Real-time Editing

Edit presentations together with your team in real-time.

Overview

Deckyard supports concurrent editing with automatic slide-level locking to prevent conflicts. Multiple users can work on the same presentation simultaneously while seeing each other’s presence.

Slide Locks

When you start editing a slide, it becomes locked to prevent others from making conflicting changes.

How Locks Work

1. You click on a slide to edit it
2. The system automatically acquires a lock for you
3. Other users see a lock indicator on that slide
4. When you finish editing, the lock is released

Lock Behavior

• Automatic acquisition - Locks are acquired when you begin editing
• Timeout release - Locks automatically release after 2 minutes of inactivity
• Manual release - You can explicitly release a lock by leaving the slide
• Visual indicator - Locked slides show who is editing

Lock Indicators

In the slide navigator, you’ll see:

• Green dot - You are editing this slide
• Orange dot - Another user is editing (shows their name)
• No dot - Slide is available

Presence Indicators

See who else is viewing and editing the presentation in real-time.

Active Collaborators

The editor shows:

• Avatar row - Profile pictures of active users
• Cursor position - Which slide each user is viewing
• Editing status - Who is actively making changes

User Status

Each collaborator shows their status:

• Viewing - Looking at the presentation
• Editing - Actively making changes
• Idle - Connected but inactive

Presence Updates

Presence information updates in real-time:

• Users appear when they open the presentation
• Position updates as they navigate slides
• Users disappear when they close the presentation

Conflict Resolution

Deckyard uses several strategies to prevent and resolve conflicts.

Prevention

The primary strategy is conflict prevention:

• Slide-level locking prevents simultaneous edits
• Locks are acquired before changes can be made
• Visual indicators warn users about locks

Automatic Merge

For non-conflicting changes:

• Different slides can be edited simultaneously
• Changes are merged automatically
• All users see updates in real-time

Conflict Scenarios

When conflicts might occur:

Lock Timeout: If your lock times out while editing:

1. System attempts to reacquire the lock
2. If another user has it, you’re notified
3. Your changes are preserved locally
4. You can retry when the slide is available

Connection Issues: If your connection drops:

1. Unsaved changes are preserved locally
2. When reconnected, changes are synced
3. If conflicts exist, you’re prompted to resolve

Manual Resolution

If a conflict can’t be auto-resolved:

1. You see a conflict notification
2. Both versions are shown
3. Choose which version to keep
4. Or merge manually

Real-time Updates

Server-Sent Events (SSE)

Deckyard uses SSE for real-time communication:

• Low latency updates
• Efficient connection management
• Automatic reconnection

What Updates in Real-time

• Slide content changes
• Slide additions and deletions
• Reordering of slides
• Collaborator presence
• Comments and reactions
• Lock status changes

Update Propagation

When you make a change:

1. Change is sent to the server
2. Server validates and saves
3. Server broadcasts to all connected clients
4. Other users see the update

Update Notifications

When another user saves changes to the presentation you’re editing, you’ll see:

• Toast notification — A brief info message appears at the bottom of the screen showing who made the change, e.g. “Slides updated by jane@example.com”
• Automatic merge — The updated slides are merged into your local view without interrupting your work. Slides you have locked are never overwritten.

Rapid successive saves from the same collaborator are coalesced into a single notification so the editor stays uncluttered.

Working with Locks

Requesting a Lock

If a slide is locked by someone else:

1. You see who has the lock
2. You can request they release it
3. They receive a notification
4. They can choose to release or continue

Force Release (Admin)

Users with admin permission can force-release locks:

1. Click on the locked slide
2. Click Force Release
3. Confirm the action

Use sparingly - the other user may lose work.

Best Practices

Communicate:

• Use comments to coordinate
• Let others know when you’re done

Work in sections:

• Divide work by slide sections
• Avoid competing for the same slides

Save frequently:

• Changes auto-save, but be aware of lock timing
• Finish slides before moving on

Connection Status

Indicators

The editor shows your connection status:

• Green - Connected and synced
• Yellow - Reconnecting
• Red - Disconnected

Offline Behavior

If you lose connection:

• You can continue viewing
• Edits are queued locally
• When reconnected, changes sync

Reconnection

Automatic reconnection happens:

• On network recovery
• With exponential backoff
• Your session state is preserved

Performance

Large Presentations

For presentations with many slides:

• Only visible slides load fully
• Thumbnails load on demand
• Lock checks are optimized

Many Collaborators

With many simultaneous users:

• Presence updates are batched
• Lock notifications are prioritized
• UI updates are throttled

Related

• Comments
• Activity & Notifications
• Sharing & Permissions