The Project Comments Tab
- Stacy Reno (Unlicensed)
- Jorge Raya-Navarro
Like adding comments from the Review page, the project’s COMMENTS tab allows staff to add comments to a project record. Instead of adding comments directly onto document sheets, however, the COMMENTS tab allows users to add comments about the overall application, about the submittal process, or even about deficiencies that apply to either a large number of pages or to multiple documents within the application submittal. The COMMENTS tab is also designed to allow staff to select comments to include in corrections report letters for applicants to address. As long as a user belongs to at least one Group and has rights to comment on a project, they can add comments as explained below.
User-role permissions determine which users may View, Add, Edit and Delete comments.
Navigating to the Comments Tab
To get to the COMMENTS tab from the Projects page, select a project and click on the right arrow icon ( ) to view the project tabs. Then, click on COMMENTS along the top to view the project’s comments table.
To get to the COMMENTS tab from the Review page, click on the Navigation menu icon in the upper left ( ), then in the dropdown click on COMMENTS ( ) to open it in a new browser tab.
Components of the Comments Tab
The COMMENTS Tab consists of three sections:
A panel with comment filter options
A comment table header:
With Comment sort options (by default)
With Comment batch update options (after one or more comments are selected)
A comments table listing project comments:
With Comment Features
With Flags, Responses, and Other Information Icons
The Filters Panel
The “Filters” Panel on the left side of the comments list includes several options filters for narrowing down the comment results displayed in the table itself. These filters can be useful when trying to look up comments or when manually creating a corrections report letter that only includes a specific subset of comments.
Filter Name | Filter Type | Description |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Search | Text Field | Filter for comments that include the typed word or phrase. | |
RESET FILTERS | Button | Click to clear all filters. | |
Start Date | Date Field | Filter for comments updated after the selected date. | |
End Date | Date Field | Filter for comments updated before the selected date. | |
Comment Responses | Checkbox Dropdown | Filter for comments Without Responses, With Read Responses, or With Unread Responses. | |
Attachments | Checkbox Dropdown | Filter for comments With Attachments or Without Attachments. | |
Responses Enabled | Checkbox Dropdown | Filter for comments with Responses Enabled or Responses Disabled. | |
Documents | Checkbox Dropdown | Filter for comments placed on the selected file(s). To select comments not on a file, click Project Comments. | |
Reviewers | Checkbox Dropdown | Filter for comments placed by the selected user(s). | |
Group | Checkbox Dropdown | Filter for comments placed by the selected Group(s). | |
Comment Disposition | Checkbox Dropdown | Filter for comments with the selected Comment Disposition(s). Use this filter to exclude closed comments from reports. | |
Impact | Checkbox Dropdown | Filter for comments with the selected Impact(s). | |
Review Type | Checkbox Dropdown | Filter for comments with the selected Review Type(s). | |
Category | Checkbox Dropdown | Filter for comments with the selected Category(ies). | |
Subcategory | Checkbox Dropdown | Filter for comments with the selected Subcategory(ies). |
The Comments Table Header
The Comments Table Header features will switch between two layouts, depending on the scenario: the default Sort Options (when no comments are selected) and the Batch Update Options (when one or more comments are selected).
Sort Options (Default Layout)
The Comments table header displays a set of default options when no comments are selected. These options include the ability to add new comments that are not tied to a document page as well as options to sort existing comments.
Feature | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
Select All | Click to select all comments within the comments table list. | |
COMMENT AS [ ] | Click to change the group you represent while adding or editing comments. | |
Insert Comment |
| Click to add a new comment tied to this project but not to a specific document page. |
Insert Standard Comment(s) |
| Click to add one or several new comment(s) tied to this project but not to a specific document page (best for inserting a standard checklist of comments). |
SORT BY FLAG | Sort comments by Flagged () or Not Flagged () status. | |
SORT BY COMMENT# | Sort comments by comment number (ascending or descending). | |
SORT BY GROUP | Sort comments by group. |
Batch Update Options (Layout Once Comments Are Selected)
After one or more comments are selected in the comments list table, the sort options in the header are replaced by alternative choices. Instead of sorting, these additional features allow for batch updating multiple comments quickly as well as generating corrections reports that include only the selected comments.
Feature | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
Deselect All | X | Click to deselect all of the currently selected comments within the comments table list. |
SET DISPOSITION | Click to set a new Comment Disposition for all selected comments. | |
SET FLAG |
| Click to switch between Flagged and Not Flagged (or back) for all selected comments. |
SET RESPONSE |
| Click to switch between Response is Enabled and Response is Disabled for all selected comments. |
COPY AS NEW | Click to duplicate selected comment(s) with the same text as the clicked comment. Duplicate comment(s) will receive the next available comment number(s). | |
EXPORT COMMENT |
| Click to export the selected comment(s) as a CSV file. |
EXPORT COMMENTS INCLUDING RESPONSES | Click to export all project comments, including any responses, as a CSV file. | |
REPORT |
| Click to begin manually preparing a corrections report letter that includes only the selected comment(s). (For integrated partners, this step is usually an automated check-in process unless otherwise noted.) |
DELETE COMMENT |
| Click to delete the selected comment(s).* |
*User-role permissions determine whether users can delete comments. Regardless, deleting comment is not recommended except in rare instances such as a new comment being created by mistake. Usually, it is much safer to resolve a comment by giving it a “Closed” disposition instead. Comments that have been deleted cannot be restored without submitting a Service Desk ticket to the e-PlanSoft team.
The Comments Table List
Beneath the header, the Comments Table lists every comment that exists for the current project, across every submittal, every document, for every group and user by default. This includes comments placed on specific document pages (from the Review page) and also comments that do not need to be associated to an individual plan review page.
Project-level comments can be created on the COMMENTS tab itself.
Comments are listed sequentially, starting with number 00001.
The comment table shows up to the first four lines of each comment’s text, with the full text visible by either double-clicking on the record to expand it or clicking on (Edit) to view the full text in the Comment Form pop-up.
Each comment record in the table also displays “Comment Number”, “Document Name” (if applicable), “Page Number” (if applicable), “Reviewer”, “Group”, “Disposition”, “Review Type”, and “Created At” information.
If a comment has responses, the latest response can be previewed beneath the main comment text, usually in red (as shown).
By default, the table shows up to 100 comments, with additional comments viewable by clicking on NEXT PAGE or PREVIOUS PAGE. Changing the number of Rows per page at the bottom is also an option, though this may result in longer load times.
Comment Features in the Table
Hovering over a comment record with a mouse cursor will display additional features that can be clicked on to the right of the record. You can also add new comments by clicking on (Add Comment) at the bottom right of the table.
Feature | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
View / Edit Comment |
| Click to open the comment in the Comment Form for viewing or editing. |
Reply | Click on a comment that has responses enabled to jump to the RESPONSES tab and view or add a response. | |
Copy as New | Click to create a new, duplicate comment with the same text as the clicked comment. The duplicate’s comment number will be the next available number. | |
Go to Review Page | Click to open the document review page in a new tab. The review page will be centered on the clicked comment’s tag. | |
Add Comment | Click on the bottom right of the table to add a new comment to the project. (Comments added this way do not display on any document page.) For more on creating a comment, refer to The Comment Form. |
Flags, Responses, and Other Information Icons
Comment records may also display a variety of information icons to alert users to various conditions.
Feature | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
Not Flagged / Flagged | / | The icon displays if a comments has been flagged to indicate it is a priority or requires elevated consideration. Flagged comments can be sorted to the top of the table. |
Unread Responses / No Unread Responses | / | These icons will display if a comments has responses enabled.
|
Comment Assignment |
| The icon displays if a comment has been assigned to you so that you view responses and update the comment as needed. Once you have marked the comment assignment as ‘complete' the icon goes away. |
Unpublish/Publish |
| The icon displays if a comment has been hidden from the view of other users (“Unpublish”). In this case, the only users who can see the comment are the comment creator and any Admin users. Once the comment is toggled back to “Published,” the icon goes away. |
Additional Considerations When Creating Comments
When adding a new comment from the COMMENTS tab, keep the following in mind.
Feature | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
Group | For users who belong to multiple groups, the earliest Group value (based on when group records were created) will be selected by default. Any new comment you create will use this selection unless you change it, so it is important to check which group is currently selected for you at the top of the comments table. To change between your profile groups, click on COMMENT AS then choose another from the dropdown. | |
Add Comment | or | Click either or to open the “New Comment” form. For either, the steps to add a comment are nearly the same as adding a comment from the review page. |
Moveable Comment Form | N/A | Like within the Review page, the “New Comment” form in the Comments tab can be moved by grabbing it (anywhere except within the text and dropdown fields) and dragging it elsewhere so you can view information behind it as needed. |
Additional Considerations When Editing Comments
A few features unique to the COMMENTS Tab may make it easier to go through comments quickly, making updates along the way.
Feature | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
Saving Without Closing the Comment Form | N/A | After saving an edited comment, the “Comment Form” remains open instead of automatically closing. |
Navigating Between Comments | or | When you reopen a saved comment, the form will include buttons to click to the Previous Comment ( ) or click to the Next Comment ( ) without having to manually reopen each comment form individually. |
Assigning Comments
As part of the Comment Form, users can go beyond just making a comment “Response Enabled” and can also assign comments to other Project Team Members to request a response.
Users who have been assigned comments will see a notification badge next to the COMMENTS tab. This badge shows the number of assigned comments at the top of the page for the project.
Unlike when using “Response Enabled” alone, assigning a comment adds a checkbox field into the comment’s RESPONSES tab which the assignee is expected to click on to acknowledge the request and close it out. This acknowledgement is a good way to ensure the intended person has seen specific or high priority comments that may require a response.
Once the comment assignment is checked (to mark it “Completed”), or if it is unassigned, the icon will disappear and the badge showing number of assigned comments will update.
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