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Edit transcript doesn't work as expected in team

Hi there,

Dropbox Replay user here - as of yesterday, fully-paid up for the full Dropbox Replay across our team.

As per the Dropbox Replay 'video transcription and captions' article last updated 18 July 2024, we should be able to edit transcripts in Replay.

And indeed, I can - when I am the one who who has uploaded the video to Replay - I click on the Transcription sidebar/tab, wait a few minutes, and then can hover over a line, select the pencil, and correct the text. Just as described.

However, when another team member uploads the video, I no longer see the pencil option to edit the text, only the copy option.

I'm now getting the sinking feeling, based upon a limitation I saw elsewhere in this community around archiving videos, that it is somehow either as per design or a product limitation that I can't correct the transcript of a video uploaded by somebody else in our team.

The purpose of Replay is to facilitate collaboration - please tell me this isn't a limitation.

Thanks,

David

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Accepted answers

Amy

Hi @SoundsEngaging,

I chatted with the team about this and there was an update last week that should have solved this issue!

As the project owner, you will now be able to edit transcriptions on videos uploaded by your team without needing to transfer ownership.

On the second point, we tested this and confirmed that any transcription edits made after transferring ownership are still reflected in the shared video, so no changes are lost. But, with the update this workaround is no longer needed - hopefully! Let me know if that is working for you now and if not I can make sure the team are in the loop 😊

All comments

Ara Bozadjian

Wow! Didn't know about this but yes, the limitations on the owner/admin are concerning and alarming. Am really worried, need some clarity on if this is a long term DropBox decision because it seems very bizarre and without good reason to restrict the admins/customers/owners like this.

I don't mind if there is the plan to change this soon but we need some clarity please DropBox. 🙂

Amy

Hi @SoundsEngaging - I hope I can be of help here - so let me know if this works for you? It looks like to edit transcripts on a video uploaded by someone else, you will need to have edit-level access on the project. It sounds like youmay not have that permission, which would explain why they’re only seeing the copy option and not the ability to edit the transcript on their teammate's video - but if you can ask them to change the permissions you should be set 😊

Let me know if you need anything else?

Ara Bozadjian

Yup, I was hasty, my bad. I am Owner and can edit all Transcripts on all videos including those not uploaded by me and where I only have Editor status on Folders.

SoundsEngaging

Thank you for your response, Amy.

It looks like to edit transcripts on a video uploaded by someone else, you will need to have edit-level access on the project.

It was my account that created the project in Replay, so I would expect to have the privileges that I need at project level?

Furthermore, we have three files in this project, one of which I uploaded, two of which were uploaded by a team-member. I appear only to be able to edit the transcript upon the file that I uploaded. The only other visual clue is that I can 'Start a live review' on the asset I uploaded, but only 'Join live review' on the files my colleague uploaded.

So, it is a case of ownership at the 'file' level, not the 'project' level? I notice a 'Transfer ownership' option when I menu select a file at the project level. At a guess, would I need to seize control of the file - ie assign it to myself, which I presume I can do as an admin - before I can edit the transcript?

Thanks!

David

SoundsEngaging

I've done some further investigation. I have a solution of sorts, but also what looks like some UI inconsistency, unexplained behaviour, and requests for clarification in the documentation.

@Amy wrote:

>>> It looks like to edit transcripts on a video uploaded by someone else, you will need to have edit-level access on the project.

I confirm that I am ‘Owner’ of the project in question (Menu > Manage People). That's the only option I have - as the creator of the project, I don't seem to be able to amend my privileges.

Entering that project, I open the menu for the file on I would like to be able to edit the transcript and then select, ‘Transfer ownership’ before entering my (Dropbox) email address.

Now, when I open the file, I see ‘Start live review’ (instead of ‘Join live review’) - a visual clue that I am now owner. And indeed, when I show the sidebar and select Transcript, I am now able to edit the transcript. Good news.

Now for the clarifications:

Question/request #1: Is there a way that we can see who is the 'owner' of a file? 'File info' doesn't reveal this information - only the video/audio stream in the file; would it make sense to reveal who the owner is in here? The How to manage Dropbox Replay for your team article, in the 'How to view the admin of a file or project' section, I don't believe still holds true (or, at best, isn't clear). If I 'Click any avatar (profile picture or initials) at the bottom of the project thumbnail' then I'm not presented with a 'list of team members to find the person with Admin beside their name', instead it opens the project. I use list view to see my projects by default. However, if I switch to tile view, the behaviour suggested at this point in the article is correct and, upon selecting any avatar, a new window 'People added to <project>' is shown. So, this is inconsistent behaviour on selecting an avatar depending upon the list/tile view mode.

However, this point is moot for me - while this does let me see the ownership of a project, the instructions here do not appear to let me see the ownership of a file within that project. There are no thumbnails when browsing the files within a project for me to click on/hover over, either in the list or tile views. It's important that I know who the owner is if I'm going to transfer ownership away from them and potentially revoke some of their rights.

Also, can a file be 'owned' by more than one person? Is it right that only the owner can edit the transcript? Shouldn't the 'owner' of the project automatically be able to perform these actions on all files within the project? For example, a production coordinator's role is to upload assets to a folder and coordinate internal and client reviews - but other producers will want to check/amend transcripts etc. Do we have to transfer ownership of the entire file individually to each of these people in order for them to do that?

Request #2: I suggest that there is documentation update is required to the How to manage Dropbox Replay for your team and article as there is no mention of ownership being necessary to edit transcripts. Perhaps an update on the video transcripts article too?

Unexplained behaviour #1: As explained above, transferring ownership of a file from whoever it was who owned the file to me enabled me to edit the transcript. However, one side effect of this is that it appears as though another copy of that file has now appeared in my root folder (ie where my list of projects resides).

I've checked the timestamps of the file (list view: updates/created/comments/Views) and they're identical, so I can only conclude that this is either a new copy OR that it's some kind of pointer? Is this an artefact of what's happening under the covers in Dropbox having transferred ownership of the file?

As this is a live file shared with clients for review, I'm keen not break it - but did I already just by transferring ownership? If I make edits on the transcript on the version of the file that I am now owner of, will the client see those? Or are the links shared with them still pointing to the version that was shared by the original uploader/owner?

Right, that's enough feedback for one sitting, I need to get this asset delivered. Grateful for any input on the above.

David

Sounds Engaging

Amy

Hi @SoundsEngaging,

I chatted with the team about this and there was an update last week that should have solved this issue!

As the project owner, you will now be able to edit transcriptions on videos uploaded by your team without needing to transfer ownership.

SoundsEngaging

Thank you @Amy - I'm waiting for our next client review video to pass through the workflow (should be today/tomorrow) and I'll be able to check to see. Curious about the 'extra' copy of the video that appears in the root folder once I have transferred ownership, but that may be moot if I no longer need to transfer. More to follow.

Amy

Looking forward to the update @SoundsEngaging - I'll make sure the team are in the loop too 😊

SoundsEngaging

The good news is that this seems to be working now - I can now edit the transcript of files that I haven't uploaded. Phew, thank you for whatever you did to make that work.

I do still have a couple of apparently duplicate/symlinked files in my root directory from the earlier workaround - I'll keep them there for now until we're done with delivering this season then I'll see what happens to them when we archive the project/folder.