[DocViewer] Highlight Tool Auto-Open Annotation

[fabianm]

In my testing, the highlight tool in DocViewer doesn't automatically open the annotation. When you highlight a section of text, it shows an icon that you then need to click on in order to add a comment. The text box does not open automatically. For those of us that use the highlight tool extensively to add comments, that's a lot of unnecessary extra clicks.

The annotations text box automatically opens with the other selection tools (strikeout, area selection, and draw). I would like to see the highlight tool work the same way.

[hansardc]

This is something that I have wondered about ever since the DocViewer was released. At first I thought maybe there were other options behind that icon that pops up when you choose the highlighter. However, as you point out, instead, it just means additional pointless clicks. I have asked my peers to vote this one up! 

[s_mccracken]

There is a way to open the text box without clicking the circular icon: hit the enter key. However, this is still an additional pointless key press.(The same Canvas support engineer that told me about the enter key, said hitting spacebar would also do the trick, but that is not correct.) 

There are some slight inaccuracies in the feature suggestion (possibly caused by changes made to the DocViewer since the feature suggestion was made): The following tools have the text box open automatically:

• Point annotation
• Freetext annotation
• Area annotation

whereas the following tools require clicking the circular icon or pressing enter:

• Highlight annotation
• Strikeout annotation
• Free draw annotation

It seems a strange design choice to make these tools work differently. I think that when switching between these tools I will be forever forgetting to press enter, or pressing enter when I do not need to. I do not see any reason not to have the text box open by default for all the tools listed above. An empty text box is hidden as soon as one uses another tool, so anyone who wants to highlight without accompanying text can do so without any aggravation from an unneeded text box.

[akerr]

Totally agree, this seems like a no-brainer! What's even more annoying is that if you select a piece of text on the right-hand edge of the document, the "Add annotation" icon pops up directly BEHIND the Trash icon, making it almost impossible to write your comment!

[doneill]

Yes, this is so annoying. Grading was much easier prior to these "improvements."
In addition, now when you highlight a phrase or sentence, it boxes in all of the lines that have highlighted text and no other corrections can be made on the text within that box. 
This is really frustrating. 

[akerr]

Yes, Dan, I'd been meaning to mention that too! The inability to separately highlight two different parts of the same line is really frustrating. It doesn't seem like it should be that hard to create functional select-and-comment tools, since Microsoft Word has been doing it for the past 20 years or so, and Google Docs has no problem with it either. Very frustrating. 

[doneill]

Thanks much, Scott; hitting the enter key is not nearly as Carpal-Tunnel inducing as hitting enter. But, really, Canvas should just have the comment box open automatically. How often do we highlight without commenting?

[karencorne70]

I don't like the text box opening up whenever I want to highlight a piece of text - sometimes I just want to highlight it. 

[s_mccracken]

I do not see how a text box opening when highlighting something would have any negative effect on someone who just wants to highlight. The text box opens up on the right side of the document (so is not in the way) and if you do not type anything in the text box it disappears once you click anywhere else.

[fitzwatl]

Yes, Dan. This is my greatest frustration with the new tools. I cannot even switch to a different tool to input a comment within a two-line area of the highlighted material. 

Canvas, please fix this.

[mbizer]

I inquired about this particular behavior of the highlight tool, and it is "by design." So please, let's change this design!