Use the slide rail and overview

The slide rail is the page navigator for a page canvas. Use it to move between pages, scan page thumbnails, reorder the flow, notice unread object or comment activity, recover folded pages, and open overview when the canvas is too long to navigate one page at a time.

If your canvas is a freeform whiteboard, you will not get the same page rail behavior. Freeform whiteboards use one board instead of a stack of pages. See Page canvases and freeform whiteboards.

What the slide rail shows

The exact rail controls can vary by screen size, workspace state, and canvas size. On low-performance devices or dense canvases, some live presence details can be suppressed in thumbnails so navigation remains usable.

A visual scan usually catches page-order mistakes faster than rereading every title. Use the rail when you need local navigation and open overview when the canvas has enough pages that thumbnails become the safer map.

Navigate pages

Click a page thumbnail or row to jump to that page. Use hover preview when you need to identify a page before switching. Use page titles to make this easier; a long canvas full of untitled pages is technically navigable but spiritually hostile.

If you arrive from a page link, ALLO opens the canvas at the referenced page when you have access. If the page has been deleted or you do not have permission, the link can open the canvas elsewhere or fail.

Reorder pages

When you have edit permission, drag pages in the slide rail to reorder them. ALLO shows an insert position so you can see where the page will land. Reordering affects the canvas flow, presentation order, and the way collaborators read the work.

Before a live presentation or export, scan the rail from top to bottom. Reordering mistakes are easiest to catch visually before you are in front of other people.

Folded pages in the rail

Folded pages remain in the slide rail as compact rows. Use the row or chevron control to unfold the page when it should return to the active flow. Folded pages are useful for archived sections, facilitator notes, older drafts, or pages that should stay out of a presentation.

Do not confuse folded with deleted. A folded page still exists, can still contain content and comments, and can still matter to collaborators. If someone says a page disappeared, check the rail for folded rows before looking for recovery options.

Unread object changes

Unread counts in the rail can point to objects that changed after your last read state. Open the page, scan for the red dot on canvas objects, then hover the object to see who added or edited it when that metadata is available.

Hovering an unread object marks it as read. If you want to review a long canvas in order, start from the rail count, move page by page, and then inspect the marked objects. See Track object activity and unread changes.

Unread comments and comment navigation

Unread indicators can also help you find pages with new comment activity. Open the page, inspect the comment bubbles, or use the Collaboration side panel to review comment threads in a list.

Comment counts and unread markers are navigation aids, not a replacement for resolving threads. After decisions are made, resolve comment threads so the rail does not keep acting like old work is still active.

Overview

Use overview when the slide rail is too narrow or the canvas has many pages. Overview shows a contact-sheet style view of ordered page cards so you can scan the whole canvas at once. The keyboard shortcut is Cmd+Shift+; on Mac or Ctrl+Shift+; on Windows and Linux when the shortcut is available.

Overview is helpful before exporting, presenting, or handing off a canvas. Use it to check page order, page titles, folded pages, blank pages, duplicated sections, and pages with comment counts.

Overview is not the same as editing inside a page. It is a navigation and scanning view. Open a page when you need to edit objects or page settings.

Filters, jump controls, and long canvases

For long canvases, combine page titles, overview, unread indicators, and any available page jump or filter controls. The fastest path is usually not scrolling forever; it is naming pages well, using overview to find the area, then jumping directly.

If your team uses comments heavily, start from unread indicators or the Comments tab in the side panel. If the canvas is a workshop with folded sections, scan folded rows before assuming old material is gone.

Presentation and export order

Presentation follows the visible page flow. Folded pages are skipped in presentation mode, and the presentation starts from the current page or nearest visible page. Reorder pages in the slide rail before starting Present a canvas.

PDF export and print depend on page-canvas structure. If the order in the rail is wrong, the exported or printed result can be wrong too. Use overview as a final check before exporting from the canvas header menu.

What can go wrong

If the rail is missing, check whether you are in a freeform whiteboard, a mobile or narrow layout, or a collapsed navigation state. Freeform whiteboards do not use the normal page rail.

If thumbnails look stale, wait for page previews to update or open the page directly. Large files, heavy images, and recent edits can take a moment to show accurately in thumbnails.

If presence indicators do not appear in thumbnails, ALLO may be reducing thumbnail activity for performance. Use the main canvas presence indicators to see who is currently active.

If a page will not reorder, check edit permission, whether the canvas is in a restricted state, and whether you are dragging from the correct handle or page row.

If unread badges feel noisy, check whether they are object changes or comment threads. Hovering unread objects marks them read; resolving old comment threads keeps comment navigation useful for everyone.