Design Collaboration / Commenting in your Design Completed

Design Collaboration

Commenting in your Design

The ability to leave comments and tag project stakeholders in the design context provides visibility and better communication throughout the entire design process. You can add comments and also draw in an entire document or area in your design (available in Schematic and both 2D and 3D layout modes in PCB).

Once you share a project, all of the stakeholders can view and comment on the design from within Altium Designer, or through the Altium 365 web browser interface. Project participants not familiar with Altium Designer can review and leave comments by accessing the design via their web browser without having to install Altium Designer. All comments will sync across and appear both in the web view and within Altium Designer, always in the context of your design.

1. Commenting in Altium Designer

In the project tree on the left side, select the document you want to comment on.

Fig. 1 - Project ﬁle is opened in Altium Designer — **Fig. 1** - Project ﬁle is opened in Altium Designer

There are several options to leave comments:

There is an icon on the top right corner of your screen, next to the 'Share' button.
Comment Panel > Place a Comment
At the top menu bar, select Place > Comment and select the desired location with the crosshair cursor.
Or use the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+C

Fig. 2 - Comment Options — **Fig. 2** - Comment Options

Fig. 3 - Comment for Area — **Fig. 3** - Comment for Area

Tip: You can display the Comments Panel in Altium Designer by choosing View > Panels > Comments.

Enter your comment in the dialog box, then click Post to publish. You have an option to tag a user or to attach a freehand drawing (scroll down for detailed instructions).

Commenting and tag a user — **Fig. 4** - Commenting and tagging a user.

Clicking on the three dots in the upper right of the dialog box, you will also have the option to “Edit,” “Delete,” or “Copy Link” (you can share a link to a specific comment if you need to share the exact position where the comment/markup is located with another person). You can also click on the “Show original design screenshot” option to see how the design looked when the comment was made.

Fig. 5 - Menu Choices — **Fig. 5** - Menu Choices

To draw or edit a freeform shape, click the Pencil icon in the Comments dialog box. With the Pencil icon chosen, you will be able to write, underline, or draw a shape.

Draw in a Design — **Fig. 6** - Draw in a design

Tip: You can mention a specific user using the @ symbol before their email address in the comment, for example, @john.doe@altium.com. This user will receive an email notification.

Once the issue has been addressed, the comment can be resolved and hidden. To resolve the comment click ✓ in the upper-right corner of the comment then select Resolve. The comment will become hidden in the panel

**Fig. 7** - 'Resolve' and 'Unresolve' a Comment

Resolved comments do not disappear, but are hidden. To show all resolved comments, click the arrow in the upper-right corner of the Comments panel, then in the drop-down menu select the “Unresolved only” option.

Fig. 8 - Make Resolved comments visible in the Comments panel — **Fig. 8** - Make Resolved comments visible in the Comments panel

Tip: You can ‘unresolve’ the comment by clicking ✓ in the upper-right corner of the comment. This comment will again display in the Comments panel.

2. Commenting via Altium 365 Web Interface

2.1. Accessing the Web Interface

All project stakeholders can access a design via the web browser without a need to install and license Altium Designer (you have full control over who has access to the project and can revoke access at any time). You have four options to access the Altium 365 web Interface:

In Altium Designer, go to your project in the left-hand panel and right-click over your workspace, which will enable options in the menu listing. Select “Show in Web Browser”:

Fig. 9 - Show in Web Browser — **Fig. 9** - Show in Web Browser

Another way to access the web interface in Altium Designer is to click in the upper right corner, select a workspace, and click on the which will ”Open Workspace in Web Browser.”

Fig.10 - Open Workspace in Web Browser — **Fig. 10**- Open Workspace in Web Browser

Login to https://365.altium.com and on the left-hand side menu, select Projects then search or browse for a specific project. Alternatively, you can login to https://live.altium.com/ and click over your photo in the upper right corner, and select the workspace menu button on the toolbar. On the left-hand side menu, select Projects - and then search or browse for a specific project.

Whenever a project is shared with you, or if you were mentioned in a comment, you will receive a notification by email with a link that opens the web interface.

Fig. 11 - Notification by email — **Fig. 11** - Notification by email

2.2. Commenting via Web Interface

To place a comment in a design via the web interface, you have three options:

Use the Alt+C keyboard shortcut.
Near the “Share” button, there is an icon . This option allows you to “Comment for Area,” “Comment for Point,” or “Comment for Object.”
At the right top corner, where the content is displayed, you can see this symbol: . This option allows you to open the Comments panel. To do this, just click on this icon

Fig. 12 - Comment Toolbar in the top right corner — **Fig. 12** - Comment Toolbar in the top right corner

Upon clicking, a right panel will be displayed, enabling you to place a comment within a specific place in the document. Click “Place a comment” and select the desired location with the crosshair cursor.

Fig. 13 - “Place a Comment” located at the right-side panel — **Fig. 13** - “Place a Comment” located at the right-side panel

There are multiple options to attach comments:

Comment for Area: This allows you to comment on a defined rectangular area on the active document. Select the required area by clicking and dragging in the design space.
Comment for Point: Left-click your mouse at any point of the design, and the dialog box will open to insert a comment.
Comment for Object: Left-click your mouse in any object of the design, and the dialog box will open to insert a comment. The comment will immediately be tied to that object.

Enter your comment in the Comments panel, then click Post to publish. You have the option to tag a person or add a freehand drawing ( scroll down for details).

Fig. 14 - Comment for area — **Fig. 14** - Comment for area

[Web view] Clicking on the three dots in the upper right of the dialog box, you will also have the option to “Edit,” “Delete,” or “Copy Link.” Option: Select to show the original design screenshot.

Fig. 15 - Menu Choices — **Fig. 15** - Menu Choices

Tip: You can mention a specific user in the comment using the @ symbol before their email address, for example, @john.doe@altium.com

Once the issue has been addressed, the comment can be resolved and hidden. To resolve the comment, click in the upper-right corner of the comment (the icon will turn green). This hides the comment in the panel.

Fig. 16 - Resolve a Comment — **Fig. 16** - Resolve a Comment

Filtering Comments. Resolved comments do not disappear, they are just hidden. To filter comments:

All: Shows all comments
My: Shows all comments added by you and comments you were tagged in.
Unresolved only: Shows only unresolved comments
Current document only: Shows only comments in the current document
Notification settings: Select which comments in the project you want to receive email notifications for.

Fig. 17 - [Web view] Filter comments visible in the Comments panel — **Fig. 17** - [Web view] Filter comments visible in the Comments panel

Tip: To ‘unresolve’ a comment click the ✓ in the upper-right corner of the comment. This comment will again display in the Comments panel.

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