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The Everything menu
Sandy Dewey
Tyro
Thank you
25
Comments
Many of our teachers get confused. They think that this means that everyone can watch their videos when they are under the everything menu.
There should be a setting in the Admin console to disable this for all users. There should also be a setting or a workflow to "Approve Public videos". This way someone needs to approve what videos should really made public, especially for educational institutions.
Many or our instructors also get confused and this became an issue when we starting teaching remotely due to COVID-19 and everyone at the college started using Panopto. We had several tickets on this issue and had to put up statements on what the areas mean for sharing folders and videos.
Another vote to "toggle" off the "Everything" tab for the left-side navigation links.
I had one customer that got into a philosophical 3 email response back-and-forth over whether or not the contents of their folder (as provisioned by the Panopto-Blackboard building block ) was "secure" and not visible to "Everyone" who could login to Panpoto. I know it's intent is to make the hosted instances more "social" to see who is putting up new stuff to view, but everyone is treating it more like a private fileshare (ala Box.com) than a social sharing site even within the EDU hosted instance.
Hi guys - Great feedback. We will definitely consider this for a future release. Thanks. -Dave
The other option would be to use a different label. Instead of the "Everything" label, use something like "Viewable by me"
@DaveHannan,
Thanks for consider this. I'd favor it, too. Just a swith on the admin side that lets an institution do one of the following:
1) Toggle the Everything Folder off--make it invisible to users.
2) Rename the Everything Folder, so it doesn't scare the daylights out of instructors because they believe everyone can see all their stuff.
Please let those of us in this thread know when this feature goes live. Thanks! dann
Are there any updates on this request @Dave Hannan?
We're newer to Panopto but running into this issue a lot! Huge point of confusion.
There is another good (and similar) discussion of the Everything folder on another feature request, "Stop truncating long lists of sub-folders"
Hoping this gets addressed soon.
Someone brought this up yesterday during the training webinar: Can the Everything menu be renamed? Too many people get confused as to what this means exactly and think all of their content is viewable by everyone who has access to the system.
@Dave Hannan
Hey Dave, looks like this is "on the roadmap." Can you give us an estimated time of delivery for a feature that addresses the Everything folder?
Thanks! dann
@Dave Hannan and/or Panopto Team . . . can you offer an update on this?
Thanks!
dann
Glad this is on the road map. Another consideration: A Canvas use case -- faculty not officially teaching the course -- and are "creators"
Something to think about. Thanks.
It would be great to know what they have planned for the Everything menu before it's released, so we have time to comment.
I would very much like to change the behavior of the desktop apps; when one clicks "Manage My Recordings" [Win] or "Manage Online Recordings" [Mac] it inexplicably dumps you into Everything instead of My Folder or even My Folders (yet another confusing bit of UI language).
I love the everything tab. But, I agree, it could be renamed. Maybe "What's New" or "Latest Videos"?
Hi everyone - Apologies for the slow reply! I wanted to provide some mockups that we’re hoping to implement in the next six+ months. Note that these are just mockups and aren’t a definitive plan of record. We would love some feedback from the community to see if this direction would help reduce confusion around the Everything list.
We are exploring the idea of an inbox, where the user can find any activity in the Panopto video library that is relevant to them. This could be videos shared with them, new videos that are ready for viewing, videos that are getting a lot of attention, and discussions happening on their videos or discussion threads they have participated in.
@Dave Hannan My take:
I'm guessing the "My Videos" is the current "My Folder"? I personally liked the naming of "My Folder" in contrast to all of the instructor's course folders. The My Folder can then be used for things that are not tied to one particular course, or for storing things in a draft state before sharing to students. The phrase "My Folder" helps instructors understand that this space is just for them. With a name like "My Videos", this feels too general. The videos in their course folders are also "their videos". I feel like it would be confusing to instructors thinking that all of their videos are under that menu item.
I also agree with @Taylor Ralston about the name of inbox being confusing. Too many ties to email mental models. I think the name "Recent Activity" makes sense based on how the use case is described.
If an Inbox makes sense, feel free to use that instead of the "Everything" menu option. That has been and will continue to be my only issue with the default user template for the left-side/nav menus.
My Videos: If this is a space that will combine both their Private Folder (My Folder) and all other folders on which they have creator rights, then I'm OK with this label. If "My Videos" is simply a re-labeling of "My Folder" then please don't change it.
Browse: One significant problem my faculty have is finding their course folders. They expect to find them under their My Folder (the clever ones actually move their course folders to their My Folder). The directory structure isn’t clear, so I am always reiterating the purpose of Browse and directing their eye to it. I'm glad Browse is above the line in this mock-up; it should be right under My Folder.
Inbox: No. Folks need fewer places to look and they need to quickly grasp the permission level attached to the files they're looking at. The Inbox sounds like a jumble of stuff.
My personal feeling is people are more interested in videos for which they are creators; if a video is shared with you as a viewer it is likely the link was sent to you or posted somewhere. In my experience, no one goes to the Panopto web portal to browse videos a la YouTube.
If you want to include a folder like Everything, that displays the myriad of videos a user can view and/or edit give it a label like, "Organization Videos" or better yet "<org name> Videos". Something that impresses upon the user that these are all the videos that anyone at the org can view … and leave the user’s own *restricted* videos off of this list.
Hey Dave, my response will look a bit negative, but I really like and appreciate the ideas you're floating. Mostly, your proposed changes are moving in a good direction . . . but they also appear to create additional confusion. My thoughts are below. If I can help your team process this more, please let me know. We are very interested in changing the way the Everything Folder works--or at least what it's called.
"Everything" is entirely gone.👎️
This thread was focused on the confusion surrounding the "Everything" folder, which lumped everyone else's PUBLIC videos . . . and all of the individual user's Restricted videos into a single location. It makes the individual users think his/her restricted videos were Public. To resolve that issue there are three easy options: 1) simply stop an individual user's Restricted videos from going in the Everything Folder. 2) create a "Public" folder, which is similar to "Everything" but doesn't include anyone's (even the individual user's) Private/Restricted videos. 3) give an institution the ability to rename or remove the "Everything" folder. Any of these would resolve the confusion of the Everything folder while still allowing an institution to publish videos for consumption by everyone at the institution.
"Inbox" 👎️👎️👎️
Please don't do this. An inbox is where I look with the expectation that someone sent me something & need to do something with it. We don't need another communication avenue. (We have email, Slack, Hangouts, texts, ticketing systems, etc.). Panopto is an effective video creation, storage, and hosting tool. Let's not make it another place people have to check an "inbox." A BIG Thumbs down to a Panopto "Inbox." Again, please don't do this.
"My Videos" 👎️
Panopto also allows people to upload video and audio files. "My Videos" adds confusion to what media is supported. Stick with "My Folder." Or, "My Media," if you want to push the idea that more than just videos can be hosted in Panopto. The latter two options also allow Panopto to move into the business of allowing users to upload (and link to embed photos, pdfs, etc. ) down the road.
"Groups" 👎️👍️
How this functions will impact whether or not it's an improvement or if just adds confusion. Currently "Groups" are often created assigned at the Folder or video level by an individual user. A user personally adds individuals to a folder or video, creating a group can then see that video or the contents of that folder. If this new "Groups" icon operates differently, it adds confusion. It could work if it 1) allows a user to create a group that can then be selected when sharing an individual folder/video. 2) is integrated into the API, so that groups can be automatically populated (and created by an individual) and then can then be selected when sharing an individual folder/video.
Navigation Expanded vs. Collapsed 👎️
The handful of icons in this menu is so small that adding an icon/button that hides/reveals four more icons doesn't seem necessary. It's an extra/hidden step for users in an interface where real-estate isn't a problem. I'd remove it--unless you've got 15+ icons.
For the other icons, Create, Browse, Subscription, Trash, I don't have an opinion.
We remain mostly looking forward to "Everything" not including an individual's non-public videos . . . or being renamed, so users don't panic, worrying that everyone can see "Everything" they create.
Thank you,
dann
Please keep My Folder. This makes it different from the "class" folders in the browse menu, in particular when integrating with LMS.
Inbox is confusing! No inbox, please! Ok with Dave's suggestions, Recent Activity, maybe. MS Teams has a feed at the top that says "Activity" that lists all the recent activity in Teams. Maybe that will be better.
This is the first time I see "Watch later" I assume there is a button somewhere that the user can set a video as "watch later" and this option will list all the videos that I marked as that. I don't remember seeing this option anywhere. How a video gets out of watch later? Do I have to mark it as watched?
Not sure about Groups. Most of the regular users do not have groups. IF integrated with LMS, there will be tons of groups that are created from the LMS for each class taught!!! So, not sure about this.
Trash is ok to have on the side menu.
I think the "Everything" has its use -- how to know "EVERYTHING you have access to..." Maybe find another way to access this feature.
I like the 'viewable by me' as it suggested that it is a specific view to the person but I would also like the view to allow visibility in the list of the sharing setting so you can see ata glance that the video is set to public or viewable across the organization etc to pick up the ones that have been shared globally by mistake. you could instantly see if each video is within my course or in someone elses course but they have shared globally
Leaving a comment here to help illustrate the confusion faculty have with Everything. Also when they click "Manage my Recordings" in the desktop recorder it sends them right to Everything instead of their My Folder. I am boggled by that user experience.
"Faculty: I just recorded a video titled Week 2 - Assessment and Decision-Making Lecture for LIS XXX. I was unable to find the folder for my new course (Spring 2025) so I tried to copy this recording to My Folder. Well, multiple copies were sent to Everything rather than My Folder. I'm a bit stymied. {emphasis mine}
Me: The Everything view in Panopto is not really a folder, it’s a view of any recording (including your own) that you are able to view on the site. This includes recordings that other people have made public or viewable to anyone at UB. When you are in “Everything” go to the left-hand menu and click on My Folder. There you will find your recent recordings.
Faculty: Oh yes, I've moved or copied many times - but the videos always land first in Everything. I tried to copy or move the video from Everything to My Folder and the function says that the lecture has been copied but then there's nothing in My Folder. It just keeps copying to Everything. It's difficult to explain but I'll try to enable my course in Panopto over the weekend and see what happens. I'm also unable to delete any of the videos in Everything as well - so now there's 5 copies of this same lecture. Oy!"
Oy indeed!
Hey @Dave Hannan or anyone at @Panopto or @support . . . any status update on this?