Review a component using comments and track changes

If you have track changes permissions, you'll find a rich set of editing tools in the editor's toolbar. You can share your comments and view comments or changes from other reviewers.

Tips and Tricks

  • Understand the context of the review and read additional instructions. The review coordinator can include instructions and context for reviewers in the Description field when they create the review.

    • You can see the Description while working on the review in the review editor. Look in the Review Details pane. The text will truncate if it doesn't fit but you can click More... in the Description to see the complete text.
    • You can also see the Description on the Dashboard screen in the My Reviews section.
  • After you add comments or make changes, you can manage them in the Review panel on the right side of the editor.

  • If you start on a review but need to stop before it's done and finish it later, you can:

    1. Save your changes .
    2. Do one of the following:
      • Close the tab
      • Click Save for Later

    Saving your changes and closing the review doesn't update the progress shown for the review on the Dashboard or the Review Management tab. This percent only changes when an entire task in the review is completed, such as when you click Complete Review.

  • Regardless of your permissions, if a topic contains a link (cross reference or key reference) to another component, when you click the link:

    • If the target component is not also included in the review, you can only open it in a read-only viewer from a review.
    • If the target component is also included in the review, you can open it to comment or edit it from a review.
  • Regardless of your permissions, if a topic contains a Content Reference, you cannot open the topic that contains the reference in a review.
    • The icon that you use to open the topic with the reference () is only available when editing the topic, and is not available in a review.
    • The referenced content is shown with a grey background.
    • You can't comment on the referenced content.
    • No matter your permissions, you cannot edit the referenced content.

To review a component using comments and track changes:

  1. To open your review assignment, in the email notification, click the review link.
  2. In the Review Components pane, to open the component in the review editor, click a component title.
    Tips and tricks
    • component_state_approved You can track your progress through the list of review components using the green circle next to the component name. You can fill in the circle to mark a component as done when you complete it. Keep in mind this is for your own reference. Selecting or clearing the green circle does not trigger any action in Inspire.
    • If a component is Context Only and can't be commented on or edited you won't see a green circle.
    • If a component has an attachment you see a black paper clip. If it is an attachment you see a green paper clip.
    • If a component is checked out to you a user icon is shown .
    • You can tell if the component is a topic () or an image () by looking at the icon before the component name.
    • If you're participating in an interactive review, a component may be locked by another reviewer. To add comments to a locked component, follow the steps in Request to check out a component for review. You must wait until you the component is unlocked before continuing to the next step.
  3. To add a comment in the editor, select text or place your cursor at a location where you want to insert a comment.
    1. Click Add Comment or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + M.
      Text that has a comment is highlighted in purple. The Review panel on the right side of the editor shows the name of the user who added the comment, the date and time it was added, and the comment. You can select a comment by selecting the highlighted text in the editor or using the Review panel.
    2. To reply to a comment, in the Review panel, in the comment's box, click the reply arrow .
    3. On the Add Reply dialog, enter your text, and then click OK.
    4. To edit a comment, in the Review panel, in the comment's box, click the pencil icon . You can also go to the toolbar and click Edit Comment. Edit the text and then click OK.
    5. To fade out comment text to show you've resolved the issue in the comment, click the Mark as Done toggle .
    6. To re-activate the comment so you can reply or edit it, click the Mark as Done toggle again.
    7. To delete a comment that you created, it must have no replies. You can delete a comment in the following ways:
      • In the editing pane, place your cursor in the highlighted content. On the toolbar, click the Delete Comment button.
      • In the editing pane, hover your cursor over the highlighted content, and in the pop-up window click Remove.

      • In the Review panel, in the comment's box, click the Remove icon .

    8. If there's a long list of comments, you can scroll through them in the text using the editor's toolbar options of Previous Comment or Change and Next Comment or Change .
    9. After you finish adding comments, to save them go to the editor's toolbar and click Save.
  4. To add a comment in the Component Discussions pane:
    1. Go to the right side of the screen and open the Collaboration panel by clicking the Open arrow.
    2. On the Component Discussions pane, click the + Create button.
    3. On the Create Discussion form, in Subject, enter a brief title for your discussion thread using up to 50 characters.
    4. In Message, enter up to 2000 characters of text.
    5. Click Create.
  5. Before editing text, you should verify that automatic spell check is turned on.
    1. In the editor's toolbar, click the more options menu , and then select Preferences.
    2. On the Preferences dialog, if it's cleared, select Enable automatic spell checking.
    3. Optionally, if you want to manually control when spelling is checked using the spell check option in the toolbar , you can clear the Enable automatic spell checking option.
  6. To add new content, in the editor, place your cursor where you want to new text and enter it.
  7. To format content, use the following options in the toolbar:
    • Bold
    • Italics
    • Underline
    • Superscript
    • Subscript
    • Insert paragraph
    • Insert symbol
  8. If at any time you want to undo a change, in the editor toolbar click Undo.
    1. To redo a change, in the editor toolbar click Redo.
  9. To edit content, use the backspace or delete key to remove text and type the text you want to add.
    1. To search for text and possibly replace it, in the editor toolbar click the magnifying glass .
    2. On the Find/Replace dialog, in Search for, enter the word or phrase.
    3. Select the Match case and Whole words options if they apply.
    4. If you want to search and replace, use the Replace with text box.
    5. Next to Search for, click the magnifying glass.
    6. To move through search results, use the Find Next and Find Previous buttons.
    7. If you're replacing search terms, use the Replace and Replace All buttons.
  10. To delete text, select it and use the backspace or delete key to remove it.
    When working with tables, you can delete text in a row or column, but you can't delete entire rows or columns from a table even if you are a reviewer with track changes permissions. You'll see a message that says: “This operation cannot be executed on a table while change tracking is enabled. Deactivate change tracking and try again."
  11. After you finish editing content, to save your changes go to the editor's toolbar and click Save .
  12. To track your progress in the review, select the circle next to the component in the Review Components pane to mark items you have completed.
    A review coordinator might include components for context only. You can view these topics in the editor, but you can't add comments. Context-only components don't have a circle to track your progress.
  13. Repeat steps 2 through 11 for all components in the review.

    To stop and finish a review later, you can:

    1. Save your changes .
    2. Do one of the following:
      • Close the tab
      • Click Save for Later
  14. After you finish adding comments to all components in the review, click Complete Review to save changes and close the review.
    A message appears when saving if there are comments that are not added to the document. You must add or remove all comments before you can save the document. Any comments that are not added are discarded from the document
  15. On the confirmation screen, click Yes.

    After you complete your review:

    • Your review is locked and you cannot make any other changes.
    • The Review Coordinator receives a message that you've completed your review.
    • On your Dashboard, in My Reviews, the completed review is no longer listed.

    If you want to re-open your review to make additional changes:

    • At least one other reviewer must still be working on their review.

      • To find out who else is reviewing components:

        1. Open the review from your email notification.
        2. On the right side, open the Collaboration panel.
        3. Look in the Reviewers list.

        You can see if a reviewer still has a review in progress (Reviewing).

    • Ask the Review Coordinator or an administrator to re-open your review.
      • To send email to the review Coordinator:
        1. Open the review from your email notification.
        2. Go to the left side panel.
        3. Look in the Review Details panel.
        4. Click on the name following the Coordinator label.
        5. In the email form that opens, fill out the fields to request that your Completed review be re-opened (the fields will vary depending on your email app).
        6. In the email form, click Send.