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Sync comments onto Word docs (or download them)

The document commenting function of the platform is useful for those who comment, but cumbersome to use effectively for those on the receiving end and, worse, confusing when sharing links. For instance, when one shares a link to a Word document with the intention for others to download its latest version, they sometimes think they should be using the online commenting function. As the receiver of these documents, I can't really use those comments effectively, and the best (or least-worst) approach is to have two windows open: one with the online comments, and another with the "actual" document in Word. I have to scroll down to each comment, find each and then respond to them in the Word document itself.

Google drive is seamless at all this. I use Dropbox instead of Drive because it doesn't damage original Word formatting (which is crucial for things like academic references via Endnote or Mendeley).

My suggestion is that you do one (or more) of the following:

- have a visible function to disable commenting on a file to avoid confusions;

- In Word documents, figure out a way to integrate your dropbox comments onto the Word file itself (as a regular Word comment that can later become

- In Word documents, figure out a way to signal comments IN the document itself made via the online platform.

- Have DB comments sync in the Word online version of the doc.

This idea is similar to another one that was closed recently but I hope this is better explained: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-ideas/Download-Comments-as-DOCs-or-PDFs/idi-p/422436

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Microsoft Office

Third Party Integrations

Microsoft

New Ideation Status

Closed - Inactive

Comments

Megan

Hi @carlosfpardo, how are you today?

Your comments on our Microsoft integration have been quite helpful, and I will do everything I can to ensure that your voice is heard.

I'll forward your feedback to the appropriate areas so we can continue to improve.

Thank you!

fh5

Hi,

Just commenting to support the comment at the start of this thread. Sharing Word docs via Dropbox with collaborators often leads to them using the Dropbox commenting function. A huge disadvantage of this is that these comments are only visible (I think) on Dropbox.com, but not when working with the actual word document in Word (it's separate layers of comments, not within Word). This is rather cumbersome for addressing the comments - any change to integrate the two systems, or at minimum to be able to download a PDF version of the doc incl. the comments would be helpful.

Thanks!

Rogaa

Good day @carlosfpardo,

I am just wondering if this addresses your issue by logging in to your Dropbox account on the web browser and click this link : https://www.dropbox.com/account/connected_apps . Under "Default Editing Apps" , you can select how you’d like each file type to open in Dropbox, like with Word docs if you want to " view in Dropbox.com" or " open word for the web" . If you try each of the options and compare the difference, you can choose which option works with what you intend to look like or happen . I was hoping I can insert a screenshot here so you will see what I am trying to explain, however my pc is not allowing me for now. Hope this helps somehow. Cheers!

fh5

Thanks Rogaa. You're kind to try and help, but in case you meant to reply to me (not the previous post) you misunderstood my question. The issue is that comments made on Dropbox.com on a word document - when not commenting within MS Word - can apparently not be integrated back into Word for future work/editing, but comments remain only visible on Dropbox.com. This is because Dropbox allows users to add comments to documents on Dropbox.com in a framework that is outside the Microsoft Word environment.