Overview
With the real-time Collaborative Web Editor, you can edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations when working in the web portal, without needing to download a separate application or navigate away from the system. Additionally, the Collaborative Web Editor allows you to make these changes simultaneously with multiple coauthors, and lets you see each edit in real time.
Advanced functionality includes:
- Access a wide range of formatting tools to help you update fonts, paragraph formats, charts, tables, images, style types, and more
- Edit simultaneously with coauthors and view their changes in real time
- Send and receive instant chat messages
- Add, view, and manage changes and comments
You can launch the Collaborative Web Editor from the web portal, the desktop client, and mobile apps.
Technical Information
- Files automatically save ten seconds after the latest edit.
- For security purposes, an editing session will end after one hour of inactivity.
- Editing a file within the Collaborative Web Editor will generate a revision in Anchor.
You must turn on the Enable Web Editing policy to allow user accounts to access the Collaborative Web Editor feature from the web portal.
When sharing a file, users can grant anonymous editing permissions on public share links. Anonymous editing permissions allow anyone with access to the share link to edit the file using the Collaborative Web Editor. For more information on shared folder permissions, please reference the Creating Share Links as an End User article.
- In the Web Portal, a file that is being actively edited from within the Collaborative Web Editor will be marked with a Web Edit icon. Team Share subscribers will still be able to launch this file from the web portal using the Collaborative Web Editor.
- In the desktop client, a file that is being actively edited from within the Collaborative Web Editor will be automatically protected by the File and Folder Locking feature and marked with a lock icon. Team Share subscribers will not be able to edit this file using applications on their local machines until this file is closed in the Collaborative Web Editor.
Supported file formats include:
| .docx | .xlsx | .pptx | .rtf |
| .odt | .ods | .txt | .csv |
Note: Older versions of Microsoft Office files, including .doc, .xls, and .ppt files, cannot currently be opened in the Collaborative Web Editor. As a workaround, we recommend opening these older file formats on a machine to which they are syncing, and then re-save them to a more current format (.docx, .xlsx, and so forth). After conversion, these files can be edited with the Collaborative Web Editor.
Instructions
To use the Collaborative Web Editor:
1. From the desktop client, navigate to the file you want to edit. Right-click the file, point to the content menu, and select [Open in Web Editor].
2. Alternatively, if you are working in the web portal, right-click the file and select [Edit].
The file opens in a new tab.
3. To configure advanced settings, click the [File] tab. The left-hand navigation bar expands.
4. In the left-hand navigation bar, click the [Advanced Settings] link to turn on and off features, such as commenting, spell check, auto-save, and so forth. You can also choose to view or disable real-time collaboration changes.
5. While still in the Files section of the tool, you can:
- Click Save to save the file.
- Click Save as to save the file with a new name. You will also be given the option to save the file to a new file format or a new location (within the same root folder). *
- Click Share Link to generate a share link for a standard user or guest user. The recipient will be given privileges to co-edit the document using the Collaborative Web Editor. For instructions on configuring share links, please reference the Creating Share Links as an End User article.
- Click Download as to download the file to your local machine. You will be presented with the option to download the file in your preferred file format.
- Click Print to print the document using your preferred printing device.
- Click Help to view a comprehensive listing of all available functionality.
*Note: If you choose to save the file as a PDF document, the file will open in Web Preview mode. You will be unable to edit the file in PDF format.
6. Click the Close Menu link to collapse the left-hand navigation menu.
To collaborate on a single file in real time, you can create a share link from the web portal or your desktop client. For more information, please reference the Creating Share Links as an End User article.
You can also invite users to collaborate from within the Collaborative Web Editor:
1. Click the File tab and select Share Link.
The Share Access dialog box displays.
2. You can create a public share link to allow anonymous users to edit the file.
- Select the Public Share URL radio button, and then click the Copy button to ensure that you capture the URL of the file. .
- Select the Allow anonymous users to edit files checkbox to let anyone who launches the share link to edit the file using the Collaborative Web Editor.
- Click the Share button to save your settings. You will then be able to paste the share link in an email, chat, or other messaging device.
3. Alternatively, you can create a secure share link to require recipients to log in:
- Select the Secure Share radio button.
- In the Recipients field, enter the name of the coauthor. The name of this new user will display in the lower portion of the screen
- Ensure the Can Modify checkbox is selected. The Can Modify permission allows this user to edit the file.
- In the Share Options section, select Secure Share.
- Click the Share button to send the share invitation to the recipient(s).
4. To view a list of coauthors who are actively editing the file, click the View Users button.
When these users make changes, their edits are visible immediately and are marked with a vertical bar.
5. Hover over the vertical bar to view editing details.
When you are collaborating on a document in real time, you can use the Chat feature to communicate and share ideas with coauthors.
1. In the left-hand navigation bar, click the Chat button to reveal the chat window.
2. In the left-hand navigation bar, click the Chat button to reveal the chat window.
The Collaborative Web Editor allows you to edit using its Track Changes feature. You can also embed comments into files to aid in the collaboration process.
Note: If the file is later downloaded and opened on a local machine, these edits and comments will remain, and will display in all applications that support Track Changes and commenting (for example, Microsoft Office products).
1. In the left-hand navigation bar, click the [Chat] button to reveal the chat window.
All changes made by you and coauthors will display in bubbles, allowing other users to accept or reject these changes.
2. To add a comment, highlight the appropriate portion of the file, right-click the highlighted content, and then select [Add Comment].
A pop-up bubble displays, allowing you to type a comment.
3. To view all comments in the document, or to respond to an existing comment, click the [Comments] button in the left-hand navigation bar. You can use the toolbar to edit, delete, or mark a comment as resolved.
