[Solved] Comments in a MS word document does not show

[peternielsen5]

Hi.

I use OpenOffice 2.x on a linux machine.

I'm not able to see other user's comments in a MS word document. I keep the document in the format "MS Word latest version" cause I need my colleagues to comment the document, and they use MS Word.

This is what happens:

I copy an existing MS word document and start editing the text to suit my needs. When done I save the doc and send it to my colleague for review and comment.

He opens the document in MS word and adds some comments using the comment tool/ option in MS word. He then sends the doc back to me.

When I open the document I can see that some of the lines in the text is marked with a comment - but I can't see the actual comment it self. When I open this commented doc in MS Word, I can read the actual comment - but in OpenOffice it won't show.

I should mention that when I create changes in the document - the accept/ reject changes tool work flawless.

What to do?

[Hagar Delest]

What MS Word calls comments are notes in OOo. Menu Insert>Notes. The current feature is really poor. The good news is that there is a summer code project to improve it. See here : http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Notes2.

Note that you can access all the Notes/Comments with the Navigator (F5), in the Notes tree. You'll notice that the notes are shown as tiny yellow rectangles in the text.

Thanks to add '[Solved]' in your first post title (edit button) if your issue has been fixed.

[peternielsen5]

Thanks - the navigator did the trick for me. I can now see all notes and double clicking a given note, put the cursor into the relevant spot in the text!

[AndrewZ]

The OOo 3.0 alpha (containing the new notes feature) is ready now. Here are download links and a screenshot of Notes2. Please test and report any bugs.

OpenOffice.org 3.0's new features, an early look

[JasonGawker]

Hey,

Just wanted to say I had the exact same problem myself and I'm very glad to see there's an available solution to the problem. Ultimately, this makes Open Office one of the best open source based word processors out there, and a definitive replacement for the expensive retail version. My little recommendation to you guys, that are running it on Linux, is reading this little book. It's my little secret and I find it highly useful, informative, and enlightening for any open source/linux/etc advocate.

Jason

[jrhuerga]

I am working with some colleagues reviewing a document; they are using MS Word, and I am working with StarOffice 8 (Product Update 9). The problem is that only a fraction of the comments/notes are showed as small yellow squares, but the rest of the comments/notes are only available if I use the navigator.

This morning, in a meeting, the situation has been quite frustrating because everybody was talking about some comments/notes that I had no idea about its existence. I was pretty sure that I saw all the comments/notes, but the reality has been that I was seeing only the ones that appeared as small yellow squares.

Can I install Notes2 in my StarOffice, or is it only available for OpenOffice?

Thank you.

[Hagar Delest]

Have you made the Non Printing characters to be shown? Sometimes you've to activate their display (View>Non printing characters or CTRL+F10).

[jrhuerga]

Yes: the behaviour is the same. There are five comments together (four from one user, and one from another user) and I can see just one small yellow square. This square shows just the comment from the second user, but the other four comments are missing, and I can only see them if I use the navigator.

[AndrewZ]

Can I install Notes2 in my StarOffice

No

or is it only available for OpenOffice?

No

I expect by the end of 2008, the next StarOffice should have Notes2 integrated. StarOffice 9? Both StarOffice and OpenOffice.org are based on the same code, and SO seems to have the features a short while later. Maybe part of the strategy is let the "freeloading" users find the bugs.

[jrhuerga]

Ok, let's wait then until Christmas.

By the way... what do you think about this problem with the comments / notes ? Do I have any option for watching all the comments / notes? Using the navigator for reading the comments/notes is very tedious, as the list of comments/notes in the navigator is not sorted by position in the document, so it is very difficult to read the document.

I have asked to my work-mates to generate a PDF from MS Word as a work-around for me, and at least being able to read all the comments / notes. The problem is that this document is in continuous change, so I will need to regenerate the PDF a lot of times every week.

[Hagar Delest]

Personally, I would not use OOo in such case, when the features are not fully compatible. Too easy to miss something as you've seen. At work, I don't use OOo for documents that needs to be released officially for example.

[jrhuerga]

Ok, but I am afraid that 95% of times I use a word processor is at work, so this means not using StarOffice at all.

Do you really think that StarOffice is a dangerous tool to be used when at work you need to collaborate in the same .doc with people that are using MS Word ? There are a lot of companies that are considering the option of using Ubuntu + OpenOffice instead of XP + MS Office, and this could be a big drawback.

[AndrewZ]

You can install OpenOffice.org beta/developer snapshot on the same machine in parallel to OOo 2.x /SO8.

[jrhuerga]

Is StarOffice more reliable than OpenOffice? I mean... would you use StarOffice (but not OpenOffice) for documents that need to be released officially ?

[Hagar Delest]

Do you really think that StarOffice is a dangerous tool to be used when at work you need to collaborate in the same .doc with people that are using MS Word ?

Yes, at 80%. The remaining 20% are when you're sure that you won't use any advanced feature that may have compatibility issues. NB: it may change now that binary MS Office file formats (.doc, .xlx, ...) specifications have been released 2 months ago.

There are a lot of companies that are considering the option of using Ubuntu + OpenOffice instead of XP + MS Office, and this could be a big drawback.

If the switch is for all the users, then, I don't think it's a problem as soon as they use the native ODF format.

NB: no opinion at all for SO/OOo as I've never used SO.

[Gossie]

Does anyone know, is the Open Office Writer that's in Suse Linux Desktop 10 more compatible?

I work for a publisher, in the last phase of a book when the text is already partly edited. They work with MS Word and I work with Open Office Writer 2.3. I am having the same problem with sharing notes.

Suse Linux Desktop should have 100% compatibility, if I may believe the advertising on Novell's website.

Have a nice day,

Lucas