We’re pleased to announce a new feature that makes collaborating on documents in Yammer easier than ever before. This week, we are beginning to roll out a browser-based document viewer. Now when you upload a document to Yammer, your colleagues will be able to preview it directly in the feed without having to download it first.
In addition to previewing file attachments, collaborators will also be able to markup these documents right from the feed, inserting comments, adding text, highlighting and draw directly on the document. The annotations will appear in real time and are displayed in a side bar organized by page or contributor.
[New document viewer with comments in sidebar]
The document viewer is powered by Crocodoc and supports all major document types including PDFs, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.
The document viewer is based on HTML5 and does not require third-party plug-ins such as Flash, allowing us to offer a familiar browser reading experience with features such as scrolling, copying and pasting, searching for text, and changing the font size. Compared to Flash-based document viewers, HTML5 documents display faster with better security and stability. Document previews will also soon be available on all mobile platforms including iPhone, iPad, and Android.
We know that working with documents can be a huge pain point. At Yammer, we believe that reviewing documents should be just as easy as posting messages to the feed. You shouldn’t have to download a document in order to add comments to it.
By introducing this inline document viewer, we hope to simplify how teams interact with documents. With the new tool, you’ll be able to simultaneously markup the document and have a threaded conversation about it, making collaborating on documents a seamless part of the Yammer experience.
Note: Members of the Yammer team used the new document viewer to edit this blog post.
Birth of another blog! Great idea – great way to interact with the Yammer audience.
The document viewer is another fabulous innovation – especially for us DET users who want to collaborate and interact and share – thanks for adapting and changing and evolving Yammer to fit the needs and wants of users.
Happy Yammering!
Is this feature available now, or is it coming soon?
Are Excel files also compatible with Yammer?
Yes, you can use Excel files with Yammer.
Hi Dusty, this feature is available now.
The document viewer is a really powerful feature, however, it only appears to work with PowerPoint files. We’re still on the “Basic” plan, so I’m wondering if this is a limitation?
Thanks man. I will try it.
Richard — are you still having issues? This feature is available to all plans, and it should work for you. If it doesn’t, please file a support ticket at http://bit.ly/yamsupport
Is there a way to lock documents that you want to be read-only?
Great feature! In Crocodoc it is possible to comment on pictures. I did not manage to do it in Yammer. Is it my fault? Are you planning to offer comment on most file types like in Crocodoc?
This would help me to submit different types of sources to my students in cultural studies.
Best
Francesco