pulpCrew help

pulpCrew is for video meetings, team chat and file sharing, directly between participants. There's no account to create: a name, then a link or a key, is all it takes to join.

Good to know:

• video, audio, chat and files travel directly from one device to another, encrypted: they don't pass through a pulpSuite server. On a very locked-down corporate network they may go through a relay, which passes them along without being able to read them (the Relay indicator then appears);
• so that participants can find each other, your pulpSuite installation provides a connection service. It knows team names and who is connected, but it sees no video, audio, messages or files;
• chat, received files, whiteboards and transcripts are kept on each device.

Getting started

1. Open pulpCrew. The first time you open it, an example appears on its own so you can see what a pulpCrew meeting looks like: a fictional site meeting with its participants, a shared screen, the chat, the transcript and the agenda. It never asks for your camera or microphone and sends nothing. Start from scratch or Remove the example removes it in one click, and See the example again (next to Your recent teams, on the home screen) brings it back.
2. Enter Your name: that's how others will see you.
3. For a one-off meeting, click Start a meeting under New meeting. For a group that meets regularly, open Create a team, give it a name and click Create team.
4. Share the invitation: Copy link, Copy key (12 characters), or the QR code to scan with a phone. Anyone with the link, or with the team name and its key, can join: don't show the QR code while sharing your screen.
5. In the waiting room, check your camera, microphone and speaker, then choose Join meeting, Join as listener (no camera or mic) or Chat only.
6. During the meeting, use the bottom bar: microphone, camera, Share screen, Raise hand, React, Background, Whiteboard, Transcription, then Leave.

Common tasks

How do I join a team?

Open the invitation link, or in pulpCrew, go to the Join tab: paste the link, or type the team name and its 12-character key, then Continue. Teams you've already visited appear under Your recent teams (Remove from list forgets one, along with any admin keys stored on this device).

How do I invite someone during a meeting?

During the meeting, the Invite button in the bottom bar (the same one is on the “Waiting for others to join…” card when you are alone) opens a panel with the key, the link, Copy link, Copy key and the QR code, shown right away: a phone that scans it joins the team. While you share your screen, the QR code is hidden (“Code hidden while you share your screen”) so it doesn't end up in the shared picture; Show anyway reveals it. The Participants panel shows who is in the meeting and who is only in the team; Pin puts a participant in the spotlight.

How can I tell who is in the meeting?

The Participants panel (and the team list) shows where each person stands:

• In the meeting: they are on the call and their tile is in the grid;
• Reconnecting…: their connection has just dropped. Their tile stays on screen, marked “Reconnecting…”, for about 20 seconds: if they come back nothing has changed; otherwise they turn Offline and a message tells you;
• Not in the meeting: they are in the team (chat, files) but not on the call. When someone clicks Leave, their tile disappears at once and the message “Marie left the meeting” appears;
• In another meeting · unavailable: they joined another meeting from another window of the same browser. They can't answer here; as soon as they come back they are In the meeting again;
• Offline: they can't be reached any more (they closed pulpCrew, left the team or lost their connection for too long). They stay in the list, greyed out, for about ten minutes.

Closing the tab, reloading the page or leaving the team tells the others immediately. If the connection drops without warning (unplugged cable, flat battery), they see it after a few seconds. If a presenter leaves the meeting, joins another meeting or loses their connection, their sharing stops for everyone.

A person follows one meeting at a time. If you join another meeting in another window of your browser, you leave the first one automatically: your team sees you as In another meeting there, and a banner reminds you. Join in the first window makes you leave the other one. If you open the same team twice, only the most recent window shows up for the others: the older one displays Connected from another device and Use this window to take the place back.

How do I share my screen or a pulpSuite app?

Share screen broadcasts a screen, a window or a tab; your computer's sound isn't transmitted. Present an app opens a pulpSuite app (a pulpDoc document, a pulpSheet workbook…) and shows it to participants, while the meeting continues in a mini window. Depending on the browser, only the app area or the whole tab (mini window included) is shared: pulpCrew tells you which before you start.

Only one person presents at a time. If someone is already presenting, pulpCrew asks “[Name] is already presenting. Take over?”; if you confirm, their sharing stops and a message tells them you took over. If two people click at the same moment, everyone ends up with the same presenter. Someone who joins later sees the presentation straight away.

While you share, your You are presenting tile shows what participants see, with a red frame that blinks gently (it stays still if your device asks for reduced motion) and a Stop sharing button. When you share the pulpSuite tab itself, as with Present an app, the same frame surrounds the whole page: participants don't see it if only the app area is shared; otherwise they see it more faintly. A web page can't draw around another window or your whole screen: your browser's own indicator shows the sharing then, and its stop button works too.

The arrow next to Share screen offers Turn off my camera while sharing my screen, checked by default. When unchecked, your camera follows as a small thumbnail on the shared screen; it is dropped first if the connection weakens. The screen is sent at 1080p at most (a 4K screen is scaled down); when bandwidth runs short, smoothness drops first and sharpness only as a last resort, and the bandwidth is shared fairly between participants.

How do I send a file?

Drop it into the chat, or use Attach a file. The Share a pulpSuite document button lists documents saved on the device by the other apps, plus pulpInbox attachments. Shared files are listed in the Files tab, with Open in the pulpSuite app that can read them. Someone who joins later can fetch them as long as a member who has them is online.

How do I use the whiteboard?

Open Whiteboard: an infinite canvas shared with all participants. Draw with a mouse, finger or stylus, and add shapes, arrows, text and notes; the scroll wheel or two fingers zoom. Draw with your hand tracks your hand in front of the camera: pinch thumb and index finger to draw, open your hand to lift the pen, make a fist to move the board. The More actions menu exports to PNG or SVG, shares the image in the chat, or clears everything (for all participants; Ctrl+Z undoes it).

How do I change my background?

Background button: Light blur, Strong blur, Your image or one of the Scenes (3D rooms: library, meeting room, glass-walled hall…). For a scene, set the Framing (Close, Medium, Wide) and the Camera movement (Still, Gentle, Lively). Under Advanced settings, the Silhouette + depth method also keeps what you hold up to the camera, and Green screen keys out a real solid backdrop. Your own image stays on your device: it only appears in your video. If an effect can't run on your device, pulpCrew says so and shows your real background.

How do I stop seeing myself?

Hide my video hides your own thumbnail, for you only: others still see you. You can also shrink it, enlarge it or drag it to another corner.

How do I run a meeting?

Whoever creates a team gets admin keys (Show admin keys), stored on their device. An administrator or moderator can mute a participant's microphone (Ask to mute) and start transcription. Only give these keys to the people who will run the team.

How do I transcribe a meeting?

An administrator or moderator opens Transcription and chooses Start transcription (transcript) or Live captions only (nothing is kept in that case). Each participant then sees a request and picks Transcribe my voice or Don't transcribe my voice: nothing is captured on their side until they accept, and they can change their mind at any time. They can also set their answer in advance (Ask me, Accept, Decline), the spoken language and how captions are shown. The Transcript is available during and after the meeting, session by session, with search, export to text (.txt) or subtitles (.vtt), and Summarize with pulpAssist if the assistant is available. Delete removes a transcript from your device only.

How do I find today's meetings?

The My meetings today section on the pulpCrew home screen lists the online meetings in your pulpInbox calendar: Teams, Meet, Zoom or pulpCrew invitations. Join opens a pulpCrew meeting inside pulpCrew; other services open in their own page or app, because they can't be embedded. Wherever you are in pulpSuite, a reminder also offers to join a few minutes before the start.

Supported formats

pulpCrew doesn't open document files: it passes them along. You can share any type of file in the chat, with no size limit set by pulpCrew (a very large file takes time and uses the same amount of space on everyone's device).

Known limitations:

• No video recording of meetings.
• No private messages, threads or mentions in chat; one team is one room.
• Each participant sends their video to every other participant, so meetings are designed for small groups. Beyond a few people, quality drops on a modest device or connection.
• Screen sharing doesn't carry your computer's sound; only one person presents at a time.
• pulpCrew knows that someone is in another meeting only if it is in another window of the same browser; on another device they simply appear offline here while they are connected elsewhere.
• Chat keeps the last 600 messages per team on each device.

Keyboard shortcuts

On a Mac, use Cmd instead of Ctrl.

AI in pulpCrew

• Backgrounds: separating you from your background happens on your device, after a short download the first time you use it, and needs a recent browser (otherwise a message explains why and your camera works as usual). The Silhouette + depth method also needs a recent graphics card with an up-to-date Chrome or Edge, and downloads a few dozen MB the first time. See AI models.
• Hand drawing: hand tracking happens on your device; no image is sent.
• Transcription: each person transcribes their own voice with their browser's speech recognition. Depending on the browser (for example Chrome, Edge or Safari), the audio may be processed by the browser maker's online service; pulpCrew states this clearly. If your browser supports it, Install on-device recognition keeps everything off the network. Firefox has no speech recognition: your voice can't be transcribed there, and others can see that.
• Summary: Summarize with pulpAssist sends the transcript to pulpAssist, which goes through the AI service chosen by your administrator. Check the decisions and owners it suggests.

FAQ and troubleshooting

“Connection service unreachable”: what should I do?

This message means your installation's connection service isn't responding. Without it, participants can't find each other. Check your connection, then ask whoever manages pulpSuite to make sure the service is running. If the link drops during a meeting, a banner says so and the exchanges already set up carry on while it reconnects.

My camera or microphone doesn't work

Allow the camera and microphone from the browser's address bar, then go back to the waiting room. If another program (video call, recorder) is using the camera, close it. With no camera or mic, you can still Join as listener: you see, hear, chat and share files.

The picture is blurry or freezes

pulpCrew lightens the video when a connection or device is struggling, always keeping audio first. A badge shows where the problem comes from (your connection, a participant's, or an overloaded device), and Connection statistics gives the details. Removing the background effect and closing other apps often helps.

Can I switch apps during a meeting?

Yes. The meeting continues in a mini window that you can move, shrink to a pill or keep on top; audio stays on and Back returns you to the meeting. Closing the pulpSuite tab or window, however, makes you leave the meeting; the browser warns you first.

Where are my messages and transcripts?

On your device, in the browser. When a member connects, messages sync between the devices present. Deleting a transcript only deletes your copy: other participants keep theirs.

Can I join a Teams or Zoom meeting in pulpCrew?

No. pulpCrew finds these meetings in your calendar and reminds you, but they open in their own service's page or app.