SharePoint users Following

Question

I'm setting up several SharePoint Communication sites and have been testing access to these sites with a test user I've created. The invitation link works well enough by taking the user to the site. to the shared site. When I go to the SharePoint home link I see there are Recent sites listed with a start next to them. After selecting the start to follow it, the start blinks several times and I get the following message, "We couldn't add this to the sites you follow. Try again later". 

This has been taking place over that last three to four weeks with no change. Can anyone offer a fix for this behavior?

Tenant is Office 365 Business/SharePoint online.

Thanks,

Answer 1

Hi Kerius,

Thanks so much for the video in the Private Message.

As we can not reproduce the issue. We would like to collect the log to try identifying the root cause. Could you please perform the steps I shared with you via Private Message I have already sent you and then share with us the results?

Regards,

Tina

Answer 2

Hi Kerius,

Have you checked the information above? Regarding the issue, for us to try reproducing the same environment, could you please provide the information?

Thanks,

Tina

Answer 3

Hi Kerius,

Thanks for the troubleshooting you have done.

You mentioned you have created a new user to test. It helps a lot to identify the issue. We would like to collect the whole information to try reproducing the same environment. Could you please try recording a video about the whole process (creating a new user,  creating a new communication site, sending invitation, granting permission, and then encountering the issue)? Please share it with us via  Private Message I have sent to you. And some comparison scenarios will be also helpful. Could you please also get us the test results of the other existing user?

Thanks,

Tina

Answer 4

Tina,

I've created a test user to troubleshoot this issue.

I've created a new test communication site but this doesn't seem to change anything. When I select the invitation link The test site opens directly with no "star" present in the upper right hand corner (link to image below). 

***

When I select "Follow" in the email invitation I get same result - site opens with no star present.

It seems that the only way to have the star present is to go to the SharePoint home page where all sites are listed. When I do this a previously shared site shows up but not the new one. As you can see from the image below, I cannot get any sites to show up in my "Following" section for some reason and the newly created site isn't even shown. A previously shared site, however, does show up and I've captured the message that pops up after selecting the star at this location (link to image below). 

***

As far as other users... I only have one test user that I've been testing SharePoint on. Permissions for this user were created in the new site's Advanced Permissions section > Grant Permissions Visitor. Test User had Read permissions.

Please let me know if there is more information that you require. Thanks for you help. 

[PII is masked by the moderator]

Answer 5

Hi Kerius,

Please check the followings and share with us the results so that we can better understand the situation to assist you:

1. If the user goes to the shared communication site via the invitation link and then clicks star in the upper right corner to follow it, does the feature work as you expect?
2. If you create a new communication site, does the issue occur?
3. Are all the users affected? How many users are affected? Is the affected user newly created? What exact sequence of actions have the user performed before the site appear in his or her SharePoint home page?
4. Some screenshots to show the error message and the symptom (star in Recent you have mentioned).

Thanks,

Tina