Commenting and pinning feedback on material under review

Comments are how an approver tells the person who uploaded material what is wrong with it and where. They are also required: Plan will not let you reject material, or ask for changes, until at least one comment exists.

Before you start

You need access to the project as a collaborator. Anyone who can open the material can comment on it, including the person who uploaded it, so a comment thread works as a conversation rather than a one-way instruction.

Leave a comment

1. Open Plan, go to Approval projects and click the project.
2. Click the item you want to comment on.
3. In the Comments panel on the right, click the comment box and type your comment.
4. Click Add comment.

The comment appears in the panel with your name, the subject it applies to, the version it was made on and the time.

Point at the exact spot

A comment on its own applies to the whole item. If the problem is in one place, pin the comment to it.

1. Click the pin icon under the comment box.
2. Click the spot on the preview where the problem is. A numbered marker appears there.
3. Type the comment and click Add comment.

The comment now carries the same number as the marker, so the reader can match one to the other at a glance. While the pin is active, moving outside the material shows Pin cannot be placed in this area: markers only go on the material itself.

Comment on metadata rather than the image

If the review covers metadata as well, switch the preview to Metadata and comment from there. You can tie the comment to a single field using Link comment to data entry, which saves describing which field you mean.

Comments and versions

Every comment records the version it was made on. When a new version is uploaded, the earlier comments stay in the panel, still labelled with the old version, so the history of what was asked for is not lost.

Close off a comment

When a point has been dealt with, click Mark as resolved on the comment. It stays in the panel as a record, marked as done, which keeps the open points easy to find.

Comments are required for two decisions

Plan checks for comments before letting you do either of the following:

• Needs change. At least one comment must exist before you can ask for changes, so the initiator knows what to fix.
• Reject document. You are asked to leave a comment on why the document is rejected before the status will change.

Write the comments first, then change the status.