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# From Blank Canvas to Copilot: Rethinking SharePoint Page Authoring
- URL: https://blog.rickzeleznik.com/from-blank-canvas-to-copilot-rethinking-sharepoint-page-authoring/
- Published: 2026-09-24T02:22:21.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-24T02:22:21.000Z
- Author: Rick Zeleznik
- Tags: AI, Copilot, Consulting, M365, Microsoft 365, SharePoint

I remember how happy I was to see the newer SharePoint page templates start rolling out. 

Since the beginning of SharePoint, page authoring has been a game of conflicting realities that often fell short of the platform's promise. 

On one hand, we had a very capable platform on which to build great (for the time) experiences. On the other, we handed business users a stark white canvas and expected them to somehow bring it to life in a visually polished way. 

We sold customers on the idea that SharePoint made it easy to edit and publish content without reaching for a web developer. And technically, that was true. But somewhere along the way, I think we underestimated how important the role of the visual designer had been. 

Yes, business users *could* jump in and start building pages. That didn't mean they had the design experience, inspiration, or instincts to assemble all of those puzzle pieces in a way that actually represented what they were trying to accomplish. 

The newer page templates marked an important change in that relationship. For the first time, without reaching for a third-party product, a business user could start with a visual menu of finished page concepts, find something that roughly matched what was already in their head, and then retrofit it around their own content. 

That was a deceptively important shift. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d3/2f/d32fe8cd-8fa0-40a5-af79-76549307063e/content/images/2026/09/page-templates.png)

Intranets were better for it. SharePoint was better for it. Better-looking, more intentional experiences made it easier for users to embrace the platform in ways they often hadn't before. 

Now Copilot is beginning to take that idea several steps further. 

With Microsoft 365 Copilot, we now have the ability to simply describe the page we want and watch it come to life. We can provide extensive, specific instructions, but we can also lob things like "please make this page more visually polished with a better layout" into the prompt and get surprisingly good results. 

Copilot's ability to field both detailed and generic requests is important at a time when most organizations are still building basic AI competency across their workforces. 

Some people will be using advanced prompting. Others will still be experimenting with very basic instructions. Copilot can deliver worthwhile results either way. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d3/2f/d32fe8cd-8fa0-40a5-af79-76549307063e/content/images/2026/09/copilot-pages.png)

You can even paste a link to a SharePoint list item into the prompt and ask Copilot to build a page based on the item, its metadata, and the information it contains. I've used that exact approach, and it opens the door to a type of publishing process that we've never really had before. Instead of starting with a blank page and manually translating structured information into something presentable, you can start with the information itself and ask Copilot to turn it into an experience. 

That's where I think the larger change is happening. 

SharePoint is moving away from simply giving users the building blocks and expecting them to know how to assemble them. Increasingly, the platform can help interpret what the author is trying to communicate and assist with turning that intent into an actual experience. 

One thing is for sure - these experiences are going to continue to get better at conveying the ideas that matter to organizations and making critical information stick, instead of simply adding to the blur of words on a screen.