Spreadsheet co-editing

Collaborative Spreadsheet Editing

Spreadsheet Editor offers you the possibility to work on a spreadsheet collaboratively with other users. This feature includes:

simultaneous multi-user access to the edited spreadsheet
visual indication of cells that are being edited by other users
real-time changes display or synchronization of changes with one button click
chat to share ideas concerning particular parts of the spreadsheet
comments containing the description of a task or problem that should be solved (it's also possible to work with comments in the offline mode, without connecting to the online version)

Connecting to the online version

In the desktop editor, open the Connect to cloud option on the left side of the main program window. Connect to your cloud office specifying your account login and password.

Co-editing

The Spreadsheet Editor allows you to select one of the two available co-editing modes:

Fast is used by default and shows the changes made by other users in real time.
Strict is selected to hide other user's changes until you click the Save icon to save your own changes and accept the changes made by others.

The mode can be selected in the Advanced Settings. It's also possible to choose the necessary mode using the Co-editing Mode icon on the Collaboration tab of the top toolbar:

Note: When you co-edit a spreadsheet in the Fast mode, the possibility to Undo/Redo the last operation is not available.

When a spreadsheet is being edited by several users simultaneously in the Strict mode, the edited cells as well as the tab of the sheet where these cells are situated are marked with dashed lines of different colors. By hovering the mouse cursor over one of the edited cells, the name of the user who is editing it at the moment is displayed. The Fast mode will show the actions and the names of the co-editors when they are editing the text.

The number of users who are working on the current spreadsheet is specified on the right side of the editor header - . If you want to see who exactly is editing the file now, you can click this icon or open the Chat panel with the full list of the users.

When no users are viewing or editing the file, the icon in the editor header will look like allowing you to manage the users who have access to the file right from the spreadsheet: invite new users giving them permissions to edit, read or comment the spreadsheet, or deny some users access rights to the file. Click this icon to manage the access to the file; this can be done both when there are no other users who view or co-edit the spreadsheet at the moment and when there are other users and the icon looks like . It's also possible to set access rights using the Sharing icon on the Collaboration tab of the top toolbar.

As soon as one of the users saves his/her changes by clicking the icon, the others will see a note in the upper left corner stating that they have updates. To save the changes you made, so that other users can view them, and get the updates saved by your co-editors, click the icon in the left upper corner of the top toolbar.

Chat

You can use this tool to coordinate the co-editing process on-the-fly, for example, to arrange tasks with your collaborators, etc.

The chat messages are stored during one session only. To discuss the spreadsheet content, it is better to use comments which are stored until they are deleted.

To access the chat and leave a message for other users,

click the icon on the left sidebar, or

switch to the Collaboration tab of the top toolbar and click the Chat button,
enter your text into the corresponding field below,
press the Send button.

All the messages left by users will be displayed on the panel on the left. If there are new messages you haven't read yet, the chat icon will look like this - .

To close the panel with chat messages, click the icon once again.

Comments

It's possible to work with comments in the offline mode, without connecting to the online version.

To leave a comment,

Select a cell where you think there is an error or problem.
Switch to the Insert or Collaboration tab of the top toolbar and click the Comment button, or use the Comments icon on the left sidebar to open the Comments panel and click the Add Comment to Document link, or
right-click within the selected cell and select the Add Сomment option from the menu.
Enter the needed text.
Click the Add Comment/Add button.

The comment will be seen on the panel on the left. The orange triangle will appear in the upper right corner of the cell you commented. If you need to disable this feature, click the File tab on the top toolbar, select the Advanced Settings... option and uncheck the Turn on display of the comments box. In this case, the commented cells will be marked only if you click the Comments icon.

If you are using the Strict co-editing mode, new comments added by other users will become visible only after you click the icon in the left upper corner of the top toolbar.

To view the comment, just click within the cell. You or any other user can answer to the added comment asking questions or reporting on the work he/she has done. For this purpose, use the Add Reply link, type in your reply text in the entry field and press the Reply button.

You can manage the added comments using the icons in the comment balloon or on the Comments panel on the left:

edit the currently selected by clicking the icon,
delete the currently selected by clicking the icon,
close the currently selected discussion by clicking the icon if the task or problem you stated in your comment was solved, after that the discussion you opened with your comment gets the resolved status. To open it again, click the icon. If you want to hide resolved comments, click the File tab on the top toolbar, select the Advanced Settings... option, uncheck the Turn on display of the resolved comments box and click Apply . In this case the resolved comments will be highlighted only if you click the icon.

Adding mentions

To close the panel with comments, click the Comments icon on the left sidebar once again.

To add a mention enter the "+" or "@" sign anywhere in the comment text - a list of the portal users will open. To simplify the search process, you can start typing the required name in the comment field - the user list will change while you type. Select the necessary person from the list. If the file has not been shared with the mentioned user yet, the Sharing Settings window will open. The Read only access type is selected by default. Change it if necessary and click OK.

The mentioned user will receive an email notification that he/she has been mentioned in a comment. If the file has been shared, the user will also receive a corresponding notification.

To remove comments,

click the Remove button on the Collaboration tab of the top toolbar,
select the necessary option from the menu:
- Remove Current Comments: to remove the currently selected comment. If some replies have been added to the comment, all its replies will be removed as well.
- Remove My Comments: to remove comments you added without removing comments added by other users. If some replies have been added to your comment, all its replies will be removed as well.
- Remove All Comments: to remove all the comments in the spreadsheet that you and other users added.

To close the panel with comments, click the Comments icon on the left sidebar once again.