Bring SharePoint to Life: HTML Apps on every page that refresh automatically!

A support ticket changes status, and your dashboard updates a few seconds later—right inside your SharePoint page. In my latest video, I demonstrate how native HTML pages, Copilot, and the Smart HTML application page Integrator work together to make this possible.

Raw HTML, seamlessly integrated into SharePoint

SharePoint can now render raw HTML pages directly within the SharePoint chrome, without distracting file-preview controls. “Chrome” simply means the familiar SharePoint surroundings, such as the site header and navigation. Your HTML content appears within that environment, giving users a clean, focused experience.

This makes HTML a useful option for dashboards, visual summaries, and small business applications. Users can open the content and stay within the SharePoint site they already know.

HTML is now a fully supported page type in SharePoint’s Site Pages library. You can create or upload HTML pages, edit their content, publish them, and share them alongside existing SharePoint pages. A site owner first enables Allow HTML files in the library’s File types settings.

From an issue list to a clear dashboard

The demonstration starts with a SharePoint issue-tracking list. The goal is straightforward: show how many issues are new, in progress, blocked, or completed, so users can understand the situation at a glance.

I ask Copilot to generate an HTML summary connected to that list. The key is to explicitly request a live, data-bound HTML dashboard and describe how often it should refresh. This tells Copilot that the overview must reflect the list’s current data when refreshed.

A prompt along these lines captures the requirements demonstrated in the video:

Create a live, data-bound HTML summary for this issue list. Group the issues by status and display the number of items in each group. Refresh the summary every 10 seconds. When something changes, show a small alert icon for 10 seconds. Save the HTML page in the Site Pages library.

Copilot creates a dashboard that opens directly in SharePoint. For a complete reporting overview, that standalone page may already be exactly what you need.

Meet the Smart HTML application page Integrator

Often, a small dashboard is most useful alongside other information: team updates, instructions, links, or project documents. That is why I developed the Smart HTML application page Integrator.

This web part enables users to embed HTML apps into existing SharePoint pages. It brings the dashboard into the page where people already work, alongside the other web parts and content.

The video shows a simple setup:

1. Copy the generated HTML app to the Site Assets library.
2. Open an existing SharePoint page in edit mode.
3. Add the Smart HTML application page Integrator web part.
4. Open its properties, browse for the HTML file, and apply the selection.
5. Save the page to see the embedded dashboard in place.

Why use Site Assets here? In the demonstrated file picker, the Site Pages library is not available for selection. Copying the file to Site Assets makes it selectable for this embedding step; native HTML page support in Site Pages is a separate capability.

The highlight: automatic refresh every 10 seconds

The embedded dashboard refreshes automatically every 10 seconds, while the surrounding SharePoint page stays unchanged. Users can continue reading the page as the dashboard updates its information.

To demonstrate this, I change an issue from Blocked to Completed in the underlying list. At the next refresh, the dashboard reflects the change: the blocked count decreases and the completed count increases.

There is no need to press the browser’s refresh button or reopen the page. The refresh interval is part of the HTML app’s requested behavior, and that behavior continues when the app is embedded through the integrator.

This is especially useful for support teams, project groups, or departments that want an overview that stays current while they work.

A small adjustment for a smoother experience

The video also shows how to reduce visible movement during refreshes. Setting a suitable minimum height in the web part properties reserves enough space for the dashboard. This keeps the layout stable as the embedded content reloads.

Watch the video to see the complete workflow: generate the dashboard with Copilot, embed it with the Smart HTML application page Integrator, and see automatic refresh respond to an actual list change.

Further reading: Microsoft’s guide to creating, uploading, editing, and publishing HTML pages in SharePoint.