Creating a New Review
A Review consists of one or more files that you would like to have reviewed and approved together. The Review contains the original file(s) as well as all subsequent versions of the file(s) as your project progresses to final approval and completion. Any feedback you receive on a file can also be converted into a task and assigned to any team member for followup. A Review conveniently and efficiently provides your team and guests with the full history of the project development in one centralized location.
To Create a New Review:
When you have a new file (or collection of files) to have reviewed, click on the "+ New Review" button in the main dashboard (note that only users with Admin or Collaborator roles can initiate new Reviews).
- Enter the name of the Review in top header.
- Set the Review options in the option menu (the options menu can be opened or closed by clicking on the Hide/Show Options button in the header). The following options can be set:
Client - Select a client name from the dropdown menu (an Admin can also enter a new client name). If no client list is provided your current company name becomes the default. Note that "Client" my be replaced by an alternate category as a configuration setting.
Project - Select the project name from dropdown menu (an Admin or Collaborator can also enter a new project name).
Set Review Deadline - If this option is selected you may set a deadline date and time and indicate the action to be take once the deadline passes. The options include leaving the Review active, locking the Review (the files may be viewed but no additional actions may be taken) or deactivating the Review (the Review will no longer be accessible at all until it is reactivated). You may also indicate if you would like a reminder sent to all Review participants 24 hour prior to the deadline.
Allow Download of Original Files - If this option is selected the Review will display a button that will allow the user to download the original file (ie. PDF file or video) being displayed in the Review Canvas.
Activate Privacy Option - The privacy option provide a way of allowing private file versions or commenting in a Review. For more information on using Privacy Mode see this article.
Enable Video Encoding - By default, video files are transcoded after they are uploaded so that they will play on all supported browsers. The encoding will convert videos to .mp4 H264 using the same resolution and a bitrate of 3mbps. This transcoding process will take a few minutes to complete after the file is uploaded (depending on the size of the original file). If the review of an original .mp4 file is desired (up to 10mbps), it's possible to deactivate the transcoding process by unchecking this option in the Review options menu. It is also possible to set the encoding default off in the accounts settings page.
Fit Image in Thumbnail - By default the thumbnails used in the Review Canvas are scaled and clipped uniformly into a "landscape" format. If you prefer to have the thumbnails show the full image (and be non-uniform in size), you can select this option.
Final Approval Requirement - When you have multiple approvers in a Review you can set whether you require all the approvers to approve or any approver to approve for the file itself to be considered approved.
- To add media content to the Review, click on the Upload button and select the type of content that you want to upload (note that HTML and Pano Images have special designations but all other content formats can be uploaded as files).
You may then drag and drop the files from your OS file browser or click to select the files that you wish to upload. The files will be displayed in the Upload menu and once you have all the files you want displayed, click the Upload Files button to initiate the uploading. - As the files upload they will show as a list in the Review edit menu. It may take a few seconds for the thumbnails to show as the files are being prepared (up to a few minutes for encoding videos or large PDF documents). Once the thumbnail shows, the Review is ready to share.
- You can sort the files by using the sort dropdown menu at the top of the list. With the default Manual sort option you can drag and drop the files rows into the specific order you want the files presented in the Review Canvas.
- As your project progresses you may also upload sequential versions each file to organize and track its revision history (see article "File Versioning and Comparison Mode").
- Delete a file by selecting Delete from the file action menu.
- Lock a specific file by selecting Lock from the file action menu. A locked file can be viewed by not annotated. You can also lock an entire review from the main dashboard (Review status menu).
- Set the thumbnail you want to have featured on the main dashboard and any review notifications by selecting Set Feature Image.
- Once the Review options are set and files upload and sorted, you can share and notify the Review with your team and guests. See the article "Review Sharing" for full details.
From the main dashboard, you may also set the Status of a Review. The status options provide the ability to set a Review as Inactive or Locked. Setting a Review as Inactive can be useful, for example, when you set up a Review presentation meeting and want to distribute in advance the Review link in a meeting invite. Prior to sending out the notification you can deactivate the Review to prevent the participants to be able to access and then reactivate it when the meeting begins.
Locking a Review will allow the users to still see the content and all comments but will not allow them to make any further annotations. This option can be useful, for example, when you upload a new version of a file. You may want to prevent the user from adding more notes to the prior version of the file while still allowing them to see the previous version/notes for reference. Note that in addition to locking an entire Review, you can also lock specific files within the Review by selecting the "Lock" option from the file action menu.