Looking for an easy, secure way to share Excel spreadsheets
over the web or even a local area network (LAN)? Using nothing
more than a browser, you can now leverage Excel in ways
you never thought possible. And you can do it without hiring expensive consultants,
without programming, and without any hassle. BadBlue's new Excel
Sharing features include:
Instantly share spreadsheets over the web - no programming and minimal setup
Password-protection - protect your spreadsheets with login-names and passwords
Update multiple cells at a time - a much easier user-interface
Multi-user conflict resolution - when two users change the same cell
Complete auditing and logging - you can track every change to your spreadsheets
Grid read and write protection by user - restrict which users can see/update which cells
Full chart support - even supports workbooks with charts!
You can get started quickly and easily by reviewing our FAQ, below. It will
step you through set-up, usage, and even advanced topics. And our illustrated tutorials
make it easier than ever. Best of all, you can try out all of the features for free with
BadBlue Personal Edition. When you're ready to buy, you can
order BadBlue Enterprise Edition with instant, electronic
delivery.
What do I need?
All you need is a copy of Excel running on the system with BadBlue installed.
Users can simply use their browsers to
review or update Excel spreadsheets.
Even workbooks with charts will work over the web... instantly and
automatically.
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Just visit our tutorial entitled Excel Sharing General Use. This
is an illustrated tutorial that teaches you how to read and update spreadsheets using
your browser. You can also email the page to introduce web sharing to other users.
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| Why are there "***" characters on my spreadsheet? |
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If you're using BadBlue Personal Edition, Excel Sharing is a "free preview"
feature to help you try it out. The size of your spreadsheet is limited in
the preview.
When you're ready to buy the full version, you can
order BadBlue Enterprise Edition with instant, electronic
delivery.
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| Can users update the spreadsheet (not just view it)? |
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Yes! Visit our tutorial entitled Excel Web Sharing General Use.
Important: please note that you'll have to password-protect
the spreadsheet before users are allowed to update it. Our audit logging feature,
described below, requires that all users are identified before changing the
spreadsheet.
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| How do I password-protect my Excel files? |
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For password protection help, see the Password-Protecting Files tutorial.
Reminder: if you want to allow users to update spreadsheets (not just view them),
remember to click the Allow updates checkbox at step 6 of that tutorial.
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| What happens if multiple users update the same cell at the same time? |
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BadBlue has built-in conflict resolution support to notify you when conflicting
changes are made. See the
Advanced Excel Sharing help page for more information.
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| Can I review or audit the changes users have made? |
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Yes! BadBlue has built-in audit logging for Excel web sharing.
See the
Advanced Excel Sharing help page for more information.
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| Can I can control which users can read or write which cells? |
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Yes! BadBlue has built-in cell-by-cell restrictions! You can hide certain
cells from certain users. You can also allow other users to view cells, but not
update them. You have total control over your shared spreadsheets.
See the
Advanced Excel Sharing help page for more information.
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| Can I prevent downloads of my Excel files and only allow browser sharing? |
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Yes! To allow only Live Views - and no downloads of the spreadsheets:
1) Click on the Manage tab
2) Click on the Setup Search tab link
3) Change the Live View settings to "Allow only Live Views"
4) Press the Save Changes button
You'll need to exit BadBlue from the system tray and restart it for
this change to take effect.
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| Can I hide the INI and LOG files that appear in folder view? |
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Yes! Simply use Windows Explorer to set the file attributes to Hidden for any file that should not be displayed in folder view.
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Can I customize the spreadsheet display in the browser?
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Yes, you can configure the spreadsheet display
by clicking the Manage tab, then clicking Set preferences and P2P sharing options.
Select the default number of columns to display (width), rows to display (height),
percent of browser window size, and currency decimal points. Then click the Save Changes
button.
These global settings apply to all spreadsheets opened in live view mode. You can
also configure these settings on a file-by-file basis. See the Advanced
Excel Sharing help page for details.
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For power-users: If you know HTML, it is easy to change the spreadsheet display to suite
your tastes. The Excel templates file is located in the BadBlue installation directory.
It is named xls2.htx.
It can be modified for your particular needs.
Make sure to backup the original file before modifying it so that you can compare it or restore it
if there are problems.
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Can I automatically refresh the spreadsheet display?
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Yes, you can define an automatic refresh interval for your
spreadsheets. This interval will redisplay the latest changes so that
all users are seeing up-to-date information.
To set an automatic refresh interval, click the Manage tab, then click Set preferences and P2P sharing options.
Select the number of seconds between each refresh (the "Auto refresh spreadsheet" setting).
Then click the Save Changes button.
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Can users see which spreadsheets have been updated?
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| Yes, there is a configuration setting that lets you
provide visual markers that indicate to a web user when spreadsheets have
been updated.
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To turn on "freshness indicators", click the Manage tab, then click Set preferences and P2P sharing options.
Change the "Use freshness indicators" setting to "Yes".
Then click the Save Changes button.
As spreadsheets are modified by other users, asterisks (* characters) will
appear next to files that have been modified. If you would like the
main Folders tab to also display freshness indicators, follow the instructions
for password-protecting the Folders page.
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Is there support for European Date Format?
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Yes, there is a configuration setting that lets you
control European date format display and data-entry. To modify the date settings, click the Manage tab, then click Set preferences and P2P sharing options.
To view Excel dates in European format, change the "Euro date display" seting to "Yes".
To override the local server's data-entry mode, change the "Override month/day" setting to "Yes". Note that this
step may not be necessary for servers that already have European date settings configured.
After changing either setting, press the Save Changes button. You will
need to exit and restart the server to see these changes take effect.
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| What are 'named users' in BadBlue Enterprise Edition? |
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For most of BadBlue's features, you can define and use as many user accounts as you need.
However, to take advantage of BadBlue's Excel Web Sharing features,
you will need to have licenses for each 'named user account' that will access
shared spreadsheets.
For example, say you've defined user accounts for Alice, Bob, Carol
and David. If all four users are going to update Excel spreadsheets, you will need
at least four (4) 'named user' licenses.
In BadBlue Enterprise Edition, you can review your current licensed user count --
and add purchased licenses -- using:
Help >> Manage user licenses
BadBlue Enterprise Edition, by itself, includes a single named-user license for Excel
collaboration. You can purchase additional User Expansion Packs
to add to the current licensed user count.
If you have questions about licensing or need to purchase bulk quantities of licenses,
please email the Sales Department.
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