> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://knowledgebase.qommentary.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://knowledgebase.qommentary.com/qommentary-insights/using-qommentary-insights.md).

# Working with commentary

A Qommentary Insights extension can be embedded in two (2) different ways: **Default** view and **Fullscreen** view.

**Default View**

![](/files/-Mbi4Ql9TcStMN0QCkgp)

1. Commentary message: Displays commentary text entered by the user
2. Commentary Status: Displays the current commentary status.&#x20;
3. Commentary explorer: Displays a list of draft, awaiting approval and published messages for the current extension.&#x20;
4. Discussions: Opens the Discussions panel to enable threaded comments amongst teams&#x20;
5. Watch: Subscribes a user to a Qommentary Insights extension to receive updates when new commentary has been published.&#x20;
6. Share: Launches a popup window and allows commentary to be shared to one or many user/s or group/s.&#x20;
7. Export: Generates a PDF report of the current commentary including any associated visualizations.&#x20;
8. Edit/Recall: Depending on the commentary status, a user is able to Edit a commentary on Draft status or Recall a commentary on Published status.&#x20;
9. Fullscreen view: Expands the commentary full screen and switches to Fullscreen View.&#x20;
10. Commentary details: Displays additional commentary-related information, such as created/published date/time and owner’s full name.

**Fullscreen View**

![](/files/-MbdL7Y_zbi71zeDml8J)

1. Commentary visualization: Loads any visualization which has been associated to the commentary during the development phase.&#x20;
2. Visualization panel controls: Allows you to expand or collapse the visualization panel.&#x20;
3. Comments panel: Allows you to expand or collapse the comments panel.&#x20;
4. Close fullscreen: Closes the Fullscreen View and returns to Default View.&#x20;
5. Refresh comments: Updates the current list with latest comments.&#x20;
6. Send comment: Sends a new comment.&#x20;
7. Link visualization: Associates the current visualization to the new comment.&#x20;
8. Input comment field: Allows you to type a new comment in the text field box and mention users.&#x20;
9. Action button: Depending on the commentary status, it displays various commentary-related action buttons.

### **Commentary display modes**

Qommentary Insights can be embedded in an application in two (2) different ways: **Full** and **Compact**.

**Full Mode**

Full mode displays a rich-text editor embedded on the sheet for added context and visibility.

![](/files/-Mbi6fttKwQ_GOvYVnlQ)

![](/files/-MbdMQrQXI7IXWwQp4EJ)

**Compact Mode**

Compact mode displays an icon on the sheet, ideal for visualization-intensive applications where real estate is limited. This mode allows multiple Qommentary Insights extensions to be embedded in a single sheet without compromising dashboard design.

![](/files/-MbiBokpqgyQyaoSvH3I)

The Compact mode icon appearance can be customized in a variety of ways:

**Changing icon color**

<div align="left"><figure><img src="/files/gyA29QkyK8mJAY0exJ2i" alt="" width="150"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

1. Edit the sheet
2. Select your Qommentary Insights extension
3. In the Properties Panel, expand *Appearance > Presentation*
4. Under the **Icon color** property choose an color

**Changing icon background color**

<div align="left"><figure><img src="/files/lR6TgpKW8kYYPeRFUo06" alt="" width="151"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

1. Edit the sheet
2. Select your Qommentary Insights extension
3. In the Properties Panel, expand *Appearance > Presentation*
4. Under the **Icon background color** property choose a color

**Changing icon shape**

<div align="left"><figure><img src="/files/QMQoTAcGKfZbN94aV4R2" alt="" width="148"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

1. Edit the sheet
2. Select your Qommentary Insights extension
3. In the Properties Panel, expand *Appearance > Presentation*
4. Under the **Icon background shape** property choose a shape

### **Commentary Status**

A commentary can progress through five (5) different statuses along its lifecycle:

![](/files/-MbdNFtPG_-JE1R4qTib)

1. Draft: Commentary is in draft mode and not visible to the application users&#x20;
2. Awaiting Approval: Commentary has been submitted for approval and it’s waiting for approval workflow to be completed before publishing.&#x20;
3. Recalled: User wishes to edit a commentary which has been published, or edit a rejected commentary.&#x20;
4. Approved/Rejected: Commentary has been approved and is ready to be published or has been rejected and must be recalled before re-submitting for approval.
5. Published: Commentary has been published and is not visible to all application users.

### **Rich text formatting**

Qommentary Insights allows commentary to be formatted just like your favourite text editor. There are two (2) types of text formats available: **plain text** and **rich text**.

To select a text format option, please follow these steps:

1\. Edit the sheet and select your Qommentary Insights extension

2\. Expand *Commentary > Text editor* section in the properties panel

<div align="left"><img src="/files/-MfVfMn5UfGNIjuhzoMm" alt=""></div>

3\. Choose a **text format** option

{% hint style="warning" %}
If switch from **rich text** to **plain text** and edit a commentary which was previously saved with rich-text formatting, the commentary will be converted to plain text when you save.
{% endhint %}

When **rich text** is selected, you can control which formatting tools are displayed in the editor's toolbar:

| Tool            | Description                                                                |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Text formatting | Allows text to be formatted with bold, italic or underline                 |
| Text color      | Allows text background and font colors to be customized                    |
| List            | Allows creation of bullet or number lists                                  |
| Text alignment  | Allows text to be horizontally aligned to left, center, right or justified |
| Link            | Allows text to link to other sheets, applications or external pages.       |

Check or uncheck each option in the properties to enable or disable formatting tools as desired.

To apply rich text formatting to a commentary, please follow these steps:

1. Write a commentary or edit an existing one

<div align="center"><img src="/files/-MbdPPT6eGJkqzpiFxId" alt=""></div>

2\. Format your commentary using the rich-text toolbar

![](/files/-MbdPYMC2p1i6PBooDSn)

3\. Click on the **Save** button

![](/files/-MbdPgW9EXpMdIvn2wv0)

4\. Your commentary has been successfully formatted

![](/files/-MbiFMzf6O6aI6TyXbs5)

Enabling

### Creating a commentary

You may begin writing commentary given you have the following roles or permissions:

![](/files/-MbiDo-igIcCKJ22BAEQ)

To write a commentary, follow these steps:

1. Click on Write a commentary button (Full Mode) or click on the icon <img src="/files/-MbdOZ937rEXmL04bhMu" alt="" data-size="line"> (Compact Mode)

![](/files/-MbiEPdrv33qrLtl2s1t)

2\. Type some text into the rich-text editor

![](/files/-MbdP0LpW6x8yaOjnEZ4)

3\. Click on Save button

![](/files/-MbdP4va6MvmFHKsa9Sp)

4\. **Congrats!** You have saved your first commentary as a draft.

![](/files/-MbiEdMdFC3BOdq0K7nj)

### **Editing a commentary**

Once commentary has been created for a given set of selections, you can edit the commentary given you have the following roles or permissions:

![](/files/-MbdQBQMcuAMC6O9E0xM)

To edit an existing commentary, follow these steps:

1. Click on the commentary screen or click on the <img src="/files/-MbdQN7l3LzxwyVEh6fU" alt="" data-size="line"> icon

![](/files/-MbiFmgBNKQm7m0H8Kc8)

2\. Update your existing commentary

![](/files/-MbiGJF64D9ofaNgbyZA)

3\. Click on **Save** button&#x20;

![](/files/-MbiGOnSq6k_07V4r3Qe)

4\. Your commentary has been successfully updated

### **Submitting for approval**

If the stream, application or sheet where the commentary resides is being managed by an approval workflow, you may submit a commentary for approval given you have the following roles or permissions:

![](/files/-MbdRHC96Sn7X2vNbc8K)

To submit a commentary for approval, follow these steps:

1. **Write** a commentary or **edit** an existing one

![](/files/-MbiGY1gQkj_l2GD9S1U)

2\. Click on **Save** button

![](/files/-MbiGoTupI_uqsV-DKQd)

3\. Click on **Submit for approval** button

![](/files/-MbiHRxz0xemSYba5pU4)

4\. The commentary has been successfully submitted for approval

![](/files/-MbiHmp2ZYCxjYIk6ZNg)

### **Publishing a commentary**

A commentary can be shared with all other application users, if the commentary status is set to Draft (without an approval workflow) or Approved (with an approval workflow).&#x20;

Once a commentary is ready to be shared, you may publish the commentary given you have the following roles or permissions:

![](/files/-MbdS48ScMfdEjr1HQI8)

To publish a commentary, follow these steps:

1. Click on **Publish** button

![](/files/-MbiI9vgpTMr_1COdnia)

2\. The commentary has been successfully published

![](/files/-MbiIIwEZZLOqL--dK43)

### **Recalling a commentary**

If a commentary which has been published needs to be updated, you will need to recall the commentary given you have the following roles or permissions:

![](/files/-MbdSZUjEP15-J5l6mS4)

To recall a published commentary, follow these steps:

1. Click on the <img src="/files/-MbdSzd-Jb01-8JagBB3" alt="" data-size="line"> icon

![](/files/-MbiIN8kbRG20G6UIiuQ)

2\. The commentary has been recalled successfully and the status will be reset to Draft

![](/files/-MbiIWqzqn23LZnhPFQc)

3\. You may now edit the commentary.

**Comparing a draft commentary to the published version**

During the commentary authoring phase, it might be useful to compare a commentary against the published version.

To compare a commentary against the published version, follow these steps:

1. Click on the <img src="/files/-Mbe_2hyNxtCh8AFyFK-" alt="" data-size="line"> icon to edit a commentary

![](/files/-MbiIer0rB5RGm1IfK4V)

2\. Click on the <img src="/files/-MbelCB7E4lqjOVYUBID" alt="" data-size="line"> icon to access full screen view

![](/files/-MbiIuxyQNTynmtO20gJ)

3\. Click on the <img src="/files/-MbenjmncN493a7iHUF1" alt="" data-size="line"> icon to display the currently published commentary version

![](/files/-MbiJH6Vv0yXyYIORNiM)

4\. The published commentary is now displayed side-by-side with your draft commentary.

![](/files/-MbiJQhluvMpb1v5kR9I)

### **Viewing commentary info**

1. Hover on top of the <img src="/files/-MbeozFFLOHgEUwS2x03" alt="" data-size="line"> icon

![](/files/-Mbscs7ZmZkOQqYBhzDl)

&#x20;   2\. The commentary info will display the full name and date/time of the last updated commentary
