Comments and Collaboration in RixDocs

Comments are how a document gets better without anyone overwriting anyone else's work. In RixDocs, comments live on the Review tab, travel inside the .docx file, and work hand in hand with Track Changes — the two together form a complete feedback loop.

Add your first comment

1. Select the exact text you want to discuss — a word for a wording issue, a paragraph for a structural one.
2. Open the Review tab and click New Comment.
3. Type your note in the comments panel.
4. Click back into the document. The selection stays highlighted with a marker in the margin.

Anchoring the comment to a selection matters: "this paragraph is too long" is actionable, while a floating note near the top of the page is not. The panel lists every thread in order, so a reviewer can walk the document comment by comment.

Threads, replies and resolution

Comments in RixDocs are threaded:

• Reply inside an existing thread to keep the discussion in one place.
• Resolve a thread when the issue is handled — the highlight clears and the thread is marked done, but the text is preserved for the record.
• Delete a thread to remove it entirely.

A practical rhythm for team reviews: the author resolves threads as they address each one, so at any moment the unresolved set shows exactly what work remains. Before the final version goes out, delete the remaining threads or accept the changes they argued for.

Comments and Track Changes together

The strongest review pattern pairs both Review tab features:

1. The reviewer turns on Track Changes and edits directly — rewrites, deletions, insertions — plus leaves comments where an opinion needs explaining rather than an edit.
2. The author reads the comments panel, accepts or rejects each tracked change, and resolves each thread.
3. The document converges without a single lost suggestion.

Use comments for *why* — reasoning, questions, alternatives — and tracked changes for *what* — the actual proposed text. When two versions have already diverged without tracking, Compare documents reconstructs the differences at paragraph level.

Sharing reviewed documents

Because comments are part of the .docx model:

• A file reviewed in RixDocs opens with all threads in Microsoft Word, and files commented in Word show their threads in RixDocs.
• Export to PDF when you want a clean read-only copy — decide whether comments should appear before exporting the version for wider distribution.
• For rounds of edits, keep one canonical .docx and pass it back and forth; the comment history becomes the audit trail of the project.

Before you send the final file

A short pre-flight list:

1. Resolve or delete open comment threads.
2. Accept or reject remaining tracked changes.
3. Check the word count and run a final AI Editor proofing pass.
4. Export the PDF from the cleaned .docx.

Privacy note

Comments are stored inside the document file itself, on your device. Nothing is sent anywhere by commenting — collaboration here means passing files between people, with every byte staying under your control, consistent with the byte-preserving engine that handles the file.

What to explore next

• Track Changes to pair feedback with direct edits.
• Compare documents for versions that were edited without tracking.
• Restrict Editing to let reviewers comment while locking the body text.