Data-level comments
Data-level commentary is very common in real-life scenarios. In this section, we'll see how you can add data-level comments, mention other users, reply to comments and receive instant notifications on replies/mentions.
While all comments can be written back to databases or shared drives, only the comment column can be exported to an Excel/PDF file.
1. Add comments
You can add formatted data-level comments which are saved securely to the database along with details such as author and time stamp.
a) Select a cell/row/column. The 'Add a comment' icon gets enabled. Click on the icon.
b) The comments editor opens up. Enter a comment as shown below.
c) Let's apply some formatting to 'margins'. Select the text, click on the 'Font color' icon and select a color from the color picker.
d) The font color gets updated. Let us now add a hyperlink to 'document'. Select the text and click on the 'Link' icon.
e) Enter an URL as shown and click 'Apply'.
f) The hyperlink gets added. Click 'Post'.
g) The comment gets added. You can see a blue indicator on the top right corner of the cell. There are a number of options in the comment box which we'll be covering in the other sections.
h) You can edit/delete a comment added by you as shown. Report authors/editors can edit/delete comments added by other users as well.
i) To hide comments temporarily, turn on the 'Hide all comments' toggle.
j) All the comments are hidden.
k) Certain comments can be locked to prevent editing and replies. Click on the 'Three dots' icon and click on 'Lock thread' highlighted below.
l) The comment thread gets greyed out. To unlock the thread, click on the 'Unlock' icon.
m) To delete all comments, in the 'Comments' dropdown, select 'Settings'. In the side panel, in the 'General' tab, click 'Delete all comments'.
2. Mention other users
You can use @ symbol to tag other stakeholders and draw their attention.
a) Click on a cell and 'Add a comment'. Type @ in the comment editor. You will see a list of the users in the workspace.
b) Select the desired user, add the comment and click 'Post'.
c) The comment gets posted successfully.
3. Reply to comments
Users can reply to comments posted by others and have interactive conversations.
a) Click on 'Reply'.
b) Enter the reply in the comments editor and click 'Reply'.
c) The comment reply gets added as a thread.
4. Comments column
You can add a dedicated comments column to capture row-level comments.
a) In the 'Comments' dropdown, turn the 'Comments column' toggle on.
b) The comments column gets added.
c) Click on any cell in the comments column. The comment editor opens. Enter a comment and click 'Post'.
d) The comment gets added as shown in the below image.
e) To reply to a comment in the comments column, simply click on the comment and 'Reply'.
f) The number of replies is also shown along with the comment.
g) To hide the comments column, turn off the toggle.
5. Roll-up comments
In reports with large number of hierarchies, you can see comments rolled up at the subtotal and grand total level even if the hierarchies are collapsed. This enables executives to see collapsed and summarized reports but still see exception comments rolled up at the parent levels.
In the below image, comments are added at the product category and sub category levels which are consolidated and shown at the region level.
Roll-up comments work in the Comments column too. In the image below, comments are added at the product category, sub category and sub-region levels which are consolidated and shown at the region level.
To turn on roll-up comments, turn on the 'Rollup indicator' toggle in the 'Comments' dropdown.
6. Email notifications
The ‘@user’ mention in the comment automatically sends an email notification to the user, with a link to the report so that the user can respond to this comment and/or update the report. Replies to the comments are also notified to the user instantly.
a) Email notifications on comment replies can be turned off. In the dropdown highlighted, click on 'Profile settings'. In the side panel, turn off the toggle.
b) Email notifications for new replies or mentions can be turned off. In the 'Settings' panel, uncheck the highlighted checkbox.
In the next section, we'll see how you can assign & track tasks.
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