Cisco WebEx Meetings Server User Guide Release 2.0
Sharing Files and Whiteboards
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Sharing Files and Whiteboards

Your user role in a meeting determines your level of file sharing. The type of files you can share include documents, presentations, and videos.

About Sharing Files

File sharing is ideal for presenting information that you do not need to edit during the meeting, such as a video or slide presentation. Participants can do the following:

  • View a media file, such as a video, without the need for special software or hardware.
  • View any animation and transition effects on shared Microsoft PowerPoint slides.

After a meeting starts, you can open a presentation or document to share. You do not need to select it or “load” it before the meeting.

At any time during a meeting, you can grant participants privileges that allow them to annotate, save, print, and display different views of the shared content.

Granting Sharing Privileges

Procedure
    Step 1   In the meeting window, select Participant > Assign Privileges.

    The Participant Privileges dialog box appears.

    Step 2   Grant or remove a privilege, as follows:
    • To grant a specific privilege, select its check box.
    • To grant all privileges, select Assign all privileges.
    • To remove a privilege, clear its check box.
    • To revert to the preset privileges, select Reset to Meeting Defaults.
    Step 3   Select Assign.

    Sharing a File

    You can share a file, such as a document, presentation, or video, that resides on your computer. Participants view the shared file in their content viewers.

    Procedure
      Step 1   Select Share > File.

      The Share File dialog box appears.

      Step 2   Select the document or presentation that you want to share.
      Step 3   Select Open.

      The shared document or presentation appears in the content viewer.

      Note   

      You can share many of the popular media file types using the options. Some of the supported Microsoft Windows media file types include .wmv, .wma, .mp3, .mpg, .mpeg, .avi, .wav, .mp4, .qt, .mov and .flv. Some of the supported Mac OS media file types include AVI, DivX, .mkv and .GVI. Some of the unsupported media file types are .rmi, .mkv, .ram, .ra and RMVB.

      Choosing an Import Mode for Presentation Sharing


      Note

      Changing the import mode does not affect presentations that you are currently sharing. To apply a new import mode to a shared presentation, close it first, and then share it again.

      Before You Begin

      This task is for Windows users only.

      Procedure
        Step 1   In the meeting window, select Meeting > Options.

        The Meeting Options dialog box appears.

        Step 2   Select the Import Mode tab.
        Step 3   Select an import mode:

        • Universal Communications Format (UCF)—The default mode. Lets you display animations and slide transitions in Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. In the UCF mode, WebEx imports presentations more quickly than it does in the printer driver mode. However, pages or slides may not appear consistently across platforms.

        • Printer driver—Displays shared presentations as they appear when you print them, providing a consistent appearance of pages and slides across platforms. This mode does not support animations or slide transitions. In this mode, the first page or slide may appear quickly, but the total import time for all pages or slides is usually longer than it is in the UCF mode.

        Step 4   Select OK.

        About Sharing a Whiteboard

        Sharing a whiteboard allows you to draw objects and type text that all participants can see in their content viewers. You can also use a pointer to emphasize text or graphics on a whiteboard.

        Other things you can do while sharing a whiteboard:

        • Display it at various magnifications, in miniature (thumbnails), and in full-screen view
        • Copy and paste images into it
        • Reorder its position in reference to any other whiteboards
        • Print it
        • Synchronize participants' displays with the display in your content viewer
        • Save it

        Note

        You can add multiple pages to a shared whiteboard. You can also share multiple whiteboards.

        If you allow participants to annotate slides and pages, you and participants can draw and type on a whiteboard simultaneously. You can also allow participants to save, print, and display different views of shared whiteboards.

        To share a whiteboard, select Share > Whiteboard.

        Using Annotation Tools on Shared Content

        In an online meeting, you can use annotation tools on shared content to annotate, highlight, explain, or point to information.

        Annotation Tool Description
        Pointer

        Lets you point out text and graphics on shared content. The pointer displays an arrow with your name and annotation color. To display the laser pointer, which lets you point out text and graphics on shared content using a red “laser beam,” click the downward-pointing arrow. Clicking this button again turns off the pointer tool.
        Text

        Lets you type text on shared content. Participants can view the text once you finish typing it and click your mouse in the content viewer, outside the text box.

        To change the font, select Edit > Font. Clicking this button again turns off the text tool.
        Line

        Lets you draw lines and arrows on shared content. For more options, click the downward-pointing arrow.

        Rectangle

        Lets you draw shapes, such as rectangles and ellipses, on shared content. For more options, click the downward-pointing arrow. Clicking this button again closes the Rectangle tool.
        Highlighter

        Lets you highlight text and other elements in shared content. For more options, click the downward-pointing arrow. Clicking this button again closes the Highlighter tool.
        Annotation Color

        Displays the Annotation Color palette, on which you can select a color to annotate shared content. Clicking this button again closes the Annotation Color palette.
        Eraser

        Erases text and annotations or clears pointers on shared content. To erase a single annotation, click it in the viewer. For more options, click the downward-pointing arrow. Clicking this button again turns off the eraser tool.

        Changing Views in a File or Whiteboard

        When viewing a file or a whiteboard, you can switch the views that you see in the content viewer by selecting from the View menu located in the bottom left corner of your screen or by clicking one of the view icons.

        Tool Description

        View > Show Thumbnail

        Displays thumbnails of shared pages, slides, or whiteboards to the side of the main content. This tool helps you locate a page or slide quickly.

        Full-Screen

        Displays shared content in a full-screen view. Helps to ensure that participants can view all activity on your screen. Also helps to prevent participants from viewing or using other applications on their screens during a presentation.

        Click ESC to return to the content viewer.

        View > Rotate Page

        For documents in landscape orientation, you can rotate the pages to the left or right so that they appear correctly in the content viewer.

        Zoom In/Zoom Out

        Lets you display shared content at various magnifications. Select a zoom in or zoom out icon then click the page, slide, or whiteboard to change its magnification. For more magnification options, select the downward-pointing arrow.

        Sync Display for All

        If you are a presenter, this option synchronizes the display of all meeting participants with your display. This helps to ensure that everyone is viewing the same page or slide, at the same magnification, as you.

        Navigating Slides, Pages, or Whiteboards Using the Toolbar

        You can navigate to different pages, slides, or whiteboard “pages” in the content viewer. Each document, presentation, or whiteboard being shared appears on a tab at the top of the content viewer.

        Procedure
          Step 1   In the meeting window, select the tab for the document, presentation, or whiteboard that you want to display.

          If there are more tabs than can appear at one time, select the down arrow button to see a list of remaining tabs, or use your keyboard arrows forward and back through all the tabs.

          Step 2   Click the arrow options on the toolbar to change the page or slide you are viewing.
          Note   
          • Alternatively, you can navigate to different pages or slides in a shared document, presentation, or whiteboard by opening the thumbnail viewer.
          • You can advance pages or slides automatically at a time interval that you specify.
          • If your presentation includes animations or slide transitions, you can use the toolbar or keyboard shortcuts to perform them.

          Advancing Pages or Slides Automatically

          When sharing a document or presentation in the content viewer, you can automatically advance pages or slides at a specified interval. Once you start automatic page or slide advancement, you can stop it at any time.

          Procedure
            Step 1   In the meeting window, select the tab for the document or presentation for which you want to advance pages or slides automatically.
            Step 2   Select View > Automatically Advance Pages.

            The Automatically Advance Pages dialog box appears.

            Step 3   To change the time interval for advancing pages, do one of the following:
            • Click the up or down buttons to increase or decrease the interval
            • Type a specific time interval

            To restart page or slide advancement once all pages or slides are displayed, check Return to beginning and continue advancing pages.

            Step 4   Select Start.
            Step 5   Close the Automatically Advance Pages dialog box by clicking the Close button in the upper-right corner of the dialog box.

            The pages or slides continue to advance at the specified interval.

            Stopping Automatic Page or Slide Advancement

            Procedure
              Step 1   If you closed the Automatically Advance Pages dialog box, select View > Automatically Advance Pages.

              The Automatically Advance Pages dialog box appears.

              Step 2   Select Stop.

              Animating and Adding Effects to Shared Slides

              When sharing a Microsoft PowerPoint slide presentation you can animate text and slide transitions just as you can when using the Slide Show option in PowerPoint.


              Note

              To show slide animations and transitions, you must share the presentation as a Universal Communications Format (UCF) file. The UCF import mode automatically converts a PowerPoint file (.ppt) to a UCF file when you share it.

              Before You Begin

              Make sure that you are using Windows XP SP2 or later for the optimal display of your presentation.

              Procedure
                Step 1   Ensure that the content viewer has input focus by clicking in the viewer.

                The content viewer has input focus if a blue border appears around the outside of the slide in the viewer.

                Step 2   On the toolbar, select the appropriate arrows to move through your presentation:
                • Select the drop-down arrow to select any page or slide
                • Select the left arrow to see the previous page or slide
                • Select the right arrow to see the next page or slide
                Related Tasks

                Adding New Pages to Shared Files or Whiteboards

                When sharing a file or whiteboard in the content viewer, you can add a new, blank page for annotation.

                Procedure
                  Step 1   In the content viewer, select the tab for the document, presentation, or whiteboard to which you want to add a page or slide.
                  Step 2   Select Edit > Add Page.

                  A new page appears in the content viewer at the end of the currently selected document, presentation, or whiteboard.

                  Tip   

                  If you have added multiple pages to a shared file or whiteboard tab, you can view thumbnails to make it easy to view and navigate around your added pages.

                  Related References

                  Pasting Images in Slides, Pages or Whiteboards

                  If you copy a bitmap image to your computer's clipboard, you can paste it into a new page, slide, or whiteboard in the content viewer.

                  Before You Begin

                  You can paste any type of bitmap image, such as a GIF, JPEG, BMP, or TIF image in the content viewer. Other types of images—such as EPS or Photoshop (PSD) images—are not supported.

                  Procedure
                    Step 1   In the content viewer, select the tab for the document, presentation, or whiteboard in which you want to paste an image.
                    Step 2   Select Edit > Paste As New Page.

                    The image appears on a new page in the content viewer at the end of the currently selected document, presentation, or whiteboard.

                    Managing Views of Presentations, Documents, or Whiteboards

                    Zooming In or Out

                    Using the tools on the content viewer toolbar, you can do the following:

                    • Zoom in to or out from a page, slide, or whiteboard
                    • Adjust the size of a page, slide, or whiteboard to fit the content viewer
                    • Adjust the size of a page, slide, or whiteboard to fit it width in the content viewer
                    • Turn off the Zoom tool at any time
                    To Do This

                    Zoom in to or out from a page, slide, or whiteboard

                    On the content viewer toolbar:

                    • Select the Zoom In or Zoom Out button, and then drag your mouse to the area. Release your mouse button.
                    • To zoom in or out to a preset percentage, select the downward-pointing arrow to the left of the Zoom In/Zoom Out button, and then choose the percentage.

                    Adjust the size of a page, slide, or whiteboard within the content viewer

                    On the toolbar, select the downward-pointing arrow to the left of the Zoom In/Zoom Out buttons.

                    Turn off a zoom tool

                    On the toolbar, click the Zoom In/Zoom Out button.

                    Controlling Full-Screen or Thumbnail View

                    You can maximize the size of a page, slide, or whiteboard in the content viewer to fit your monitor's entire screen. A full-screen view replaces the normal meeting window view. You can return to a normal view at any time.


                    Note

                    If a meeting presenter displays a full-screen view of a page, slide, or whiteboard, participant screens automatically display a full-screen view as well. However, participants can control full-screen view independently in their meeting windows.

                    To Do This

                    Display a full-screen view

                    On the content viewer toolbar, select the Full Screen icon.

                    Return to a normal view

                    On the Meeting Controls panel, select the stop icon to return to the main window.

                    View thumbnails of slides, pages, or whiteboards
                    1. In the content viewer, select the tab for the document, presentation, or whiteboard for which you want to view thumbnails.
                    2. On the content viewer toolbar, select View > Show Thumbnails.

                    Thumbnails of all pages or slides in the selected document, presentation, or whiteboard appear in the thumbnail viewer, in the left column.

                    To display any page or slide in the content viewer, double-click its miniature in the thumbnail viewer.

                    Note   

                    Participants must have both the View thumbnails and View any page privileges to display a miniature of a page or slide at full size in the content viewer.

                    Close the thumbnail viewer

                    On the content viewer toolbar, select View > Hide Thumbnail.

                    Synchronize participant views of slides, pages, or whiteboards

                    On the View menu at the bottom of the window, select Sync Display for All.

                    Clearing Annotations and Pointers

                    You can clear any annotations made by you or another participant on a shared page, slide, or whiteboard in the content viewer. You can clear:

                    • All annotations at once
                    • Specific annotations
                    • If you are the presenter or host, clear all annotations you have made

                    You can also clear your own pointers on all shared slides, pages, or whiteboards in the content viewer. If you are a presenter, you can also clear all participant pointers.

                    To Do This

                    Clear all annotations on a shared page, slide, or whiteboard
                    1. On the annotation toolbar, click the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the Eraser Tool icon.
                    2. Choose Clear All Annotations.
                    Note   

                    Only annotations on the page or slide that currently appears in your content viewer are cleared. Annotations on other pages or slides are not cleared. If you are the host or presenter, you can clear all the annotations you've made.

                    Clear all annotations you have added to a shared page, slide, or whiteboard
                    1. On the annotation toolbar, click the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the Eraser Tool icon.
                    2. Choose Clear My Annotations.

                    Clear specific annotations on a shared page, slide, or whiteboard
                    1. On the toolbar, click the Eraser Tool icon. Your mouse pointer changes to an eraser.
                    2. Click the annotation you want to clear.

                    Turn off the eraser tool

                    On the toolbar, click the Eraser Tool icon.

                    Clear your own pointer on all shared slides, pages, or whiteboards
                    1. On the toolbar, click the downward-pointing arrow to the right of the Eraser Tool icon.
                    2. Choose Clear My Pointer.

                    Saving a Presentation, Document, or Whiteboard

                    You can save any shared document, presentation, or whiteboard that appears in the content viewer. A saved file contains all the pages or slides in the document, presentation, or whiteboard that is currently displayed in the content viewer, including any annotations and pointers that you or other attendees added to them.

                    MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint files are saved in PDF format. Audio and video files are saved in their original formats.

                    Once you save a new document, presentation, or whiteboard to a file, you can save it again to overwrite the file or save a copy to another file.

                    Saving a New File


                    Tip

                    To save changes to a document, presentation, or whiteboard that was previously saved, simply choose File > Save > Document.

                    Procedure
                      Step 1   On the File menu, choose Save > Document.
                      Step 2   Choose a location at which to save the file.
                      Step 3   Type a name for the file in the File name box.

                      Saving a Copy of a File

                      This task describes how to save a copy of a document, presentation, or whiteboard.

                      Procedure
                        Step 1   On the File menu, choose Save As > Document.
                        Step 2   Do either or both of the following:
                        • Type a new name for the file.
                        • Choose a new location at which to save the file.

                        Opening a Saved File

                        If you saved a document, presentation, or whiteboard that appeared in the content viewer during a meeting, you can do either of the following:

                        • Open the file in the content viewer during another meeting for sharing. Only a presenter or participants who have the Share documents privilege can open a saved file during a meeting.
                        • Open the file at any time on your computer's desktop by double-clicking the saved file.

                        This task describes how to open a saved file in the content viewer during a meeting.


                        Note

                        MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint files are saved in PDF format. Audio and video files are saved in their original formats.

                        Before You Begin

                        You must be a presenter or participant with Share documents privileges to open a saved file during a meeting.

                        Procedure
                          Step 1   To open a saved file in the content viewer, select File > Open and Share.

                          The Share Document dialog box appears.

                          Step 2   Select the document, presentation, or whiteboard file that you want to open.
                          Step 3   Select Open.

                          Printing a File

                          You can print any shared presentations, documents, or whiteboards that appear in your content viewer. A printed copy of shared content includes all added annotations and pointers.

                          Procedure
                            Step 1   In the content viewer, select the tab for the document, presentation, or whiteboard that you want to print.
                            Step 2   Select File > Print > Document.
                            Step 3   Select the printing options that you want to use, and then print the document.
                            Note   

                            When printing shared content in the content viewer, WebEx resizes it to fit on the printed page. However, for whiteboards, WebEx prints only the content that lies within the dashed lines on the whiteboard.

                            Using Application Sharing

                            You can use application sharing to show all meeting participants one or more applications on your computer. Application sharing is useful for demonstrating software or editing documents during a meeting.

                            Participants can view the shared application, including all mouse movements without having to run the application that you are sharing on their computers.

                            Before You Begin

                            You must be a presenter.

                            Procedure
                              Step 1   To start application sharing, select Share > Application.

                              The list of all applications currently running on your computer is displayed.

                              Step 2   Do one of the following:
                              • If the application you want to share is currently running, select it in the list to begin sharing it.
                              • If the application you want to share is not currently running, select Other Application. The Other Application dialog box appears, showing a list of all applications on your computer. Select the application, and then select Share.

                              Your application appears in a sharing window on participant screens.

                              Step 3   To share an additional application, select the application that you want to share:
                              • If that application is currently running, select Share.
                              • If the application is not currently running, select Share Application in the Meeting Controls panel. You can also find it by using File Explorer or any other tool you use to locate applications on your computer. When you open it, it appears with the Share button

                              Your application appears in a sharing window on participant screens.

                              Tip   

                              When you open any application that you have minimized, it opens with the sharing buttons in the upper-right corner.

                              Step 4   To stop application sharing, do one of the following:
                              • To stop sharing a specific application, select the Stop Sharing button on the title bar of the application that you no longer want to share.
                              • To stop sharing all applications, select the Stop Sharing button in the Meeting Controls panel.

                              Participants can no longer view your applications.

                              Using Desktop Sharing

                              You can share the entire content of your computer, including any applications, windows, and file directories that reside on it. Participants can view your shared desktop, including all mouse movements.

                              Before You Begin

                              You must be a host or presenter.

                              Procedure
                                Step 1   To start desktop sharing, select Share > Desktop.

                                Your desktop appears in a sharing window on participants' screens.

                                Step 2   To stop desktop sharing, select the Stop Sharing button in the Meeting Controls panel.

                                Using Web Browser Sharing

                                A presenter uses web browser sharing to show all meeting participants all web pages that he or she accesses in a browser. Web browser sharing is useful for showing participants web pages on the Internet, or the presenter's private intranet or computer.

                                Participants can view the presenter's web browser, including mouse movements, in a sharing window on their screens.

                                Before You Begin

                                You must be a host or presenter.

                                Procedure
                                  Step 1   To start web browser sharing, select Share > Web Browser.

                                  Your default web browser opens.

                                  Step 2   Go to a web page in your browser.
                                  Note   

                                  Participants view all new web browser windows that you open. You can show participants several web pages simultaneously.

                                  Step 3   To stop web browser sharing, select the Stop button on the title bar of the application that you no longer want to share.