Chapter 19 Moderator Presenter Guest

Shared Notes

Shared Notes is a collaborative text editor built into BigBlueButton that all participants can access simultaneously. Use it for meeting minutes, collecting questions, documenting group work results, or compiling link lists — all in real time.

Opening Shared Notes

Click the notebook icon in the left-hand communication bar to open Shared Notes.

The Shared Notes panel appears to the right of the participant list.

Each participant must open the Shared Notes individually — they do not appear automatically.

Shared Notes are not displayed by default. If you want participants to use them, remind them to click the notebook icon in the sidebar.

Collaborative Editing

All participants can write and edit in the Shared Notes at the same time. BigBlueButton shows author attribution — while someone is typing, their cursor briefly displays their name so you can see who contributed which text.

This makes Shared Notes ideal for collaborative tasks where multiple people need to contribute simultaneously, such as brainstorming sessions, joint meeting minutes, or collecting feedback.

Formatting Options

The Shared Notes editor provides a toolbar with the following formatting options:

Format Description
Bold Makes the selected text bold.
Italic Makes the selected text italic.
Underline Underlines the selected text.
Strikethrough Strikes through the selected text.
Numbered list Creates an ordered (numbered) list.
Bullet list Creates an unordered (bulleted) list.
Undo / Redo Reverts or re-applies recent changes using the arrow buttons in the toolbar.

Exporting Shared Notes

You can export the contents of the Shared Notes at any time by clicking the export icon (double arrow) in the toolbar. The following formats are available:

  • Etherpad format
  • HTML (.html)
  • Plain text (.txt)
  • Word document (.doc)
  • PDF (.pdf)
  • OpenDocument (.odf)

Export your notes regularly, especially before the meeting ends. Once the session is closed, the Shared Notes content is no longer accessible.

Converting Notes to a Presentation

The Presenter can convert the current Shared Notes content into a presentation that is displayed directly in the BigBlueButton room. This is useful for summarising group work results or reviewing collected questions with all participants.

Shared Notes in Breakout Rooms

Shared Notes are also available inside breakout rooms. When creating breakout rooms, moderators can enable an option to transfer the notes from each breakout room back to the main room.

Make sure to export or copy the contents of breakout room Shared Notes before the breakout room time expires. Once the breakout room closes, unsaved notes may be lost.

Practical Uses

  • Collaborative meeting minutes — let participants take notes together in real time.
  • Question collection — gather audience questions before a Q&A session.
  • Outline creation — build a structured agenda or summary collaboratively.
  • Link lists — compile relevant URLs and resources for all participants.
  • Documenting group work — capture breakout room results in a shared document.

Moderators can restrict access to Shared Notes via the lock settings. See the chapter on lock settings for more information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, by default all participants — moderators, presenters, and guests — can read and write in the Shared Notes simultaneously. However, moderators can restrict editing access through the lock settings.

No. Shared Notes are only available during the active session. Once the meeting ends, the content is no longer accessible. Make sure to export the notes before the meeting is closed.

While typing, BigBlueButton briefly shows each author's name next to their cursor. However, there is no permanent colour-coded attribution as you might know from Google Docs.

No. Each participant must click the notebook icon in the sidebar to open the Shared Notes panel. As a moderator or presenter, remind your participants to open it if you plan to use collaborative notes.

For most purposes, PDF or Word (.doc) are the best choices as they preserve formatting. Use plain text (.txt) if you only need the raw content without formatting.