The process for updating files in Slidebank is a simple one:
Download the file from Slidebank
Make slide changes to the original slides using PowerPoint
Upload the file again
Once the edited file is re-uploaded, Slidebank will handle the versioning and content updates for other users. Any Virtual presentations containing virtual copies of the original slides you've just uploaded will be automatically refreshed with the new content.
NOTE: To create a new version, you'll need to be the file's owner, or have been granted editing rights. The permission to edit a file belongs with each file, so permission can be accessed/updated via the file's access options.
This is how file updates work in Slidebank...
Step One - Download your File
First, locate the file you want to edit in the file library. You can do this by searching for your file or simply browsing through the library folders under 'Content' until you find the right file.
Click on either the file's 'P' icon or the 'Options' button (the dots) next to the filename, then select 'Download file(s)'...
Once found, there are 2 methods of downloading the file...
Method One - 'Check Out and download for editing'
This is the preferred option for checking a file out for editing, like this...
Checking files out means Slidebank will...
Lock the presentation so it can't updated by others while checked out
The updated presentation can update only the file that was checked out
The checked out presentation cannot be updated by any other presentation.
The reasons for checking out can be logged, as seen here...
There’s an option to take the presentation offline while checking out, so it can’t be downloaded by others until it has been checked back in again, as shown above
Details of the check-out and check-in, including dates, are recorded.
The browser will then download the file to its default folder on your hard drive ready to double-click and open in PowerPoint to start editing.
Method Two - A Quick Download
This is the fastest way to 'grab' your file and make quick updates but it does not provide audit trails, disable the content for other users or any of the other things in the list above.
Simply click the top option - 'PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx)', as shown here...
Your browser will start downloading the file to your hard drive, ready to double-click and open in PowerPoint to start editing.
Step Two - Editing in PowerPoint
Once the file has downloaded in your browser, open it with PowerPoint to make the edits you need , but be careful to do the following:
Ensure the file you're working on is the exact same file that's in Slidebank. This is why it's a good idea to download it first.
Make sure the file name stays the same as the Slidebank version. If the browser has added a number to the file name, you'll need to delete the extra number when saving.
Slidebank invisibly stamps every slide with a unique tracking code, which virtual slides use to 'find mother'. So, to preserve the tracking code be sure to make changes to an original slide only. Do not insert a brand new slide because it won't have the tracking code, meaning that your virtual slides will think that 'mother' no longer exists and they will no longer be linked.
Slidebank works best if you use the same version of PowerPoint used by the original slides (slide formatting can change between PowerPoint versions)
Once you're done making edits, save the file to your shared drive or desktop remembering to keep the file name exactly the same as the original.
Step Three - Upload the new file version
When you're ready to upload the edited file:
Open the folder in the Slidebank library that contains the original version of your file.
Drag and drop the file from your desktop or shared drive onto the content library and release. The file will upload in the background.
When given the option to 'Update' or 'Just Upload', click 'Update'. This will create a new version of the original file and automatically update any linked Virtual presentations
If the file was previously checked out and taken offline, uploading the edited file will check it back in and make it available to other users again.
If you 'Just Upload' the file, it will create a brand new (separate and unlinked) file and add a number to the end of the file name, without performing any of the unlocking and updating functions described in Method One, above.
NOTE: To ensure you are overwriting the original file, try to locate the same folder it came from. Alternatively, when drag/dropping the file into a folder, Slidebank will attempt to find the original file location for you - even if you drop the file into a different folder, but it's best if you can drop it back into the folder it came from.
What Happens Next?
Virtual Presentations are Updated
The process of updating a Master presentation also updates all instances of those slides in Virtual presentations. See an overview of how these file types work here.
Other users may receive an email alert depending on their notifications settings, which can be found/changed under 'File Options' for each file.
File Version History Becomes Available
Once your file has been re-uploaded and checked back in, a new file version will be visible in Slidebank.
Clicking on the 'version history' icon (the clock) next to the file name will show the version history for that file...
The version history includes audit trail information, such as the time and date when the file was checked out and the reasons for the update, as selected at the time.
You can remove previous versions, or roll back to an older version from here. This determines which version of the file your users see...
The 'visible' version is the one with the 'green eye' next to it, and this is the one that populates the Virtual presentations in Slidebank.
NOTE: Users need to have the Ability to 'View History' turned ON in order to see file or slide history. If they do not, they can only see and use the latest version.
Slide Version History Also Becomes Available
The history of individual slides is also available to view.
At the top of each slide tile, the number of additional slide versions can be seen...
Clicking a slide version counter (the 'clock') shows the latest and all the older versions of that slide, ready for you to view, select and use in new presentations, as seen here...
Troubleshooting - Checking In / Out
You may come across some unexpected messages during the update process.
These include...
"You can only update this file with the one checked out previously"
You might see this when attempting to upload your edited file. The message means that the file you're uploading is not the exact same file that was checked out previously.
It could be that you've been working on a file downloaded before you (or someone else) downloaded it again using the full checkout process.
Ways to solve this are...
Edit and re-upload the 'correct' version, i.e. the original file that was downloaded during the checkout process later, OR
Manually mark the file as 'checked in' before trying the upload again. To do this...
Click on the 'Version History' clock icon next to the file name in the library. You should then see the following message about the presentation having being checked out...
Click the button on the right called 'Change Status to Checked In' and try your upload again. It should then upload and replace previous version.
Some Useful Information
1. When you upload a presentation into Slidebank it puts a hidden tracking code in each slide. This is used to identify the slides when they are uploaded back into Slidebank after editing. It means that when you plan to make slide edits, it's important to download the presentation from Slidebank first, then edit the slide content directly in PowerPoint before uploading into Slidebank to finish the update. This ensures that all the virtual slides that depend on a master slide will still reflect the updated content, even if master slides have changed their positions in the master deck.
2. However, when updating slides in PowerPoint, do not simply insert a fresh slide or copy one from elsewhere and expect the dependent virtual slides to be updated. That won't happen because the vital tracking code used by virtual slides will be missing, so they won't find 'mother'.
In this example, any virtual slides with missing 'mothers' will be replaced with a placeholder thumbnail saying 'The original of this slide has been deleted' (or similar) and, when the virtual deck is downloaded, that virtual slide will simply be missing.
3. So, to prevent virtual slides being 'orphaned', make sure you edit the original slide's content, rather than replace the whole slide with a brand new, empty one. That way, the slide tracking codes remain intact and any dependent virtual slides will be updated correctly.
4. Therefore, if a user reports that some virtual slides are missing, it usually means that one or more master slides have simply been deleted and replaced with brand new slides; instead of modifying the content of an existing slide.
5. Incidentally, you cannot simply add a new slide in PowerPoint during an edit then expect it to be automatically added to a related virtual deck. That cannot happen, because Slidebank does not know who does or does not have permission to see the new material.
6. When you upload the updated presentation into the same folder, it must keep the same name as the original presentation for the update to work.
7. Lastly, when the ‘Checkout and Download for Editing’ option is used, a hidden tracking ID is also placed in the presentation file itself, so that file is the only one authorised to update the checked out presentation. This provides an extra level of protection against mismatching the updated slides, in case the uploaded presentation happens to have the same name.