Create a new topic for Viva Topics

  • 4 minutes

Topics contributors, Knowledge managers and Knowledge admins can create a new topic

These users can create a new topic if AI does not discover through indexing or if the AI technology did not find enough evidence to establish it as a topic. Before you can create a new topic, you need the following items:

  • A Viva Topics license
  • Permissions to Who can create or edit topics. Knowledge admins can give users this permission in the Viva Topics topic permissions settings.

You can create a new topic from two locations:

  • Topic Center home page
    A screenshot shows a portion of the Topics page.
  • Manage topics page.
    A screenshot shows a portion of the Manage topics page.

Any licensed user with the Who can create or edit topics permission (Topics contributors) can create a new topic from the Topic Center by selecting New > Topic page.

To create a new topic:

  1. Select New Topic Page from the ribbon on the Manage Topics page.

  2. Enter a name for the new topic.
    A screenshot shows the Name portion of the create a topic page.

    In the Alternate names section, type any other names the topic might be referred to.

  3. Type a couple of sentences that describe the topic.

    • In the Pinned people section, you can "pin" a person to list them as a subject matter expert on the topic. Begin by typing their name or email address in the add a new user box, and then select the user you want to add from the search results.
    • You can also "unpin" a user by selecting Remove from list on the user card. You can also drag the person to change the order that the list of people appears.

  4. In the pinned files and pages section, add or "pin" a file or SharePoint site page associated to the topic.

    • To add a new file, select Add, select the SharePoint site from your Frequent or Followed sites, and then select the file from the site's document library.
    • You can also use the From a link option to add a file or page by providing the URL.

  5. The Related sites section shows sites with information about the topic. Add a related site by selecting Add and then either search for the site or select it from your list of Frequent or Recent sites.

    A screenshot shows the Sites section of the create a topic page.

  6. The Related topics section shows connections existing between topics. You can add a connection to a different topic by selecting Connect to a related topic, typing the related topic's name, and selecting it from the search results.

    You can then give a description of how the topics are related and select Update.

    The related topic you add will display as a connected topic.

    To remove a related topic, select the topic you want to remove, then select Remove topic.

  7. Add static items to the page by selecting the canvas icon, which you can find below the short description. These items can be text, images, or links.
    A screenshot shows the SharePoint toolbox.

  8. Select Publish to save your changes.

After you publish the page, the topic name, alternate name, description, and pinned people are available to all licensed users who view the topic. Specific files, pages, and sites will only appear on the topic page if the viewer has Office 365 permissions to the item.