, you can find the one that best meets your needs and budget. From basic cloud apps and enhanced security with Office 365 Enterprise E1, to advanced security and device management with Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3, and ultimate privacy and security with Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5, there is a license to suit every business. By upgrading your licenses, you can get the most out of your subscription and ensure that your business is equipped with the tools it needs to thrive in the modern workplace while protecting your sensitive data.