How to team with Web Linking

This article explains how two or more transcribers can share the same Web Linking channel.

See also:
  How to use Web Linking
  Managing Web Linking channels
  How to "clear" the transcript when using Internal or Web Linking
  Teaming (more than one transcriber)

In this article:

• Overview of teaming with Web Linking
• Security considerations when sharing channels with multiple transcribers
• Find the "teaming name" for a Web Linking channel
• Share the teaming name with another transcriber
• Insert the teaming name into the second computer
• Enable the shared channel on both transcriber computers
• Verify that both transcribers are linked to the shared channel
• Save and edit the complete (combined) transcript
• Use the "team color" option to highlight text from different transcribers
• Download these teaming instructions (PDF)

Overview of teaming with Web Linking

Two transcribers may wish to "team" using Web Linking. This usually means they will take turns transcribing during a class or meeting, switching off every 15-20 minutes.

In the Web Reader window, the text from each transcriber is parsed into its own paragraph, so the text doesn't get mixed up when the transcribers are switching off. This means Transcriber A can finish typing their final sentences even while Transcriber B begins transcribing at the start of their turn.
From the client's perspective, the transition between transcribers should be smooth and relatively unnoticeable.

Security considerations when sharing channels with multiple transcribers

Each Web Linking channel is unique. Web Linking channels are saved and managed within the Premium Transcriber program on each individual computer. A transcriber typically will not want another transcriber to type into their own channel, except when teaming or subbing.

For two transcribers to have access to the same channel, Transcriber A must copy a special code from their own computer (the "teaming name") and share that code with Transcriber B. Once Transcriber B has that special code, they can add and access the same unique Web Linking channel on their computer. The shared channel will automatically be saved in the Web Linking settings on Transcriber B's computer. They will then be able to connect and type into that shared channel at any time.

Once a channel has been shared with another transcriber and saved on that second computer, it cannot be revoked. Transcriber B can voluntarily delete the shared channel from their Web Linking settings; however, there is not currently a way to detect or monitor whether a channel is stored in (or deleted from) another transcriber's computer.

To protect clients' confidentiality, transcribers must understand how Web Linking channels work, and they should always be aware of which channels they have enabled in their Web Linking settings. In particular, a shared channel should be enabled only when the transcriber intends to be typing into that channel. See Managing Web Linking channels for more information.

Find the "teaming name" for a Web Linking channel

First, Transcriber A will create or enable a Web Linking channel in their Premium Transcriber program. See How to use Web Linking.

In their Web Linking Setup window, Transcriber A will find the channel that will be teamed (from their list of saved channels), and click on the 8-letter channel ID to automatically copy that channel's teaming name to their clipboard.

[Caption: A Web Linking Setup window shows one channel listed. The channel ID is gohdodlb. A mouse hovers over the channel ID and a tooltip says, "Click to copy this channel's teaming name gohdodlb_oandgw".]

The teaming name format is always an 8-letter channel ID, followed by an underscore, followed by 6 more letters: xxxxxxxx_yyyyyy

Share the teaming name with another transcriber

Transcriber A will send the complete teaming name to Transcriber B by email or instant message. (It is not necessary to send the channel URL, which is sent to the reader once the transcribers are linked; the transcriber only needs to send their colleague the teaming name, in the format xxxxxxxx_yyyyyy)

Insert the teaming name into the second computer

Transcriber B will open the Web Linking Setup window in their Premium Transcriber program. They will click their cursor in the drop-down menu field, and replace the text in the "Link to" box with the teaming name, in the format xxxxxxxx_yyyyyy. Then they will click Add Channel.

[Caption: A Web Linking Setup window with a teaming name pasted into the "Link to" dropdown menu. A callout box says, "Paste the teaming name here." Directly to the right of the "Link to" dropdown menu is the "Add Channel" button.]

The channel will now appear in Transcriber B's list in the Web Linking Setup window. They can optionally enter a description (e.g. the reader or class or teammate's name), then click OK to save the channel.

TIP: Saving a channel for repeated use eliminates the need to relay a new channel name or URL before each session. Read more about Managing Web Linking channels.

Enable the shared channel on both transcriber computers

To team, both transcribers must have the same channel enabled (checkbox checked in the Web Linking Setup window):

[Caption: A Web Linking Setup window shows one channel. Its "Enabled" checkbox is checked. In the bottom-right corner of the window, right above the OK button, are the words "1 Channels Enabled".]

Both transcribers must also have Linking turned ON:

[Caption: A TypeWell Transcriber window with the Linked menu expanded. "Linking On" is selected. The "by Web (linked to Web West)" option is highlighted, and a plus-sign appears next to it.]

Verify that both transcribers are linked to the shared channel

Once both transcribers have enabled the shared channel in TypeWell, on their respective computers, both transcribers should see Web West or Web East in the lower right-hand status bar of their TypeWell programs. The status message should also show T2, indicating there are two transcribers linked by TypeWell to that unique Web Linking channel.

In the example below, there are 2 linked transcribers and 2 "readers" (i.e. two web browsers open to that page).

TIP: The Web Linking server has no way of telling who is viewing the page, only that a web browser has accessed the page. The "reader" count will include the transcriber's web browser and any other devices with that page open in a browser. As additional web browsers open the link to view that channel, the R number will increase.

[Caption: A close-up of the bottom-right corner of a TypeWell Transcriber window. The words "Web West" are followed by "T2 R2".]

The two transcribers can now both type—separately or at the same time—and their text will be parsed into separate paragraphs. The reader cannot tell which transcriber is typing.

TIP: It's a good practice for both transcribers to open a Web browser page to the active channel to verify that the typed text is showing up on the webpage. Some transcribers position the browser window side-by-side with their TypeWell Transcriber window.

[Caption: Two program windows divide a computer screen in half. On the left is the TypeWell Premium Transcriber window, linked to Web West with two Readers viewing the transcript. A class header has been typed into the window. On the right side of the screen is a web browser window, open to a Web Reader page. The same class header appears in the Web Reader.]

TIP: If there's text on the Web Reader screen from a previous class or event, the transcriber must click File > New to "clear" the channel of that old text.

Save and edit the complete (combined) transcript

Each transcriber will only see their own typing in the TypeWell Transcriber program; however, both transcribers' typing will be viewable in the Web Reader window.

If the transcribers take multiple turns typing during a single event, it can become a chore to combine the text from each turn into one document.

One (less preferred) solution is to indicate the end of each turn with a marker such as "---------" or indicate the beginning of each turn with the transcriber's initials. Then Transcriber A will email their saved transcript file to Transcriber B, who will combine the sections into one document by pasting the chunks of text chronologically into a program like Microsoft Word.

But wait! There's a more efficient method...

In the case of turn-taking in a teamed assignment, we recommend using the "select all text" feature in the Web Reader window to quickly copy the complete (combined) transcript and save it to a file.

Keep the Web Reader page in your browser open after the class or event has ended. When you hover your cursor over the "TW" icon in the upper left corner, a menu appears.

[Caption: In a Web Reader page, a mouse hovers over the TypeWell icon in the top-left corner of the screen. A menu shows two options: "Select all text in document" and "Go to the TypeWell home page".]

Click on the menu option to Select all text in document. This highlights all of the typed text in the Web Reader window (without highlighting the other elements on the page, such as the chatbox).

[Caption: A Web Reader page with all of the transcript's text highlighted.]

Press Ctrl+C to copy this text to your clipboard. Then paste it into your text editor—such as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer—and proceed with your spelling/grammar check and other editing tasks.

Use the "team color" option to highlight text from different transcribers

If you wish to differentiate each transcriber's typing, you can append the special code ?teamcolor to the end of any Web Linking URL.

[Caption: A Web Reader URL reads: west.typewell.com/gohdodlb?teamcolor.]

This will show colored highlighting over any text that is typed by a second (or even third or fourth) transcriber.

[Caption: Three paragraphs of a transcript in a Web Reader window. The first paragraph is normal text. The next two paragraphs are highlighted with light green.]

This option is not recommended for regular viewing, because the colors can be visually distracting and make the transcript more difficult to read. However, there may be cases when viewers do wish to distinguish between the different typists, such as when a supervisor wishes to evaluate different transcribers' skills during a teamed assignment.

The ?teamcolor option is also useful when editing the transcript from a teamed assignment, because each transcriber can quickly find their own sections of the transcript to edit. First, enable highlighting by adding ?teamcolor to the end of the URL in your browser's address bar and refreshing the page. Then select all the text from the Web Reader window, following the instructions above. Then paste the text into a text editor such as Microsoft Word, and keep the source formatting to preserve the colored highlighting.

Here are instructions for Preserving the look of the original text when pasting into Microsoft Word. In most versions of OpenOffice, the source formatting will be preserved by default.

Transcriber A can then edit the non-highlighted sections, and Transcriber B can edit the highlighted sections.

Related articles:
  How to use Web Linking
  Managing Web Linking channels
  How do you "clear" the transcript when using Web Linking or Internal Linking?
  Teaming (more than one transcriber)