# Shared Layouts

**Layout** is a pre-configured viewport configuration with channels assigned for live view and archive playback.

Layouts are created in the Macula Monitor application by filling a layout template with video channels. There are two main groups of layouts: **local**, which are created and stored locally on the same computer where the Macula Monitor is installed, and **shared**, server-side layouts, which are kept on each server and are available for all users that are connected to the same server from other client computers. If the license or server policy limits the number of max client connections to 1, layouts can still be shared between non-concurrent client connections from different machines.

Layouts themselves are created via Macula Monitor application but layout sharing should be pre-enabled from Macula Console. In order to make server users able to share and access this resource, **shared layout groups** should be pre-created on the server side. Groups are used for handling user permissions and also for logical arrangement of the shared layouts.

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If **no layout groups** exist in the server configuration, layout sharing will be disabled for the target server from the Macula Monitor side.
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To create a new group in Macula Console, open the *Configuration* section and *choose Layouts* from the menu on the left. Click the *+ New layout group* button in the upper panel to bring up the shared layout group creation dialog box.

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In the *Details* tab, enter a user-defined name for the target layout group. This name will appear in all connected Macula Monitor applications when creating a shared layout.

Use the *Members* and *Membership* tabs to create nested groups; Members tab will also allow you to manage group contents after some layouts have already been created.

In order to allow access to specific shared layout groups for selected users, go to the *Permissions* tab:

* *Administer* permission grants access to the layout group in Macula Console and allows the user to share layouts via this group (put new layouts into target group)
* *View* permission allows users to see the contents of the group, i.e., shared layouts, when they connect to the target server from the Macula Monitor application, and use these layouts in Macula Monitor

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All users with the View permission will be able to see and use the shared layouts from the target layout group. However, visibility of the contents of each layout will depend on each user's channel and map permissions.
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Shared layouts can be used in Layout Sequences in Macula Monitor independently or combined with regular layouts as well.
