Pearl Comments™ Browser Extension

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

The Pearl Comments browser extension works with Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and 3.6 on Mac OS, Windows, and Linux.

Browser Installation

If you already have a copy of the Pearl Comments extension package (e.g., if you are installing from a CD), open the xpi file in your browser and 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 prompted to install the software.
Note: By default, Firefox limits the sites from which you may install extensions. If you see a notice at the top of the page that says that Firefox prevented the site from asking to install software, click Allow and try again. To avoid this step in the future, modify your browser preferences to add use.pearlcomments.com to the list of sites allowed to install software.
The software installation prompt will initially show a disabled Install button but it will become enabled after a few seconds. Click the Install Now button.
Quit and restart your browser to complete the installation process.
If you don't see Pearl Comments on the left side of the browser window, the sidebar needs to be opened. Choose Open Pearl Comments from the browser context menu or open the sidebar by choosing Pearl Comments from the View menu's Sidebar submenu.

Configuration

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

Click the Preferences link in the Pearl Comments sidebar. Preferences may also be accessed in the usual way. Choose Add-ons from the Firefox Tools menu, locate Pearl Comments in the list and click on it, and then click the Options button at the bottom of the Add-ons window.
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.
By default, comments with status "Closed" are not shown in the sidebar. To see closed comments check the Show all comments check box.
Choose whether to replace your name with "me" when displaying comments.
Choose whether to ignore query strings within URLs (the portion that begins with '?') when retrieving or creating comments.
Click the OK button.

Adding a Comment

Comments are attached to specific web pages.

Go to a web page where you want to attach a comment.
Make a selection on the page 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 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 at the 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.

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.

Viewing Comments on Web Pages

Comments may be shown on web pages as icons or as full comments that look like "sticky notes." To enable this, click the Pearl Comments toolbar item and choose Show Comment Icons or Show Comments from the menu that is displayed. (By default, the Pearl Comments toolbar item is located to the right of the Firefox Home item).

The Pearl Comments sidebar must be open to see icons or comments on the web page.
To close a comment, click the close box located in its top right corner.
To open a comment, click its icon.
To temporarily move a comment, click the top portion and drag.
Comments are color-coded based on their status (orange for "In Progress," green for "Completed," yellow for everything else).

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.
To change the size of the text used to display comments, open the context menu and choose Increase Text Size or Decrease Text Size (in the comments display area, right-click on Windows or control-click on Macintosh to open the context menu).

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.
Open the context menu (right-click on Windows or control-click on Macintosh) and choose the desired status.

Note: By default, comments with status "Closed" are not shown in the sidebar (to change this, toggle the Show all comments check box in the Pearl Comments preferences).

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 preferences. This will protect the information as it is sent over the network.

Uninstalling the Pearl Comments Extension

From the Tools menu choose Add-ons to open the Add-ons window.
Locate Pearl Comments in the list and click on it.
Click the Uninstall button (in the bottom left corner of the window).
Click the OK button to confirm removal. The software will be uninstalled when you next restart the application.