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How to use Comments

In this article, we will show you how to create and answer comments on drawings, documents, and BIM models and share them with project participants.

Table of contents

  1. Video
  2. How to create a new comment
  3. How to view comments
  4. How to answer comments
  5. Delete a comment

Video

How to create a new comment

You can create comments for drawings, documents, and even BIM models. Additionally, you can create comments that are not linked to a specific document for general communication purposes. Every comment is created with three steps:

  1. Select drawing/document/location
  2. Add annotation
  3. Fill comment form

How to create comments

Create comments on 2D Drawings

To add comments to 2D drawings, open the desired drawing in the files or the shared files area of  Box and click New comment.

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Create comments on PDF documents

You can add comments to multi-page documents the same way as for drawings, and they will jump directly to the page where they were made when opened later.

Create comments on BIM models

Comments on BIM models are created in Location. In the 3D view, click on  after you have navigated to the relevant viewpoint.

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Create comments without file relation

You can also create general comments without a relation to documents or drawings. To do so, go to:

Box Comments All comments New.

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Add annotations

You have a variety of annotation tools that you can use to annotate the topic of your comment.

  • Cloud: Click and drag to draw a rectangular cloud, or click to create a custom shape.
  • Arrow: Draw an arrow.
  • Text: Write text and the font size can be changed.
  • Shapes: Draw a circle, a polygon, or a rectangle.
  • Lines: Draw lines, create highlights, or draw a freeform drawing.
  • Measurement (only 2D): Add a point-to-point measurement.
  • Select: Multiselect annotations to move or delete multiple annotations.

 Tips and tricks

You can use these keyboard shortcuts with annotations on comments:

  • 'Ctrl + Z' to undo an action.
  • 'Ctrl + C' and 'Ctrl + V' to copy and paste.
  • 'Enter' makes it possible to redo the last action. You can create an arrow, click 'Enter' and a new arrow can be drawn.
  • Hold 'Shift' and drag to select multiple annotations.

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When you select an annotation for your comment, you can add more information to provide additional context. 3D comments will save any editing you've done to the model, such as filters, coloring, and cuts. You can also include measurements in the annotations if necessary.

Fill out the comment form

When creating a new comment, you can fill out the custom form with all the necessary information. The type of information depends on your project but will always contain:

  • Comment type: The type is selected at creation and can not be changed afterward.
  • Channel: The channel describes the participants who can see the comments.
  • Status: Select the status of the new comment. The colored dots affect the color of your annotations and provide a better overview in the list view and on drawings and documents.
  • Title: The title should summarize the topic of the comment.
  • Deadline: Set a deadline until when a comment should be resolved.
  • Description: The description provides a more thorough elaboration of the comment.
  • Notify: Add participants additional to the responsible who should be informed about changes.
  • Attach file: For better clarification of the comment you can add related files.

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Fields marked with a are required and must be filled out. As the creator of a comment, you will always be added to the 'Notify' section and thus will be informed about changes made by participants.

 WARNING

Be aware, that all comments you create are visible to all participants of the selected communication channels.

How to view comments

Getting an overview

You can get an overview of all comments of channels you are part of by going to:

Box Comments All comments

Here you find a list view with all the information of the comments, which you can use to search, filter, sort, or analyze. You can add more available columns with the -icon.

Clicking allows you to see the comments in different charts with custom settings.

Clicking returns you to the list view.

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Dalux provides you with 3 pre-defined filters:

  • My inbox: Here you find all comments for which you are responsible
  • Group inbox: Here you find all comments, you or other users of your user group are responsible for
  • Overdue deadlines: Here you find all comments your user group is responsible for and where the deadline is in the past

Show comments

There are two ways of opening 2D comments. Either open them from the list view in

Box  Comments All comments Select the comment Show

or open it directly from a drawing in

Box  Files / Shared files / Published files Select the drawing/document

To see all comments on an opened drawing, activate the 'Comment list' under Show.

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For 3D comments, you have two options for opening. You can either navigate to:

Box Comments All comments Select the comment Show

or you can open them in the BIM viewer, by going to:

Locations ' Comments' Select the comment

3D comments will always contain a screenshot from the viewpoint where the comment was created. You can jump directly to the position in the model by clicking either '3D' from Box (1) or 'View location' in Locations (2):

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Duplicate comments

When the comment list is open while viewing a drawing, you can duplicate existing comments. This will create a new comment with a copy of the annotation and property values of the existing comment, except for the title and description.

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How to answer comments

When opening a comment you have several options for editing or answering it.

 User rights

To make changes to comments, you need to have the necessary permissions in the communication channel. While you might have the ability to edit a comment, you may not have the option to close it.

  • Edit description or title: If you need to change the description or title of the comment, you can do so by clicking next to the description or next to the title when you hover your mouse over it.
  • Edit status: You can change the status of the comment or close it if you have the right to do so.
  • Edit assigned to: This allows you to change who the comment is assigned to. 
  • Link to other comments: Use this feature to either link the comment to another existing comment or create a new linked comment.
  • Edit deadline: If you need to change the deadline of the comment, you can do so by clicking next to the deadline.
  • Show more: View and change more information in this comment.
  • Write a new message: Add a new message. Previous messages are still available in the message thread. You can attach files from Box, your computer, or your clipboard to the message.

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 Read more

If you want to learn more about setting up comments, you can read this article: Comments: How to set up.

Delete a comment

 User rights

To delete a comment, you need to be a project administrator or project planning manager for your project. You also need to have at least viewing rights for the comment.

A comment can only be deleted if it has been closed. To delete a comment go to

BoxCommentsSelect a commentMoreDelete.

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 Technical information

If you are working with multiple file areas and the file you have made the comment on gets published, you can no longer delete the comment.

Deleted comments can always be recovered by the project administrator under

SettingsBox'Comments & Review packages''Deleted comments'.

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