Sharing and player

A share link lets others view, comment on or edit your design. A player page is a read-only web page with only sliders and 3D, ready to embed in a portfolio.

Share links

1. On the home page click "Share" on the design card.
2. Choose "Shared (anyone with the link)". The design is uploaded to the server.
3. Pick a permission and copy the link.
4. Every save updates the linked version automatically. The dialog shows "Linked version: rev N · last synced …" and has "Update shared content now".
5. Switching back to "Not shared" deletes the content and comments from the server immediately.

Inside the modeler, the banner at the top shows the share and sync status. The comments drawer is in the same place.

Three permissions

Three links

When the server supports it, the Share dialog lists three links after you share: Can edit, View only and Can comment. All three open the same design and the same comments, each at its own address.

• Turn each link on or off on its own. When a link is off, people who open it see "This link has been turned off by the person who shared it" and nothing about the design, not even its name. Turning it back on keeps the same address.
• Set an expiry date (up to one year). After that the link shows "This link has expired".
• Regenerate gives the link a new address and the old one stops working right away. Use it if a link got out.
• Your original share link is one of the three, with the same address and permission.

Two switches sit below the links: show the "Made with Synhedra" badge on the shared page, and let View only and Can comment users export PDF and images. Both are on by default.

The server checks the limits on changing the model, comments and issues; they aren't just hidden buttons. Their browser still has to receive the model data to show it, so "can't download the design file" isn't copy protection. In live collaboration, a Can comment user can only send issue changes; the server rejects everything else.

Copy as a template

You can let people with a link "Copy as my template". A reviewer, classmate or client opens your share and gets their own design to change in one click.

• Turn on "Let people with a link 'Copy as my template'" at the bottom of the share dialog. It is off by default, so existing links don't gain this right.
• View only and Can comment links also need "export PDF or images" turned on before the button shows. Can edit links only check this switch.
• The button creates a new design named with "(template)" at the end and opens it in the workspace. Signed out, it is saved on that computer. Signed in, it syncs to their account.
• The new design keeps only the model and settings. Issues, issue snapshots and photos, sharing, collaboration, version history, the IFC ID seed, handover data, ETABS results, and the client, office, architect, project number, address, dates and coordinates in project info and title blocks are not copied. Only the source design name and share date are kept, without the link code.
• Parameter pages use "Allow copying the node graph" from publishing. When it is on, the button is "Copy as my template" and keeps the current slider values.
• When a share link is opened on a computer, the old "Save as my design" follows the same rules. It doesn't appear unless the sharer allows copying, and when allowed it is "Copy as my template", with the same data removed. Only people on a Can edit link still get "Save as my design" to keep their current version as is, when there is a version conflict, a sync failure or the link stops being shared.

This is a screen permission. Their browser already receives the model data, so turning copying off is not copy protection.

Limits

• Shares created without signing in: 256 KB maximum, expire after 7 days, and a daily cap per network.
• Shares created while signed in: no expiry. They are purged only after 365 days without an update. Up to 8 MB compressed.
• Large imported meshes (3DM, OBJ, glTF) stay on your computer and do not travel with the link. Others see "exists only on the computer that imported it". To hand over the full model use "File ▾ › Download graph JSON".
• The secret that manages a share lives only in your browser. After switching computers or clearing browser data, shares created without signing in can no longer be managed. Shares created while signed in are managed from "My shares and player pages" in the account menu.

Opening a link

• A link opens straight into the modeler or 2D drafting. The banner says who shared it and what you may do.
• "Shared with me" appears in your home page list. That list lives only in this browser and does not sync across devices.
• To keep your own version use "Create copy".

Phone and tablet viewing

Open a share link on a phone or a portrait tablet and you get a touch viewer automatically. It is view-only and never changes the design. It shows 3D designs and 2D drawings (CAD and vector).

• When it appears: when the screen is narrower than 768 px, or a touch device is narrower than 1024 px. A "Read-only" label sits at the top; tap "Edit on a computer" to open the full editor instead. Add ?view=1 to the address to always use the viewer, or ?view=0 to always use the editor. Player page links still open the player page.
• 3D gestures: one finger orbits, two fingers zoom and pan (zooming toward the fingers), with inertia after you let go. Double-tap to aim the view at that point. The "View" button resets the view.
• 2D gestures: one finger pans, two fingers zoom, double-tap zooms in 2x. "Zoom to all" shows the whole drawing.
• Folder links: whether folder sharing is offered depends on the server setting, and it is not available on the live site yet (see Cloud sync and privacy › Folder sharing). A folder link opened on a phone first shows a read-only list: the folder path at the top, then subfolders, then designs (newest first). Tap a design to view it in this viewer, and use "Back to the folder" to return to the list. One link lists at most 1,000 designs.
• Layers: the 3D "Layers" drawer shows or hides by category (walls and openings, floors, rooms, structure, plan annotations, masses, other) and by layer; "Show all" restores everything. 2D has a layers drawer too, and vector drawings also have "Artboards".
• Floors (when the model has levels): the "Floors" drawer turns each floor on or off, or tap "Only". "Section" cuts horizontally 1.2 m above the selected floor; "Plan" shows that floor's orthographic plan with its annotations. The floor bar at the bottom switches to the floor above or below, or back to 3D.
• Measure: tap "Measure", then the first and second points. 3D shows the distance with horizontal and vertical components and snaps to vertices, edges and faces; 2D shows the distance with ΔX and ΔY and snaps to endpoints, midpoints, centers, quadrants, intersections, nodes and nearest points. A third tap starts a new measurement, and "Clear" starts over.
• Info: tap an object and the drawer shows its type and name, category, floor and layer, plus thickness, width, height, area, perimeter, volume and bounding size where they apply. In 2D it shows the layer and that object's fields.
• Smoothness: large models load in batches with a progress indicator, and the resolution drops automatically when the screen is too slow. Buttons are at least 44 px for easy tapping, screen readers are supported, and inertia and slide-in animations are skipped when the system has "Reduce motion" on.

Recording site issues on a phone

When you open your own design in the phone viewer, or a share or folder link with the “Can edit” permission, the bottom toolbar shows “Issues”. You can record a problem on site as you see it. The issue is stored in the design, so the Issues panel and BCF export on a computer show it too. A share link with the “Can comment” permission can also add issues (text and photos) and add comments to any issue. It cannot change the title, description, status or existing comments of someone else’s issue, and it cannot delete issues or photos. Folder links need “Can edit” to add issues. View-only links can show issues but cannot add them.

1. Tap “Issues” and then “Record an issue”, then tap the location or element on the model (a blue dot appears). If no location is needed, tap “No location”.
2. Tap “Take photo” to use the camera, or “Choose photos” to pick from the gallery. Each issue can have up to 4 photos.
3. Enter a title and a description, choose a category (General, Defect, Request, Remark), enter who it is assigned to, and tap “Send”.

• Photo processing: before a photo is saved in the design, the phone resizes it to 1600 px on the long side and 1 MB at most, and saves it again as a JPEG. The GPS location, phone model, capture time and other camera data are removed.
• Storage: photos in one design can total about 8 MB (roughly 20 to 40 site photos). Your own designs are stored in this phone’s browser, which has less space. If you have many photos, organize them on a computer, or delete photos from issues that are done.
• Offline: with a share link and no connection, the issue and its photos are saved as a draft and sent automatically when you are back online. Drafts are stored only in this phone’s browser.
• BCF: “Export BCF” in the issue list can write version 2.1 or 3.0. Each photo is another viewpoint of the issue, which BIMcollab Zoom, the BCF Manager for Revit and similar tools show. Components use the GlobalIds of the IFC export, so use them with an IFC file exported from the same design. When the Issues panel on a computer imports the BCF file, the photos come back too.

Player page

A player page is like Grasshopper Player or ShapeDiver: visitors see only the sliders you exposed, the 3D and key figures. They cannot see the graph or change the original. It works on phones.

1. In the graph add a "Publish" node (command publish) and wire the geometry to it.
2. In the properties panel tick the parameters to expose. With none ticked the page has only 3D and downloads. Slider names, ranges, steps and units carry over.
3. Click "Publish as player page…". A local preflight runs first: if it takes over 12 seconds you are asked to narrow the slider ranges, because the visitor's page stops after 8 seconds.
4. Decide on "Allow copying the graph". Off by default. When on, anyone with the link can copy the full graph into their own design.
5. Click "Create link".

Visitors can drag sliders, orbit, read key figures, reset, download OBJ, glTF or PNG, and copy a link to "this set of values" (the URL carries ?v=).

• Embed: the /p/ link has a preview image and can be placed in a portfolio, Notion or Wix. "Copy embed code" gives you the iframe.
• Expiry: player pages created without signing in expire after 7 days. After signing in, "Convert to permanent link" keeps the same URL forever.
• Update: after editing the design the link still holds the old version; click "Update content".
• Disable: "Disable link" stops it immediately.

Global parameters and results

• Global parameters as exposed parameters: numeric global parameters with a range (minimum, maximum and optionally a step), no formula and not driven by the graph can be ticked alongside sliders, up to 12 in total. Lengths, areas and angles show m, m² and °.
• Shown results: in the Publish node's properties, use “+ Add a result to show…” to pick number, text or yes/no outputs (for example floor area or the cost summary total), then fill in a display label and unit, up to 12. List outputs show as tables: neighbouring lists with the same number of rows share one table, the column names are your labels, and each table shows at most 200 rows. When results use analysis nodes (cost, quantities…), every model element and the settings the analysis uses (such as an imported unit-price table) are uploaded too.
• When copying is not allowed: global parameter formulas are replaced with their current values before upload. Formulas that use an exposed parameter or are driven by the graph must stay so the page can compute, but the page never shows formulas. Names, groups and ranges of global parameters you did not tick are removed.
• Older links: parameter pages created before keep opening as they did. To add global parameters or results, tick them and press “Update content”.

Managing links

• Signed in, "My shares and player pages" in the account menu lists every share link and player page in the account. Copy, open, update content or disable, from any device.
• Without signing in, the list shows only the player links this computer remembers, with their expiry.

Live collaboration

Live collaboration is on at the live site. When the server's collaboration switch or cloud storage is off, you will not see any collaboration controls, and designs keep syncing to the cloud in the background as usual.

When it is on, several people can edit the same cloud design at once (3D and 2D). Each person’s changes appear on everyone else’s screen within about a second.

• Who can join: the design’s owner, and signed-in people who have a share link to the design. An edit link lets them edit with you; comment and view-only links let them watch (the server also rejects any changes they send). People who are not signed in still see the shared snapshot only. Collaboration roles for folder shares come later.
• Editing the same thing: as soon as you start changing an object (a parameter, a move, a delete, a link into it, or a 2D entity), the server borrows it for you in the same step as it accepts the change (like Revit’s “borrow on edit”). Until you return it, other people’s changes to it are reverted with a notice that you are editing it. If two people change the same object at almost the same time, whoever reaches the server first gets it and the other change is reverted. Items nobody can borrow (such as project settings and drawing settings like layers) are merged per property: the change that reaches the server last wins. Project settings such as scenes, section planes, per-view visibility/graphics and tag display, construction planes, scope boxes and documentation are merged per sub-item: if two people change different scenes, different section planes or the settings of different views at the same time, both changes are kept; only a change to the same item is decided by whoever reaches the server last. If someone else deletes a scene or section plane, your edit to it is reverted. Deleted objects cannot be edited again.
• Who is here: the top bar shows the connection status and an avatar for each person (color and role); hover an avatar to see how many objects they have selected. The 3D and 2D views show each person’s cursor (with their name) and an outline around what they have selected, in their color. Cursors update a few times a second, are only passed on to the people here, and are never saved in the design.
• Borrowing objects (like “Editable by” in Revit): objects you edit are borrowed for you automatically; you can also select objects and choose “Borrow” in the top bar to borrow them in advance. Until you return them, nobody else can change them (the server rejects their changes too). Others see a dashed outline in your color with a lock tag; when they select an object you have borrowed, the top bar says who has it, and any change they make to it is reverted with a notice. An object someone else has borrowed can’t be taken back, not even by the owner: it is released only when that person uses “Return selected” or “Return all”, disconnects, or has been idle for 20 minutes (you can ask them to return it). Borrowed objects are borrowed again automatically when you reconnect if they are still free. Each person can borrow up to 256 objects at once; at the limit your change is reverted and you are asked to return some first. Viewers and commenters cannot borrow and never borrow automatically.
• Undo: while collaborating, Ctrl+Z undoes only your own changes; items someone else changed afterwards are skipped and you are told.
• Going offline: changes made offline are kept on this computer and sent when you reconnect. If you were offline for more than a day you get a notice; save a copy if needed.
• Conflicts after being offline: when you reconnect, if something you changed offline was also changed by someone else in the meantime, a conflict dialog lists your version and theirs for each item. Choose “Keep mine” or “Use theirs” for each one (or for all at once). If they deleted the object, only theirs can be used. Until you decide, none of your offline changes are sent; “Decide later” hides the dialog and the top bar shows a button to reopen it. Changes without conflicts are sent automatically as usual.
• Saving to the cloud: the shared state is saved to cloud storage every 5 minutes and 30 seconds after the last person leaves. The first save of each session keeps the version from before the session, which the owner can restore.
• Limits: up to 12 people per design at once, 6 of them editors. Changes sent too fast or too large are reverted with a notice. When the server’s daily collaboration capacity is nearly used up, people who join edit solo instead.