Dynamic Commentary

You can collaborate within Dynamic Reports, Spotlight Web (Analyze and Report), and SpotlightXL (Analyze and Report), and Excel Based Reports using the Dynamic Commentary functionality.

You can perform the following:

• Add cell level comments.

• Edit, Delete, Highlight, or Resolve comments.

• Post comments for a combination of dimensions at leaf level, rollup level, and calculated members.

• Add users, text, #tags, and hyperlinks in the comments.

• Assign tasks and track their status from Task Manager.

• Mark Task as Complete in the Comment(s) pane.

• View all comments in the application and perform actions such as Delete and Highlight in Comments Manager.

You can view an indicator wherever a comment is posted in the report. You can include the following in a comment:

• Add a user - Type + and select the required username to tag the user in a comment. When you type +, username suggestions are provided automatically for the ease of selection. A notification is sent to the tagged user. You can turn off the notifications if required.

• Add # tags - Type # to find the most used tags in a comment.

• Add URLs in a comment.

How to Post a Comment

1. Enable the Comments On option from the More list box in Dynamic Reports. The default is set to Comments Off.

   

   If Comments On is enabled, the Comment option is visible on the right-click menu. A visual indicator is displayed if a comment already exists on a cell. When Comments Off is enabled, the Comment option and visual indicators for comments are removed from the Dynamic Report. The setting is retained when you Save, Save As or Copy a Dynamic Report.

2. Right-click on the required cell. The menu list appears.

3. Click Comment. A pop-up window appears.

   

4. Enter the required text and click Comment. The comment is saved successfully.

   

Any user with read-only or full access to the report can post comments for a data intersection honoring dimension security.

You can post comments on the following cells with:

• Data combination of leaf level, roll up level, calculated members.
• Data where substitution variables are used in the dimension intersection.
• Data derived from a Custom Member (hierarchy-based, multi-dimensional rule, calculation-based) when calculation-based comments are stored for the Custom Member on the corresponding dimension. This is applicable for Dynamic Report and Financial Reporting Area ( for Main and Alternate hierarchies).
• Data derived from Attributes or Attribute Hierarchy used on the Page, Row, or Column axis of a Dynamic Report.
• Data where multiple members are used on the Page axis. This is applicable for Dimensions, Attributes, Attribute Hierarchy, Substitution Variables on the Page axis.
• Comments are always visible on the Dynamic Report for a combination of the dimension selections. The comment can also be viewed from the Comment Manager page.

Actions

How to Edit a Comment

1. Click the icon on the right-hand side of the comments pop-up window and select Edit from the menu list.

2. Make the required changes and click Save.

   
   

   You can only edit the comments posted by you. The administrator can update comments posted by any user. You can edit comments from anywhere (Dynamic Reports, Spotlight Web (Analyze and Report), and SpotlightXL (Analyze and Report), and Excel Based Reports) within the application irrespective of where you posted the comment.

How to Delete a Comment

1. Click the icon on the right-hand side of the comments pop-up window and select Delete Thread from the menu list. A confirmation message appears.

2. Click Confirm to delete the thread.

You can only delete the comments posted by you. The administrator can delete comments posted by any user. You can delete comments from anywhere (Dynamic Reports, Spotlight Web (Analyze and Report), and SpotlightXL (Analyze and Report), and Excel Based Reports) within the application irrespective of where you posted the comment.

How to Highlight a Comment

Click the icon on the right-hand side of the comments pop-up window and select Highlight from the menu list.

How to Resolve a Comment

You can resolve a comment thread by clicking Resolve visible in the first comment of the thread. Resolved comments are not displayed in the reports or when the report is exported. Once you resolve a comment, the visual indicator is not displayed on the cells.

You can resolve the comments from anywhere (Dynamic Reports, Spotlight Web (Analyze and Report), and SpotlightXL (Analyze and Report), and Excel Based Reports) within the application irrespective of where you posted the comment.

You can view the resolved comments from the Comments Manager page. An icon is displayed next to resolved comments.

Use the Filter icon to filter resolved comments in the grid. Also, you can delete resolved comments using the More option. 

Once a comment is resolved, you cannot reopen, edit, reply, or highlight that comment. However, a new thread can be started for the same cell.

How to Assign a Task

1. Right-click in the required cell and select Comment. The pop-up window appears.

2. Enter + and type the user name.

3. Select Assign.

4. Enter the following details:

   • Add task title

   • Due On - Select the required to date.

   • Priority- Select any of the following:

     • Low

     • Medium

     • High

5. Click Comment. A notification is sent to the mentioned user. 

The assignees and admin will have access to the assigned tasks. You can view the task details from Task Manager.

Mark Task as Completed in Comments Pop-up Window

You can change the status of any of your assigned tasks to Completed directly from the Comments pop-up window using the Mark as Completed toggle.

Only Assignee, Reporter, or Administrator can mark the status Completed using the Mark as Completed toggle. The Mark as Completed toggle is available in Dynamic Reports, Spotlight Web - Analyze and Reports, SpotlightXL - Analyze, Reports, and Excel Based Reports. 

When you mark any task Completed from the Comments pop-up window, the same status is automatically updated for the corresponding task in the Task Manager page.

How to Email Notifications for Dynamic Commentary

You can configure email notifications for the Dynamic Commentary functionality from the Notification Settings option. This functionality helps you track actions in the Dynamic Commentary functionality and keeps you up to date by providing email notifications for the selected action based on your requirements. You will receive email notifications with hyperlinks to directly navigate to the respective product area. This helps you access reports and tasks quickly from emails.

The email hyperlink redirects you to the corresponding artifact (for example, a Dynamic Report, a SpotlightXL View, or a SpotlightXL Report) from which the comment was posted and also opens the corresponding Comment pop-up window.

If the email notification is regarding an assigned task, the email hyperlink redirects you to the corresponding task on the Task Manager page.

In Practice

To configure email notifications for Dynamic Commentary, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to Notifications > Notification Settings (Gear icon).
   
2. Select or deselect the required checkbox under the Dynamic Commentary section. You can enable email notifications for the following actions:
   • All Actions - Enables notifications for all available actions in Dynamic Commentary. By default, this check box is selected.
   • Assigned Task - Notifies you when someone assigns you a task.
   • Marked Task As Complete - Notifies you when assigned tasks are marked as complete.
   • Mentioned on Comment - Notifies you when someone mentions you in a comment.
   • Replied to My Comment - Notifies you when someone replies to your comment.
   • Resolved Comment - Notifies you when the tagged user resolves the comment.
     You will receive email notifications only for the selected actions.
     

How to Edit a Task in Task Manager

The tasks created from a comment are editable from Task Manager. This is applicable to the information mentioned in the Comment pop-up window. If you edit any of the task information from Task Manager, the updated information will be reflected in the Comments pop-up window.

If a task is completed, then a tick mark is visible on the Comments pop-up window against the respective task name.

If you change the assignee from Task Manager, the assignee details in the Comment pop-up window is not updated. If a task is deleted from Task Manager, it is removed from the Comment pop-up window, however, the user mentioned in the comment is retained.