As promised, here are further details about the upcoming Comment Tracker release, expected at the end of September, 2011. Expect more communication from us as the date draws nearer, and don't hesitate to ask your questions or provide comments below.  

PERMISSIONS ITEMS

Viewing your own comments: 

The "No One" view permission level of comments will be changed in three ways:

1. The name will be changed from "No One" to "Administrators Only".
2. Each comment submitter will always be able to see all comments s/he has submitted, but not those of others. 
3. Administrators will be able to see all comments.  

This is helpful because members wish to review their own comments for clarity and to confirm that all subjects of interest have been addressed. It also benefits Administrators by avoiding the need to change document permissions in order to view comments.

Standardizing organization-level comment permissions settings:

This helps Administrators by giving them more control of comment permissions via high-level defaults.  Chairs and document submitters still have the ability to over-ride them if needed.  This makes comment permissions more “standard” and similar to document permissions.

Preventing comment-sharing permissions errors:

Workspace will help members select appropriate comment sharing permissions by offering only options that respect previously established Group and Document sharing permissions.  This will prevent members from encountering a “sharing conflict” error message when setting comment permissions in a document details page "Advanced Options" section.

Preventing comment-related errors when voting:

Members will receive better guidance regarding whether they may or may not include a comment when voting.  When a member is voting, Workspace will offer the link to “add comment” only if commenting is permitted for the vote option selected.  (Currently, the “add comment” link is always available.)  This often leads members to submit comments that are then rejected, which prevents submittal of their vote.

Note:  The change to this feature does not completely prevent members from attempting to submit a comment with a vote when they should not.  However, it should significantly reduces the likelihood of occurrence.

ENTERING COMMENTS

Bulk upload of comments:
Administrators and Members sometimes need to enter many comments quickly - typically after an offline review of a document.  In such cases, they usually have written comment notes in a spreadsheet.  This new bulk upload feature will enable them to upload multiple comments simultaneously from a single CSV rather than data-entering them individually through the “add comment” form.  Administrators will be able to upload comments on behalf of other members, while non-administrators will be able to upload only their own comments.

Easier public commenting:

Public commenters will now have the option to enter identification information only once when submitting multiple comments on a single document.  A new button at the bottom of the form will enable commenter to indicate that he wants to create another comment.  In this case, his identification information will be carried over to the next comment along with Section, Page, and Line numbers so that data-entry may proceed more rapidly.

Easier member commenting:

Members will find that entering one or multiple comments is much quicker and easier.  The “add comment” form will be revised to improve data entry.  A new button will enable member to indicate that he wants to submit another comment.  In this case, a new comment window will open automatically (no need to move hand to the mouse and click!) and the Section, Page, and Line number information will be carried over to the next comment.

SORTING and FILTERING

Sorting by Section, Page, Line;  Filtering by Table, Figure, or Paragraph:

In the Comments List view, members will now be able to see Section, Page, and Line information.  It will be visible in the “Document” column below the document name so that sorting can be applied.  The “add comment” form will have a new drop-down to identify whether the comment references a Table, Figure, or Paragraph.  Members will be able to use a filter to select comments based on that field.

AUTOMATIC EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS

Who is automatically notified of comment submission:

Members who are responsible for responding to comments will now automatically receive an email when members add a comment.  These are the document submitter, technical contact and comment owner. 

The same will be true of responses.  Rather than automatically notifying the entire group, a notice will be delivered to document submitter, comment submitter, and comment owner (assigned) only.

TIGHTER ORGANIZATION POLICY SUPPORT

Group affiliation of members who commented when voting:

Administrators and Members will be better able to comply with their organization’s policy regarding comment resolution.  In some organizations where sharing is enabled, voting comments from each group are handled separately.  These offline business processes will be enabled by including group membership for each voter/commenter In the voting results download CSV.

(Read this previous post for more information on when to expect Comment Tracker & how we'll be tracking your feedback to date....)