- To create a note, you have to be in an empty paragraph, then either hit the ' [ ' key (open square bracket), right-click and pick 'Note', or pick 'Note' from the edit menu on the left (the pencil).
- Notes can be showing or not showing: pick 'Show notes' from the options menu on the left (the cog).
- To create a comment, highlight whatever you want to comment on (if you don't highlight anything, it'll select the whole paragraph you're in), then hit Ctrl+M or Cmd+M, or pick 'Comment...' from the right-click or edit menu.
- Comments can be showing, not showing, or show only "open" comments: pick 'Show comments' and 'Show closed comments' from the options menu.
- You can reply to a comment. Each comment or reply is tagged with the person who wrote it, and all replies are displayed as a thread.
Why use a Note?
(They're really for whatever you like, so these are my own thoughts, how I personally use them)
- Since they actually sit right in the flow of the script, they make really good placeholders. eg:
- "This moment should show how much braver Rachel is than Travis"
"Need to come up with a better description for the bar here"
"Scene where we finally get to see the hooded figure. Needs to be fast and kinda shocking."
- If you're filming or rehearsing or group-reading the film, they can be useful for production notes.
- Finally (if you're upgraded) you can drop pictures into them. Very useful for inspiration, descriptions, memory-prompts etc. You can do this with any other type of paragraph too, but if you only ever put pictures in notes, the fact that they hide at the same time makes it "one-click" to switch between the 'final' and 'behind-the-scenes' versions of your script.
Why use a comment?
- Comments are inherently interactive. You can use them on your own, but they're good for questions and comments on the text, or individual words, phrases as written etc. Each comment and reply is by particular collaborator, so they're like chats about a particular section of the script.
- When, say, the idea has been incorporated into the script, you can "Close" the comment by clicking 'Close comment' from the little drop-down arrow menu. If closed comments aren't being shown it'll disappear, so only ongoing or active comments remain visible.
- You can put clickable links into comments or replies, just type or paste a link like regular text. YouMeScript picks it up, and shows 'Link' instead, but you can hover it to see what it links to. Clicking a link opens it in a new tab.
- If you're upgraded you can create a special link which takes someone directly to a comment for eg emailing to a colleague. Pick 'Link to this' from the little drop-down arrow menu at top-right of the comment, then paste and send the link you get. When the receiver clicks it, they're taken to that comment after the script opens.
Incidentally, neither comments nor notes affect the page-count of the script (the page you see onscreen just stretches for notes), and they don't export to PDF. However, notes do print, or print to PDF, if they're being shown at the time.
Hope this clarifies things and gives you ideas.