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Question

whiteboard

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
March 2, 2024
3 replies
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I updated Zoom and now I have a new whiteboard instead of old version. How can I downgrade to the old verion?

Whiteboard Cloud Sharing

N

Nikki_Kaul

Employee

Hi @ulikpulikrambl sorry to hear you don't like the new whiteboard experience. You can set the in-meeting default back to the old experience by going to zoom.us -> settings -> meetings -> Whiteboard (classic) and unchecking "use whiteboard by default if available". Would you mind sharing why you prefer the old WB version? Thanks!

L

LindaH2

Newcomer

My main problem with the new white board is that I can't detach it and use it as a free floating window as I could the old version. I could share a screen and be confident that whatever was showing on that screen was broadcasting. I could easily transition between web resources, powerpoints, and shared white board. I could monitor participants video, chat, etc on a different screen, not cluttering my drawing space.

Good things ( that the old version does too) Students can write, I can write. Can save as a png. Are there any benefits to the new version that weren't available previously?

Secondary problems: students can extend their whiteboard and write on a part that I am not looking at.

Difficult to erase the board as a whole to move to a new point. I had to either end the share or painfully erase manually.

J

jnbspace

Newcomer

The new whiteboard feels very much like a beta release. Being able to share whiteboards after a meeting is OK but in exchange for that the whiteboard itself is almost unusable compare to the old version.

A short, but by no means comprehensive, list of usability problems ...

If you share another screen and then share the whiteboard again it creates a new blank whiteboard and bvy default all previous whiteboard entries are no longer seen.
If you share another screen and then share a whiteboard again it turns off the "all eyes on me" so noone can see what the presenter is doing.
It is possible to share an existing whiteboard but apparently only by first creating a new white board and then playing "hunt the whiteboard" in the list of existing whiteboards. Of course everytime you do that it creates one more identically named whiteboard so it becomes progressively harder to do.
When using the new whiteboard by default I cannot my the view of participants to a different window and screen so it robs me of screen space.
If I want to add an extra page to the white board I have to view all the pages, scroll to the bottom and then add a page.

It may be possible to overcome those through some shortcut that hasn't been told to us but at the moment issues like that make the classic whiteboard a better option. I know there is an option to use that but I find that unreliable so only about 10% of the time can I use the classic view and that often turns itself off halfway through a meeting now. As said it feels very much like a piece of software which works but someone hasn't done any usability testing.

N

Nikki_Kaul

Employee

Hi @jnbspace thank you very much for your detailed feedback, we appreciate you taking the time to list this out. I'll try to answer your questions one by one and if there is anything I can clarify or I've misunderstood, please let me know!

1. If you share another screen and then share the whiteboard again it creates a new blank whiteboard and bvy default all previous whiteboard entries are no longer seen. -- this is a Zoom-wide issue that our Meetings product team is working on. Currently it is not possible to support screen sharing and opening a WB in a meeting simultaneously. However, they are working on this and this will be possible where you will no longer lose the work or be forced to open a new WB (you can always open a new WB if you choose).

2. If you share another screen and then share a whiteboard again it turns off the "all eyes on me" so noone can see what the presenter is doing. -- this issue will be addressed in our upcoming March release for WB. We will support everyone always following whoever opened the WB in the meeting so that the all eyes on me does not get turned off.

3. It is possible to share an existing whiteboard but apparently only by first creating a new white board and then playing "hunt the whiteboard" in the list of existing whiteboards. Of course everytime you do that it creates one more identically named whiteboard so it becomes progressively harder to do. -- I would love to know if I am misunderstanding you here but when you click on the Whiteboards icon in the meeting toolbar, you are offered an option to select "Existing Whiteboards". After this, you do not have to create a new whiteboard and go straight to any existing whiteboards. Are you seeing something different?

Also we are working on updating the logic so that we show your most relevant whiteboards to that meeting at the top of your dashboard list.

4. When using the new whiteboard by default I cannot my the view of participants to a different window and screen so it robs me of screen space. -- Because our in-meeting whiteboard is integrated into the meeting experience, this is something I believe has to be managed by the host of the meeting. Could you take a look at this Zoom KB article and let me know if this addresses your concern? https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0065566

5. If I want to add an extra page to the white board I have to view all the pages, scroll to the bottom and then add a page. -- thank you very much for your feedback, I have passed this along to the team who is investigating these usability issues around pages and we'll be sure to follow up when we have an update on this.

If there is anything else I have missed in your questions / comments above, please don't hesitate to let me know!

Z

zabaleta3

Newcomer

Same issues and a lot more with the new whiteboard, in short, not fit for the purpose, already killed off some lessons as the most essential basic functions are gone, now I can't write unless using a text box, must select the size/font/colour for every single entry as all reverts back to default all the time, can't save the board, can't move between meeting and board - students can't write on it, can't see the tools - totally unusable, need the classic version back! A very long time user with a 'pro' account and a macOS 13.6.3 good wifi, the problem is the new version, please help me to get the classic version back this is IMPOSSIBLE to live with!

N

Nikki_Kaul

Employee

Hi @zabaleta3 thank you for your feedback and I'm sorry to hear about your frustrations. I want to try and address some of your feedback & questions, please let me know if I've misunderstood or missed anything.

1. Now I can't write unless using a textbox -- are you trying to write with a pen? If so, see the first attached screenshot for how to find the pen tool.

2. Must select the size/font/color for every single entry as all reverts back to default -- so presuming you are referring to text boxes, you are correct that we go back to the default each time. The reasoning here is that we do not want you to end up with a bunch of random text box styles around your whiteboard especially if you change styles a few times.

3. Can't save the board -- do you have cloud saving enabled? This can be checked in your Admin portal > Account Settings > Whiteboard.

4. Can't move between meeting and the board -- this is a Zoom wide issue that the Meetings team is working on addressing. Pretty soon you'll be able to do this seamlessly without fear of losing content on your whiteboard.

If you are really concerned or frustrated, here is our support article (https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0074220) on how to get back to classic whiteboard. I would really love to know if you have any other feedback for us as we are looking to make this experience better for users such as yourselves.

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