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PowerPoint Add-in — Enterprise Deployment

For organisations that want to deploy the NextGenPoll add-in to all users without individual sideloading, use Microsoft 365 Admin Center Centralized Deployment.

Prerequisites​

  • Microsoft 365 tenant with admin access
  • NextGenPoll add-in assets hosted at https://nextgenpoll.com/addin/ (the production build)
  • The production manifest file (manifest.xml) with all URLs pointing to the production domain

Step 1 — Verify the Production Manifest​

Ensure manifest.xml has production URLs:

<!-- All URLs should point to production -->
<SourceLocation DefaultValue="https://nextgenpoll.com/addin/taskpane.html"/>
<IconUrl DefaultValue="https://nextgenpoll.com/addin/assets/icon-32.png"/>

The production manifest is built automatically by the frontend-cd.yml pipeline (using NEXTGENPOLL_ADDIN_PROD_URL). Retrieve it from frontend/public/addin/manifest.xml after a successful CD build, or directly from https://nextgenpoll.com/addin/manifest.xml.

Step 2 — Upload via Microsoft 365 Admin Center​

  1. Sign in to admin.microsoft.com as a Global Admin or Exchange Admin.
  2. Go to Settings → Integrated apps.
  3. Click Upload custom apps.
  4. Select Office Add-in and choose Upload manifest file (.xml).
  5. Upload manifest.xml.
  6. Click Next.

Step 3 — Configure Deployment Scope​

Choose who gets the add-in:

OptionUse case
Just meTest before rolling out
Specific groupsDeploy to a class or department
EveryoneOrg-wide deployment

Click Next → Finish deployment.

Step 4 — Verify Deployment​

Deployment can take up to 12 hours to propagate. To verify:

  1. Open PowerPoint (desktop or web).
  2. Go to Insert → Get Add-ins → Admin Managed.
  3. NextGenPoll should appear in the list.
  4. Click Add to activate.

Updating the Add-in​

When a new version of the NextGenPoll add-in is deployed to production (via CI/CD):

  • If the manifest URL has not changed, Office will automatically serve the updated JavaScript files (since they are served from the same URL with cache-busting hashes).
  • If the manifest itself needs updating (e.g., new ribbon buttons, changed permissions), re-upload the manifest in Admin Center → Integrated apps → Edit.

Using the AppSource / Office Store (Future)​

Publishing to AppSource requires:

  1. A Microsoft Partner Center account.
  2. Add-in passing the Office Store validation.
  3. An active App Service hosting the add-in assets.

This is a future enhancement. For now, use Centralized Deployment for enterprise rollouts.

Revoking Access​

To remove the add-in from all users:

  1. Go to Admin Center → Settings → Integrated apps.
  2. Find NextGenPoll and click Delete app.
  3. Confirm removal — the add-in will disappear from all users' PowerPoint within 24 hours.