With OnBoard’s Microsoft 365 Document Editing, you can collaborate with other Admins and Contributors by editing your documents within Meetings and Resource folders.

Supported File Types

The only file types supported for live editing are Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint documents with the Open XML files extensions (e.g. .docx for documents, .xlsx for spreadsheets, and .pptx for presentations). Older file types (.doc, .ppt, or .xls) will not be supported.

Starting an Editing Session 

Admins and Contributors are the only users who can edit Microsoft files within Meetings and Resources. Review our article on Managing Permissions for Microsoft 365 Document Editing for more information on managing permissions.

New Microsoft documents cannot be generated in OnBoard. Documents must be added to a resource folder or added to an agenda section in order to be edited in OnBoard. 

Once an editable document has been added it will be available for live editing.

To start an editing session

1. Click on the 3-dotted menu to the right of any document. Select the Edit option to edit the document in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

2. View the document and then select the Edit button.

3. In Meetings only, click on the Edit Details button on the agenda section, scroll down to the Section Documents section, click on the 3-dotted menu next to the document, and select the Edit option.

You’ll receive a prompt notifying you that:

• The document will open in a new browser tab
• Changes made in Microsoft Office Online will be automatically saved back to OnBoard

NOTE: This prompt only appears once during your current session, but it will appear every time you’re in a new OnBoard session within your organization.

After clicking Okay, the Office 365 application (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint) will open your document on a new tab. 

Editing Microsoft 365 Documents

You’ll have access to the editing capabilities that Microsoft 365 offers. For any questions on how to edit using Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, reference Microsoft’s help articles below:

• Microsoft Word Help Site
• Microsoft Excel Help Site
• Microsoft PowerPoint Help Site

You can open multiple documents in separate tabs to edit different documents simultaneously.

Multiple users can also edit the same document simultaneously, and you’ll be able to see who is editing and what they are editing.

If you view a document in OnBoard while an Admin or Contributor is editing, a message will appear at the top of the document notifying you that the document is currently being edited. You may need to refresh or revisit later to view the updated version.

When a document is being edited the document card will update with a yellow circle icon, letting you know that the document is being edited and changes will soon be in OnBoard. 

Making Comments and Tracking Changes

You can use Microsoft's Review feature to make comments in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

In Word documents, you can also use the Review feature to track changes. 

NOTE: Tracked changes on Word documents will appear on the document in OnBoard. Accepting the changes and deleting the comments will remove them from the OnBoard document. 

Saving Changes

Changes will automatically save as you make them in the Microsoft document. You can verify that changes are being saved at the top of the screen.

There is no "Save As" functionality with Microsoft 365 Document Editing. To change the name of a document, click on the 3-dotted menu to the right of the document and select the Rename option.

Ending an Editing Session

Ensure that all your changes have saved before you close the document

To exit, close the browser tab.

Note that after closing the tab, your changes will take a few seconds before they’re available on the document in OnBoard. If you're viewing the document and a new version is available, a prompt will appear notifying you that a new version is available and to refresh to see the latest edits.

Once the edits are saved in OnBoard, anyone who has access to the document will be able to review the updated version.

NOTE: In Meetings, updates to documents in agenda sections will immediately prompt a book build. If you need to have your new book be immediately available, you'll need to use the Build Book Now option.

When first viewing an updated document, a banner will appear at the top of the document/meeting book notifying you that changes have been made.

Document Version History

Only Admins and Contributors will have access to document version history.

The most current version of the native document will be available in the Resource folder or agenda. 

When viewing a document, you’ll be able to see who last made changes to the document and the date of the edit. If users were editing the document simultaneously, it will display the name of the user who first opened the document for editing. 

In Resources only, the document card will reflect the date and time that it was most recently updated.

Past versions of the document will be retained as PDFs as the document is edited. Versions are saved once all changes are idle for 10 minutes.

To access a past version of a document, click on the 3-dotted menu to the right of the document. Click on “Properties & Versions.” 

Properties & Version History

In Properties & Versions, you'll be able to view:

1. The name of the document.
2. Who created the document.
3. Who last updated the document.
4. The file size.
5. The creation date and time.
6. The time and date the document was last modified.
7. Version History.

In Version History, you'll have access to PDFs of past versions of the document. On each version it will list the date and time that version was created and the name of the user(s) who last edited the document. 

Click on "View PDF" to view the PDF of the previous version in OnBoard. 

Annotation Retention

Private annotations will be retained for all users on documents edited with Microsoft 365 Document Editing. 

After a Meeting Book or Resource document has been edited, a banner will appear at the top of the page notifying you that annotations may have been impacted due to the edits. 

Annotations on edited documents will retain their initial position, and annotations can be moved or edited after a document has been updated. For more information on managing private annotations, review our article on Creating, Managing, and Sharing Annotations.

Disabling or Enabling Document Editing

Microsoft 365 Document Editing will be enabled by default. To disable or enable document editing for the entire organization:

1. Click on Settings in the navigation panel.
2. Click on the Feature tab.
3. Scroll down to Enable Microsoft 365 Integration and use the toggle to disable or enable. 

FAQs