If you have been given the Post permission in a group, you are able to post the group media to other locations. This includes posting into a class in an Echo360 course section, creating a public link to post outside of Echo360, and posting the media to your LMS/VLE by embedding it into an LMS course. Posting to an Echo360 course and generating a public link are addressed in THIS article.

After you enter the group, hover over the content tile to expose the menu button. Click on the menu button as shown in the below figure. If you do not SEE a menu button when hovering over the media tile, you cannot do anything except view the media in the group. And you can stop reading.

Alternately, click ON the media tile to open the group media details page. This page contains a playback panel, below which are commands for the media including Share, as shown in the below figure.

When you click Share, a dialog box pops up with different tabs providing sharing options. If you have ever shared media from your Library, this box will look familiar. NOTE that students cannot publish media to Echo360 classes and therefore will not see a Class tab.

The use of each of the sharing tabs is fairly straightforward, but brief instructions are provided in the below sections as needed.

Share Group Media to Your Courses

The Class tab in the Share dialog box allows you to publish media from a group to an Echo360 course. As with any media, you can publish to an existing class or you can create a new class in the course for the media.

A few things to keep in mind for sharing to classes from a group:

• You can only post to courses where you are enrolled as an Instructor or Teaching Assistant.
• If you have only the Student role in Echo360, you will not see the Class tab in the Share dialog box. Students cannot share/publish media to any courses.

The Class sharing tab is discussed briefly below but is more complex than the others. If you need more guidance on using the Class Sharing fields, see Share (Publish) Media to a Course.

To share group media to a course

1. Enter the group with the media you want to share.
2. Hover over the media tile then click the Menu button that appears.
3. Select Share from the menu options. This is shown in the figure at the top of this page.
4. Select the Class tab, shown in the below figure.
   The Class tab contains selection lists for Course, Term and Section which MUST be identified first.
   
5. Select the Course that contains the section where you want to share this media.
6. Select the Term for the section to hold the media.
7. Select the Section where you want to share the media.
   

   At this point you must determine whether to put this media into an Existing Class or create a New Class to hold this media. The Existing Class tab appears by default as shown in the above figure.

8. For an Existing Class, use the Class drop-down list, identified in the below figure, to select which class to share the media to.
   
9. To create a class for the media, click the New Class tab to activate it.
   
10. Enter a Class Name. This appears in the class list for the section and can identify the media or the purpose for viewing it.
11. Click the Calendar icon to select a Start Date. This is OPTIONAL if you entered a Class Name.
12. Enter a Start Time in 12-hour time, then select AM or PM. Only available (but is required) if you entered a Date.
13. Enter a Duration. Only available after Time is entered.
    

    As indicated in the steps, Start Date is optional if you have a Class Name. But if you have a Date you MUST also enter a Time and a Duration.

14. Enter a Description for the class. This is optional.
15. If necessary, change the Availability settings of the newly shared item. This can be done for either new or existing class shares.
    By default, the item will be available now (immediately) and unavailable never (available indefinitely). Leave this at the default or you can set availability as follows:
    • available now: Students can view the shared media as soon as you finish publishing it. This is the default
    • available never: The media is shared to the class but students cannot see it. You can make the media available manually from the class list when you are ready.
    • available date: The media will be unavailable until midnight on the specified date, at which time students will be able to view the media.
    • unavailable never: The media is available to students and will continue to be unless this is changed. Along with 'available now', this is the default.
    • unavailable date: The media will become unavailable to students at midnight on the specified date.
16. If setting Date-based availability, selecting the Date option activates the date field and the calendar icon for using the date picker. You MUST enter a date if this option is selected.
    
17. When finished, scroll to the bottom of the Sharing modal and click Share.
    NOTE: If the Share button is not active, review the fields in the modal and be sure you have completed all the necessary items.

The shared media now appears in the selected (or created) class on the Class List page for the course.

Share Group Media Using Public Links

The Links tab in the Share dialog box for groups allows you to generate a URL to this media, for posting and viewing outside of Echo360. The URL can be copied and pasted, and the media then viewed from anywhere you place it. These links can be fully public or they can be set to "private" which will require users to either log into Echo360 or already have an active Echo360 session. More information on this and on using the Embed code for public links can be found in Generating a Web Link and Embed Code for Media.

You cannot create links for presentations or interactive media. If you do not see a Links tab in the Groups sharing box for video or audio media, it may mean that your Echo360 Administrator has turned off the ability to generate public links.

To create a web link for a piece of group media

1. Enter the group with the media you want to share.
2. Hover over the media tile then click the Menu button that appears.
3. Select Share from the menu options. This is shown in the figure at the top of this page.
   The Links tab appears by default, if you are permitted to generate public links and this is either video or audio media.
   
4. Click Add Link.
   

   A URL to this media is IMMEDATELY created and appears in the tab.

   
5. You have the following configuration options for the link. These are described briefly below but if you need more information, refer to Generating a Web Link and Embed Code for Media.
• Share Link - this toggle is on by default. Turning it OFF deactivates the link. The link is still valid but users accessing an inactive URL link cannot view the media.
• Description - this is an optional field but can be used to provide the purpose of creating this link, such as where it is being posted and for whom.
• Player Style - this only appears if your institution has created custom player styles to choose from. If you have selection options, pick the one for your department or organization (or the default) that you want applied to the playback view of this media.
• Start At - this allows you to set a default starting location for media playback for users who access the link. Viewers can scrub to any location in the media, but the start at location is where playback will begin by default.
• Public access - this toggle is on by default. Turning it OFF will require anyone who clicks the link to log into Echo360 (or already have an active session) in order to view the media.
• Embed - click this to generate embed code for surrounding the link. This lets you embed the media into a frame in its desired location. The Embed code dialog box has other options for selection, such as Size (for the frame) and whether to Autoplay and/or Automute the playback on access. The Embed code box has its own Copy button.
• Delete - this deletes the link altogether. The originally generated URL will never again work to access this media. Use the Share Link toggle to only deactivate the link (removing access to the media) but retaining the URL for use or reactivation later.
6. Click Copy to copy this link for pasting into the desired location.
   

   NOTE: Any configuration options you set for a link are carried with the link. If you CHANGE those, even after posting the link, your changes will apply for users who click it after you make the changes.

7. If you need to add another link with different configurations, click Add Link again. Another link is generated with the options available as described.
8. When finished, click Done.

All public links generated for this media appear in this list, including those generated from the media details page. Conversely, any links generated through the Groups sharing feature also appear in the media details page for this media.