How to Collaborate on School Yearbooks in Real Time

While many types of photo books are achievable as a solo project, school yearbooks nearly always call for teamwork. Whether your yearbook crew is a sizable troop or just you and a few eager volunteers, there are many benefits to collaboration with others. Each team member brings their own skills and insight, and splitting up the workload makes the whole project more efficient.

When you’re making a yearbook with Mixbook, your team enjoys the major perk of real-time collaboration in the Mixbook Studio™. The convenient collaboration function allows a yearbook team leader to easily share access to a project-in-progress. You also get to choose the level of access – viewing only, or viewing and editing – for even greater versatility.

How to share your yearbook project with collaborators

Mixbook’s collaboration function is accessible in several different ways, and can be used at any stage of the creation process. You might give the entire team access from day one, or issue invitations as-needed while you work through the various stages of the yearbook project.

You can find links for instant and easy sharing in both the Mixbook Studio™ and on the “My Projects” page in your Mixbook account.

In the studio:

With your yearbook project open in the Mixbook Studio™, click the “Share” button at the top-right of the screen. Choose one of the following three options:

• Share Your Project: Use this to provide a digital preview that collaborators can view, but not edit.
• Invite to Edit: Invite others to collaborate by working directly on the project in their own Mixbook accounts.
• Invite to Order: Invite others to order their own copy of your project (this option is not typically used for yearbook orders).

Choose the appropriate option, and then:

• Enter the email address, or multiple email addresses separated by commas, of your yearbook collaborators.
• Include an optional note that will appear in the invitation email.
• Or, copy the link to share with collaborators outside of the Mixbook platform (e.g. via email, text, or sharing with social media contacts).

In “My Projects”:

While you are logged into Mixbook, open the “My Projects” tab and locate your yearbook project. In the project description section are two links for inviting collaborators, as well as options to adjust permissions for the project:

“Invite to collaborate or order” link: In the project description area, click the link text reading “Invite to collaborate or order.” Proceed with the sharing options described above. You can also see a list of existing collaborators here, which will be updated as you add more team members.

This link also opens additional options for managing collaborations. Here, you can copy a link to the project and select the appropriate permissions from the following:

• Project is viewable by invite only
• Anyone with the link can view
• Public on the web

“Collaborate” link: In the right-hand column of the project description, click the “Collaborate” link – it’s the fourth link down in the list. Proceed with the sharing options described above.

Read more: A Complete Guide to Collaborative Photo Book Creation

How collaborators can join your yearbook project

After you invite collaborators to view or edit your Mixbook project, they will receive an invitation via email. The email will include a custom message, if you wrote one, and an “Accept Invite” link button.

Team members will need a Mixbook account to get access to the project. They can log in to an existing account, or choose the option to create a new one. Signups are available through Google, Apple, or Facebook accounts, or by providing an email address and new password.

The yearbook project will appear under each team member’s own “My Projects” page. Be aware that only one user can work on the project at a time. After a collaborator works on the project, it will be updated for all Mixbookers with access to it in real time.

Collaboration tips for your yearbook team

The size of your yearbook team and each person’s roles will vary considerably from school to school. High school yearbook teams will typically include many student volunteers, who embrace opportunities to develop their skills and learn about photography, graphic design, editorial roles, and more. If you’re in charge of a preschool or elementary school yearbook, you might instead be working with a few adult collaborators, while the kids just provide the smiles and adorable content.

A yearbook team will generally require collaboration between the following departments, which will range from just one to many members. Those members might be students, teachers, faculty, parents, or other volunteers:

• A project manager, publisher, or yearbook advisor to oversee the whole project from start to finish.
• Editorial department to develop written content, write and edit copy, conduct interviews and research, collect yearbook quotes, proofread etc.
• Design department to choose yearbook themes, layouts, typography, artwork, and other visual elements.
• Photography department for taking and gathering photos, editing photos, tagging photos, and ensuring balanced coverage in the yearbook photo collection.

Consider how many team members need editing access, and be sure to communicate expectations about each person’s role in the project. For example, you might give editing access to just the lead of each department, and viewing-only permissions to all other members of the yearbook team.

Collaboration with your yearbook team will extend beyond the Mixbook Studio™. Successful teamwork will likely require a variety of the following:

• In-person and virtual meetings
• Communication via chat apps or social media groups
• Sharing calendars
• Sharing cloud storage for photos and other documents e.g. using Google Photos for your yearbook.

Another key member of your yearbook team will be a dedicated Mixbook representative.

Ready to collaborate on an amazing yearbook?

It all starts with getting a speedy quote on Mixbook’s yearbook page. Fill out the online bulk order request form (you can give an estimate for details, if you don’t know them yet) or email us at sales@mixbook.com. A representative will be ready to help you and your team create a beautiful yearbook asap!