Summary
The Add Annotation 
and Note Annotation 
buttons are not always available. They can be greyed out because of some system settings. The list below gives an overview of possible causes.
Symptoms
- A user cannot add any annotations.
- The Add Annotation and Note Annotation buttons are disabled (greyed out).
Solution
The annotation buttons can be disabled for different reasons. These reasons are explained in more detail below.
To find out which of the reasons applies to your situation, hover over the greyed out Add Annotation or Note Annotation button to see a tool tip.
Example:
Compare mode
When you are in Compare mode, to see the current document and the reference document compared, you can choose which annotations to show in the Annotation List. Make sure you see the annotations of the current document, because modification of annotations of the reference document is not allowed. The current document is the document selected in the Current document selector; the reference document is the document selected in the Compare to document selector.
In View both - blinking compare mode, annotations are disabled.
Not the latest document version
You can only add or edit annotations on the latest version of the document.
System setting
Adding annotations is blocked because of a system setting defined in Admin > Preferences > General > Viewer Preferences > Annotate Approved Documents.
Warn if Approved (default) | A warning is shown when making a new annotation on an already approved document. |
Enabled | No limitations. |
Read-only if Approved | No new annotations can be made on an already approved document. A message is shown in the Annotation List and add/edit controls are disabled. |
Warn if Approved or Rejected | A warning is shown when making a new annotation on an already approved or rejected document. |
Read-only if Approved or Rejected | No new annotations can be made on an already approved or rejected document. A message is shown in the Annotation List and add/edit controls are disabled. |
Annotations can also be blocked because of the system setting defined in Admin > Preferences > General > Viewer Preferences > Annotate Documents under Approval.
| All Users (default) | All users with view access to a document can annotate the document while it is being approved. |
All Approvers and Approval Master | All users (approvers and approval master) defined in the document approval setup (all stages) for the current version can annotate the document while it is being approved. |
All Approvers | All approvers defined in the document approval setup (all stages) for the current version can annotate the document while it is being approved. |
Pending Approvers and Approval Master | Only the approval master or approvers who can submit an approval state (Approve or Reject) for the current version can annotate the document while it is being approved. |
Pending Approvers Only | Only approvers who can submit an approval state (Approve or Reject) for the current version can annotate the document while it is being approved. |
- A document version is considered under approval as soon as an approval cycle has been started.
- Project Managers who can only submit a Forced (Approve or Reject) approval state is not considered an approver.
- As soon as the document version is (force) approved/rejected, the document is no longer considered under approval.
| Article information | |
|---|---|
| Applies to | WebCenter 14 and newer |
| Created | 24-Jun-14 |
| Last revised | |
| Author | BAMT |
| CW Number | |