Pearl Comments™ Browser Extension for Internet Explorer

For Assistance or to Provide Feedback

If the Pearl Comments browser extension is installed, choose Send Feedback from the sidebar's context menu.
Visit the Pearl Comments support page at https://pearlcrescent.com/pearlcomments/support/ which includes email and telephone contact information.
Check the Release Notes for information specific to this release.

System Requirements

Pentium II or better with at least 256MB system memory and 5MB of free disk space.
Microsoft® Windows XP, 2000, or 98.
Internet Explorer 5.0SP2 or later.

Installation

If you already have a copy of the Setup program (e.g., if you are installing from a CD), skip to step 4.
Load this URL in a browser window: https://use.pearlcomments.com/download/
Follow the prompts. After you click the "Download" button on the web site, you will be asked to save the installer (Setup.exe) as a local file.
Start the installation process by opening the Setup program. Follow the prompts.
Start Internet Explorer.
Open the Pearl Comments sidebar by choosing Open Pearl Comments from the browser context menu or by choosing Pearl Comments from the View menu's Explorer Bar submenu.

Configuration

If you've never used Pearl Comments before, you'll need to set the location of the server (where the comments are stored).

Right click in the Pearl Comments sidebar to open the context menu and choose Pearl Comments Options...
Choose the service type by clicking the corresponding radio button and entering the relevant information:
- For the Pearl Comments hosted service, enter an Organization ID.
- For a different service, enter the full name of your server in the Server Name field, e.g., stage.example.com.
  If the server is configured for secure access (SSL), check the Use secure connection (SSL) check box.
  Unless you have been told otherwise, leave the Comments Path field empty.
Enter your Pearl Comments user name and password in the appropriate fields. Check Remember my password if desired.
By default, comments with status "Closed" are not shown in the sidebar. To see closed comments check the Show all comments check box.
Click the OK button.

Adding a Comment

Comments are attached to specific web pages.

Using your browser, go to a web page where you want to attach a comment.
Make a selection in the browser for the specific area where your comment applies (if no selection is made, the comment will be attached to the entire page). Alternatively, you can choose Select This For Pearl Comments from the browser's context menu which will select the image or portion of text that you clicked on.
Type your comment text in the bottom portion of the Pearl Comments sidebar. You can set the font size and apply styles. You can also drag & drop or paste information into this edit field.
Choose a topic from the Topic drop-down list (or type in a new topic).
Click the "Add" icon (to the right of the Topic drop-down list) to add the comment to the server or use the Ctrl-Enter keyboard shortcut. Pearl Comments will reload the comments for the page, and your new comment will be displayed at the top of the comments display area (the newest comments are displayed on top).

Viewing Comments

The three tabs along the top of the comments display area control which comments are displayed. The View drop-down list may be used to provide additional control.

Using the Current Page Tab

The Current Page tab shows comments for the currently loaded web page. To view a subset of the comments, choose a topic, an author, or a status value from the View drop-down list. To see all comments for the web page, choose All from the View drop-down list.

Using the Any Page Tab

The Any Page tab shows comments regardless of which page is currently loaded in the browser.

To view all comments for a particular topic, choose the topic from the View drop-down list.
To view all comments made by a particular person, choose the person's name from the View drop-down list.
To view all comments that have a particular status, choose the appropriate status value from the View drop-down list.

Using the Recent Tab

The Recent tab shows all comments that have been added or modified recently. Choose the appropriate date range from the drop-down list to control which comments are displayed. Additionally, you may filter comments with the View drop-down list to see recent comments made by a particular person, for a particular topic, or that have a particular status.

Tips for Viewing Comments

If you see a comment in the Any Page tab or the Recent tab and would like to see the page to which it applies, click on that comment's topic link. You may then want to switch to the Current Page tab to see other comments for that page.
If a comment has been modified, positioning the mouse pointer over the first line of text which contains the date and author will cause a tooltip to appear. The tooltip shows when the comment was last modified and who changed it.

Deleting a Comment

View the comment (using one of the methods described under Viewing Comments).
Select the comment by clicking on the first line of text which contains the date and author.
Click the "Delete" icon (to the right of the View drop-down list).
Click the OK button to confirm deletion of that comment.

Modifying a Comment

View the comment (using one of the methods described under Viewing Comments).
Select the comment by clicking on the first line of text which contains the date and author.
Click the "Modify" icon (to the right of the View drop-down list).
Make changes to the text, topic, and/or status of the comment in the bottom portion of the sidebar.
If you want to cancel the changes you've made, click the "Discard Changes" icon (above the Topic drop-down list).
Click the "Save changes" icon (to the right of the Topic drop-down list) to change the comment on the server or use the Ctrl-Enter keyboard shortcut.

Changing the Status of a Comment

View the comment (using one of the methods described under Viewing Comments).
Select the comment by clicking on the first line of text which contains the date and author. Note: By default, comments with status "Closed" are not shown in the sidebar.
Open the context menu (by clicking with the right mouse button) and choose the desired status.

Privacy and Security Considerations

When the Pearl Comments sidebar is open, the location (URL) of each page you view may be sent to the Pearl Comments Server. The server returns the comments associated with the page to the browser extension and they are displayed in the sidebar. This means that the people who manage the server may see the URL of each page you visit. To prevent this information from being sent, switch to the Any Page tab or the Recent tab within the Pearl Comments sidebar or close the sidebar completely.

The Pearl Comments hosted service uses SSL (secure sockets layer) to ensure that URLs and other information such as your Pearl Comments password are not sent over the network in the clear. If you are using another service and it is configured for SSL, make sure you check the Use secure connection (SSL) check box in the Pearl Comments options. This will protect the information as it is sent over the network.

Uninstallation

Exit Internet Explorer.
Open Add or Remove Programs within the Windows Control Panel.
Locate Pearl Comments in the list and click on it.
Click the Remove button (in the bottom left corner of the dialog).
Click the Uninstall button to confirm removal. The software will be uninstalled.

Copyright

This product includes Redland software (http://librdf.org/) developed at the Institute for Learning and Research Technology, University of Bristol, UK (https://www.bristol.ac.uk/). Copyright 2000-2005 Dave Beckett, Institute for Learning and Research Technology, University of Bristol. (more)

Revised 2-May-2006.