Ongoing frustrating with students NOT able to edit an open board, as visitors.

Hi ​@Lynda Western, thanks for reaching out!
 

I completely understand how disruptive this must be, especially when you're trying to run an online lesson and things just aren't working the way they should. This isn't the expected behavior for an Open Session, so we'd love to dig into what's happening on your end. To help us investigate, could you share a few details?

1. What do students see when they try to edit? (e.g., a "view only" banner, a prompt to sign in, a permission error, or something else?)
2. Are the students on the same network, or joining from different locations?
3. Are they signing in with a Figma account, or accessing the board as true visitors (no account)?
4. Has the Open Session been active for more than 24 hours before they try to join? Please note that the session does need to be renewed after 24 hours.

A screenshot of what students see on their end would also be super helpful. Once we have a clearer picture, we can point you in the right direction. 

Thanks for your response. To answer your queries, see below. 

1. I had one of my students yesterday, try to edit a board, and she told me the error message stated "you can only view and comment on this file.”  I’ve asked her for a screenshot.

2. Students are joining from a variety of networks, as they are spread across different regions in New Zealand.

3. No, they’re not signing in with a figma account.  I have an educator account, and they are visitors.

4.  The open session is always active because it’s made ‘open’ just before the lesson begins.

If my student sends through a screenshot, I’ll upload it. I very much appreciate your help with this, as our maths lessons when only 1 student can edit the interactive whiteboard isn’t working!  Lynda

Thanks for the additional context, ​@Lynda Western!
 

This is really helpful. The error message your student received (you can only view and comment on this file) is a great clue. This message typically appears when the file's link sharing settings aren't fully aligned with the Open Session. Here's one thing worth double-checking:

• When you open the Share modal and start the Open Session, could you confirm that the link sharing setting at the top of that modal is set to Anyone with the link – can edit(not can view)? The Open Session itself needs this to be set to "can edit", so that visitors joining via the link are granted editing access. If it's set to "can view," visitors will land in view-only mode even during an active session.

That said, your overall setup sounds like it should be working correctly, so the fact that it works for the very first student but not others is an unexpected behavior that we can have our team investigate further. If you're able to grab that screenshot from your student, it would be a great help to include. Even without it, we can get a ticket started and provide this forum thread, so they have the full context. They can try to get this sorted out for you and your students! 

Here is the screenshot from the student telling her that verification is required, and that she can ‘only view and comment on this file… 

The information you’ve provided above is super helpful.  I’ve just double checked the settings at the top, and it’s all set to anybody can edit, and my student has just replied that she CANNOT edit the board.  The settings are as follows: