Whiteboard

Whiteboard is a real-time collaborative canvas built into Coline for visual thinking, diagramming, and brainstorming. It supports freehand drawing, shapes, sticky notes, arrows, text, frames, templates, and multi-user presence with live cursors.

Creating whiteboards

Create a new whiteboard from the sidebar or from within a Room. Whiteboards attached to Rooms automatically sync membership, so everyone in the Room gets access.

Drawing tools

The toolbar on the left side of the canvas provides all the core tools:

• Select (V): Select, move, and resize objects on the canvas
• Hand (H): Pan around the canvas without selecting anything
• Sticky note (N): Place colored sticky notes for quick ideas
• Text (T): Add text labels and annotations
• Draw (P): Freehand drawing with pen input
• Rectangle (R): Draw rectangles and squares
• Ellipse (O): Draw circles and ovals
• Arrow (A): Draw arrows to connect elements and show flow
• Frame (F): Create frames to group and organize content
• Eraser (E): Remove elements from the canvas
• Zoom in / Zoom out: Adjust the canvas zoom level

Templates

Click the Templates button in the header to start from a pre-designed layout instead of a blank canvas:

• Brainstorm: A frame with six sticky notes arranged in a grid for rapid idea capture.
• Retro: Three-column layout with "Went well", "To improve", and "Action items" sections for team retrospectives.
• User Journey: A horizontal flow with six sequential steps for mapping out user experiences.

Templates place their content at the center of your current viewport so you can start filling them in immediately.

Real-time collaboration

Whiteboard supports live multi-user editing with conflict-free synchronization:

• Live cursors: See where collaborators are pointing in real time, with their names displayed next to their cursors.
• Participant avatars: The header shows profile pictures of everyone currently viewing the board.
• Simultaneous editing: Multiple people can draw, move objects, and add content at the same time without conflicts.

Changes sync instantly through WebSocket connections and are persisted automatically.

Sharing and permissions

Whiteboard supports both member-based sharing and public share links.

Member sharing:

• Invite collaborators by email address
• Assign roles per member: Viewer (read-only), Editor (full editing), or Owner (manage members and settings)
• Update roles or remove members at any time

Share links:

• Generate a public link with a specific permission level (viewer, editor)
• Set an optional expiration date on the link
• Revoke links to immediately cut off access

When a whiteboard is part of a Room, Room members are automatically added as whiteboard members with matching permissions.

Auto-save

Whiteboard saves your work automatically every few seconds when changes are detected. Content is stored as a snapshot that preserves the full state of the canvas, including all objects, positions, and styles. The title field also saves automatically with a short debounce delay.

Export

Export your whiteboard from the header menu:

• PNG: Exports the canvas as a raster image with a transparent background.
• SVG: Exports the canvas as a scalable vector graphic.

Keyboard shortcuts

Tips

• Start from a template when running a workshop or retro. Templates give your session structure without setup time.
• Use frames to group related content together. Frames act as containers that you can move and label as a unit.
• Use arrows to show relationships and flow between ideas. Arrows connect to shapes and follow them as you reposition elements.
• Invite your team to collaborate live. Whiteboard works best when multiple people are sketching and rearranging ideas together in real time.
• Export to SVG when you need to include diagrams in presentations or documents at any resolution.