Upload Image/Banner on Announcement post is no longer available.

I bring news!

Just received this in admin message centre ...

	Microsoft Teams users will soon be able to create custom backgrounds for their Announcement posts with the generative AI power of Microsoft Designer. This release of Custom Backgrounds for Announcement Posts will be rolling out across Microsoft Teams Desktop and Web for Channels 2.0 in English – US markets only. In line with current announcement behavior, Mobile will only support the consumption of custom backgrounds. Feature is disabled for EDU tenants while the team implements a policy setting.<br><br>This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 123501<br><br>When this will happen:<br><br>Preview: We will begin rolling out mid-October and expect to complete by late October.<br><br>Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out mid-October and expect to complete by late October.<br><br>Standard Release/GCC: We will begin rolling out early November and expect to complete by mid-November.<br><br>GCC High/DoD: We will begin rolling out in late November and expect to complete by mid-January.<br><br>How this will affect your organization:<br><br>Before, in Channels 1.0, users struggled to "find the right picture," to "find images that work correctly with banner sizing, so it takes ages," etc.<br><br>Now, whether users have their own image or an idea in mind, or absolutely nothing at all, they can create rich, engaging backgrounds for their announcement posts through the generative AI power of Microsoft Designer. A few clicks is all it takes--let the imagination run wild!<br><br>You can find the entry point icon to the Designer integration at the bottom right corner of the announcement.<br><br><br><br>The Designer Mini Dialog is where all the magic happens. You can write a description, upload an image, or click one of the examples we have provided for you to start.<br><br><br><br>Once you have selected a background you like, you’ll see the option to press “Customize” or “Done.” “Done” inserts the background into your Announcement while “Customize” launches the Microsoft Designer App where you can further customize your background.<br><br><br><br>The Designer App provides flexibility and endless power for you to create exactly what you want<br><br><br><br>What you need to do to prepare:<br><br>You may want to notify your users about this new capability to better express themselves and engage their audience in their Announcements. Additionally, due to the inevitable generative AI learning curve, you may want to provide additional training/documentation as you see fit. You can also lead by example and show your users what’s possible. <br><br>While we work on making a policy setting available to tenants, this feature will be enabled by default (except in EDU). If there are concerns, please contact support. <br><br> We can't wait to see what announcement backgrounds you and your team come up with.	<br>	:---

It seems that the recent update of Teams (classic) client removed a feature from announcements as well.

In the Google Chrome Teams web you can click New Conversation - then edit the type to Announcement and replace the image banner with either a solid color or a custom image.

In the updated Teams (classic) client, Teams New client, as well as Teams web in Microsoft Edge, the New conversation button is replaced with Start a new post and the custom background seems gone.

The experience of the Web client is furthermore not consistent between different users & computers.

I understand that I am part of early access group so new features or the removal of those might be happening, but my users are not within preview so they should not be affected, however it seems the feature was removed even in the classic Teams client as well.

Update to this: Firefox is still working for me. I use that to post anything with a banner, and do everything else in the Teams app. If you need to edit the original post, you need to do it in Firefox though - if you edit the post in the Teams app, it'll mess things up. So I've always got Firefox open, but only for that reason.

I too keep flicking on new Teams to see whether it holds up and so far it doesn't.

We have decided to defer moving our org to the new Teams, as initially it doesn't offer the functionality we currently have.

I understand they are making great strides to catch up and its getting there.. but its still well annoying.

I am a HUGE teams advocate, I have pushed and sold 'Teams' to our whole org... but at the moment new Teams its not doing what it needs to do .