Working with Communities
Add a Contact
You can start building your community by adding contacts. Click the My Contacts link at the top of your screen. Next, click the "Add" icon. To add a contact, enter the person"s email address. You can check their eXpresso status by clicking the Check Status button. This will let you know if they are a registered eXpresso user. If they are not, you will be prompted to invite them to join eXpresso when you add the contact. Next, fill in the remaining contact information and click "Add Contact."
You may want to remind your contacts to add no-reply@expressocorp.com to their list of allowed senders of email so that your invitations and alerts are not placed in a spam or junk folder.
Share a Spreadsheet
Click the box next to the spreadsheet you want to share. Click the Share icon from the toolbar. If the person you want to share the spreadsheet with is a member of your contacts, set the Select From dropdown to My Contacts and select the highlight the person"s name in your list of contacts. Click Add. If the person is not a member of your contacts, set the drop down box to Other Users and type the person"s email address. Click Add. Next, assign rights to each user by expanding the rights view next to the user"s email address. Check the box for each right you want to assign and the close the rights box. You may add a note to be sent to your contact if you would like. When all of the users have been added and right have been assigned, click Share.
eXpresso does not email spreadsheets. Instead, it sends a link to the spreadsheet to those you invite. This way, you are in control of who can access your spreadsheet and what privileges or "roles" they are assigned.
Share a Spreadsheet with a non-eXpresso User
If the person is not a member of your contacts, set the drop down box to Other Users and type the person"s email address. Click Add. They will receive an email with your invitation and instructions on how to complete a free eXpresso registration.
Assign Rights
You have the option of assigning different rights or combinations of rights to each user with whom you share a spreadsheet. The following rights are available:
View Online– This user may see your spreadsheet but may not make any changes, copy it to their spreadsheet list, or download it to their desktop.
Edit Online – This user may make changes to your spreadsheet, but may not copy it to their spreadsheet list or download it to their desktop.
Download Files – This user may download the file to their desktop or copy it to their "My Spreadsheets". This will allow them to share the file with other users.
Copy – This user may copy the spreadsheets from his "Shared Spreadsheets" folder to his "My Spreadsheets" folder. From there he may edit it and share it with other users as if it was his own.
Regional Sharing
To limit a user’s edit rights to particular cells, click “Define Region” next to the user you wish to restrict. The spreadsheet will open and you can select the cells that you wish the user to edit or the cells that you wish to lock.
Troubleshooting Sharing Issues
We are sometimes asked, "I've shared a spreadsheet with someone and they can't find it. What should I do?" Here are the most common issues related to sharing a spreadsheet:
- The contact with whom you have shared the spreadsheet will find it in their "Shared Spreadsheets" folder. Ask them to make sure they are looking there and not in the "My Spreadsheets" folder.
- Many people have more than one email address. Make sure you have used the same email address to share the spreadsheet as your contact used to sign up for eXpresso.
- The spreadsheet must be accepted before it can be opened. The user must log into eXpresso, access the "Shared Spreadsheets" folder and click the "Accept" link next to the spreadsheet. If the user is trying to open the spreadsheet with the eXpresso Add-in for Excel, they will not see the spreadsheet until they log into the online eXpresso interface and click "Accept."
Set Alerts
eXpresso alerts generate automatic email messages when a selected user takes an action on a spreadsheet. You can receive alerts when users edit, upload, download, delete, accept or reject a spreadsheet you have shared. To set an alert, click the bell icon next to the shared spreadsheet. Next, click the actions for which you would like an alert next to the email address of the user. Click Save. Each time the user takes a selected action, an alert will be sent to your email address.
Chat
eXpresso supports 2 types of chat. You can have a general chat with any of your contacts who are online. Simply open the My Contacts tab and click the yellow chat icon next to any of your contacts. (Gray chat icons indicate that your contact is not currently logged into eXpresso.) eXpresso also supports spreadsheet specific, archived chats. To chat about a specific spreadsheet that you have shared or one that has been shared with you, click the lighted chat icon next to the shared spreadsheet. If any users of that spreadsheet are on line, the happy face next to their email address will be yellow. Click the box next to the email address or addresses of the people with whom you would like to chat. The chat will be archived and stored with the spreadsheet for future reference.
Lock a Spreadsheet
At any time, you can stop your shared users from editing a file by locking it for editing. Simply click the lock icon and no one will be able to save changes to your spreadsheet. Click the icon again to unlock the spreadsheet. Note: Spreadsheets will also be locked for editing when they are opened in the eXpresso Plug-in for Excel.
Interact in Real Time
The sophisticated technology behind eXpresso allows simultaneous editing by multiple users. You can even use eXpresso's chat feature to have a conversation about the spreadsheet while you are working on it. These chats are attached to the spreadsheet and saved for future reference.
Quick Guide
The following Quick Guide might be helpful when sharing spreadsheets.
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