Embed your handbook in SharePoint

Your handbook can appear directly on a page of your SharePoint HR site. Employees read it there, and it always shows the latest version from Handbooks, so there are no files to re-upload when policies change. Setup is a one-time job across Handbooks and SharePoint.

Step	Who does it	Where
1. Turn on your live handbook link	A Handbooks admin	Handbooks, Share
2. Allow handbooks.io on the site	A SharePoint site collection admin	Site settings, HTML Field Security
3. Embed the handbook on a page	A site owner or page editor	The HR site page, Embed web part
4. Add links to it (optional)	A site owner	Quick links web part, site navigation

Step 1: Turn on your live handbook link

Your live link is a read-only web page of your handbook. It needs an active Handbooks subscription.

1. Sign in to Handbooks, open your handbook and click Share.
2. Switch the sharing toggle on.
3. Under Customise your public URL, type the ending for your address, for example your-company. This gives you https://www.handbooks.io/your-company. You can also click Generate random for a hard-to-guess ending.
4. Click Save.
5. Click Copy URL to copy the link, or Preview to open it.

Anyone with the link can read the handbook without signing in, and search engines are asked not to list it. The live link shows the English version of your handbook. Keep the link for Step 3.

Step 2: Allow handbooks.io on your SharePoint site

SharePoint only shows embedded content from websites on an approved list, and handbooks.io isn't on it by default. A site collection admin adds it once (Microsoft: allow or restrict embedding).

1. Go to the root site of the site collection that holds your HR site.
2. Select Settings (the gear), then Site settings. If you don't see it, select Site information, then View all site settings.
3. Under Site Collection Administration, select HTML Field Security.
4. Select Allow contributors to insert iframes only from the following domains.
5. Add www.handbooks.io to the list. Type the domain only, without https://.
6. Select OK.

This keeps SharePoint's default list of approved sites and adds Handbooks to it. Microsoft advises against the any domain option, so don't use it.

If HTML Field Security is missing

A team site connected to a Microsoft 365 group is its own site collection, so its setting lives on that site, not the root. Open the page directly, replacing the tenant and site names (Microsoft Q&A answer):

https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/yoursite/_layouts/15/HtmlFieldSecurity.aspx

Step 3: Embed the handbook on your HR page

Use SharePoint's Embed web part with the code below (Microsoft: use the Embed web part).

1. Open the HR site page where the handbook should go. If you're not in edit mode, select Edit at the top right.

2. Open the toolbox, select See all web parts, then select or drag Embed onto the page.

3. Select Edit properties.

4. In the Website address or embed code box, paste this code, replacing your-company with the ending from Step 1:

   <iframe src="https://www.handbooks.io/your-company/" width="100%" height="900"></iframe>

5. Publish the page (Republish if it was already live).

Paste the code above, not the plain link. Microsoft notes that plain links only work for sites that offer a special link-embedding service, and that embed code must be an <iframe> from an https:// address.

Layout tips

• The height value (in pixels) sets how tall the handbook window is. Raise it if you want more on screen. Employees scroll within the window either way.
• On screens at least 1,024 pixels wide, a clickable table of contents appears beside the text. In a narrow column or on a phone, only the text shows, so a one-column section works best.

Step 4 (optional): Add links to the handbook

To help employees find the handbook from elsewhere on the site, link to the page from Step 3 or straight to your Handbooks link. Links don't need the Step 2 setting.

As a tile on a page (Microsoft: Quick links web part)

1. Select Edit at the top right of the page.
2. Select See all web parts, then select or drag Quick links onto the page.
3. Select + Add links, choose A link, paste the address and select Insert.
4. Publish the page.

In the site menu (Microsoft: customize site navigation)

1. Select Edit next to the navigation menu (at the bottom of a vertical menu on team sites).
2. Hover between two links where you want it, and select +.
3. Choose Link. Paste the address in Address, and type a name such as "Employee Handbook" in Display name.
4. Select OK, then Save.

Editing the menu needs at least Manage Lists permission. If you don't see Edit, ask a site owner.

Keeping it current

Once it's set up, there's nothing to maintain in SharePoint. Edits you make in Handbooks, and policy updates you approve, show on the embedded page as soon as they're saved.

Three things stop the page from showing your handbook:

• Changing the custom URL ending. The old address stops working. Update the embed code (Step 3) and any links (Step 4) to the new one.
• Switching sharing off in Handbooks.
• The subscription ending.

In each case, employees see a Handbooks page reading "Looking for a handbook?" instead of your handbook.

Troubleshooting

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
"Embedding content from this website isn't allowed."	handbooks.io isn't approved on this site collection	Do Step 2. On a group-connected team site, use that site's own HTML Field Security page.
Still blocked after Step 2	The setting was changed on a different site collection, or the domain is mistyped	Open HTML Field Security on the site that holds the page, and check the entry reads exactly www.handbooks.io.
HTML Field Security isn't in Site settings	It's a group-connected site, or you aren't a site collection admin	Use the direct address in Step 2, or ask your SharePoint admin.
The web part won't take the address	A plain link was pasted, or the address isn't https://	Paste the full <iframe> code from Step 3.
"Looking for a handbook?" appears instead of your handbook	Sharing is off, the subscription ended, or the URL ending changed or is mistyped	Check Share in Handbooks, then copy the URL again with Copy URL.
The handbook window is too short	The height value is low	Raise height in the embed code, for example to 1200.
No table of contents beside the text	The space is under 1,024 pixels wide	Use a one-column section, or view on a wider screen.

Still stuck? Email [email protected] with a screenshot of the page and the embed code you used.

Microsoft documentation

• Allow or restrict the ability to embed content on SharePoint pages
• Add content to your page using the Embed web part
• Content Embed web part experience improved (SharePoint's default approved sites)
• Use the Quick links web part
• Customize the navigation on your SharePoint site
• HTML Field Security settings for modern sites (Microsoft Q&A community answer, for group-connected sites)