As it is summer for all of the school kids as well the typical college students, I have a bit more time than usual for extra curriculars. recently, I had heard about an opportunity provided by Microsoft to earn a free exam to get certified.
As I am one of those people, I get obsessive over this stuff and immediately got right into it. This quickly took over every second I had of free time. Unfortunately, the time has run out (June 21st) for the challenge. However, I thought it would be a cool thing to go over and talk about the first module of 24 that I had to learn about.
So come with me, and learn about building solutions and apps for Microsoft 365. . .
Module 1
Before we get into the figurative "Meat and Potatoes" of this module, I have notes separated by the different sections. "If I figure out how to do it right, I will have a section selector so you can skip parts if you'd like." is what I would have said if I didn't write so much to the point of choosing to make multiple posts about it.
Introduction
Understand the format of Actionable Messages in Outlook
Understand Action Types for Actionable Messages in Outlook
Understand Registration for Actionable Messages in Outlook
Understand Security Requirements for Actionable Messages in Outlook
Today we are learning about actionable messages. actionable messages are pieces of code that are added to HTML to enhance user experience using an adaptive card. From there, adaptive cards are essentially a formatting that is consistent and common for developers to use. A way to look at these adaptive cards, are like roads. All roads follow a common and mainly consistent schema.
But what do actionable messages do and why would I need to know these adaptive cards? Good question me, these actionable messages add a new layer of experience in outlook for users, but it also allows for instant action without needing to leave Outlook. Some examples of what these actionable messages can do include sending surveys, coding a check-in and much more.
Now that we have a basic understanding of what an AM (Actionable Message) is, we can delve deeper into what it's made up of and what it is best for.
AMs are made up of two main components; an application or service that sends HTML-formatted emails with adaptive card mark-up, AND a WEB API that is called when the user activates the actions in the message.
Using AMs are extremely beneficial in business environments, the key benefits to this solution include the slim-lining of processes. These messages can encourage users to take action immediately as it is easily accessible. As comes with tons of users, conformity can be a challenge. Contrarily, Actionable Messages make it extremely easy with universal formatting. Quickly build UX, and you only need to build one service rather than having to link an external program that must be formatted for all forms. Furthermore, this information can be easily updated to provide as up-to-date information as possible. An example of this is a card that shows the user the daily objectives and updates when a task is completed by refreshing the AM.
This implement is currently supported for Web 365, Office 365 ProPlus, as well Outlook on iOS and Android.
Okay, given we are already high word-count wise. I am going to end this post for now. I will do multiple parts rather than one huge post. Normally, I would continue going until I finished my goal or explained everything thoroughly, but hopefully this will be better and much easier to digest.
This is a lot of information to take in and I struggled a lot to ensure finishing in time.
I am not a developer or programmer. I do not enjoy that side of technology but I do have a fiery desire to learn and be proficient at it. With that being said, I am trying and will continue to try to do my best explaining this topic and my notes as accurately as possible. Doing posts like this is to help teach others as well as being my studying technique to cement this information in for my certification exam.
Replies to this post and future M365 App Development comments will be appreciated. Please, correct me and teach others that are learning with me through these posts.
Until next time.
