---
title: "04 Comments"
canonical_url: https://mdflow.cz/share/c/h0L7MvX5Cy5sST3qPnApqHOmrQ36JTVy169qJMtDMya9Kc30zm04cg9OuPSSPwvj/903dfdf8-7a29-4d3c-9282-1e595e474e49
md_url: https://mdflow.cz/share/c/h0L7MvX5Cy5sST3qPnApqHOmrQ36JTVy169qJMtDMya9Kc30zm04cg9OuPSSPwvj/903dfdf8-7a29-4d3c-9282-1e595e474e49.md
visibility: public
---

# Comments

Readers can attach comments to **selected passages** of a shared document. Comments are available on **both plans**.

## Enabling comments

Commenting is enabled or disabled **per document** (and per collection), alongside the sharing setting itself.

For **public** shares, anyone signed in can comment when it is enabled. For **private email shares** (Pro), you choose per person: view only, or view and comment. See [01 Public Share Links](/doc/4691db3e-cee1-45b0-bad8-997709083105) and [02 Private Sharing by Email](/doc/2f9bcf96-ec27-400c-bd59-8d67391a8cf6).

## How commenting works

- Comments attach to **selected passages in the read-only markdown source** view.
- Commented passages are **highlighted directly in the markdown view**.
- The panel is a **side panel on desktop** and a **slide-over drawer on smaller screens**.
- Each comment shows its **quoted passage**, the author's **display name and avatar**, and a **relative timestamp**.
- **Jump** from a comment in the panel to its highlighted passage.
- Authors can **delete their own comments**.
- The panel **refreshes automatically** while a discussion is happening, so you are not reading a stale thread.

## Commenting requires signing in

A reader can view a public document anonymously, but must **sign in to comment**. Signing in from the shared page returns them to the same page and **automatically resumes** the Comment action they were attempting.

## Moderating as the owner

You read and moderate comments from the **normal workspace editor** — you do not have to open your own share link.

As the owner you can **delete any comment**, not just your own.

## Comments survive unsharing

Two behaviours that save awkwardness:

- Comments are **preserved when public sharing is disabled**, and shown again when commenting is re-enabled. Turning a link off to tidy up does not destroy a discussion.
- Comments whose original text was **edited away** are kept as **orphaned notes**. They remain visible and deletable, but without a stale highlight pointing at text that no longer exists.

## Privacy

- **Commenters see only display names and avatars — never email addresses.** This holds for public and private shares alike.
- **Comment access requires possession of the active, random share URL.** Knowing a document's ID is not enough to read or write its comments.
- **Browser sessions cannot enumerate the comments table directly.**
- Disabling sharing invalidates the URL permanently, which cuts off comment access along with read access.

## What comments are not

Worth being clear about the boundaries, so you do not plan a workflow around something that is not there:

- **No replies.** Comments are flat — there are no threads.
- **No approval workflows**, resolve/unresolve states, or assignment.
- **No preview-anchored annotations.** Comments attach to the markdown **source**, not to the rendered preview.
- **No notifications.** MDflow does not email you when someone comments.

Comments are a lightweight way for readers to point at a passage and say something about it. For anything heavier, the document itself — and the Tasks view — is a better instrument. See [06 Tasks](/doc/0a55924e-39bf-4e84-ba9e-1abe68c0e0bf).