Need transparent background on pushpin graphic

[bafbaf]

This enhancement applies to Collaborator, version 9.4

In document reviews, the new pushpins are being rendered with opaque background.  The white background is covering the text under the pin. This makes it difficult to read the document when multiple pins are present.

Example: => "wi??n"

You can click "Hide Pins", but this hides all of the non-active pins, but not the one you are trying to read at the time.

Please make the white background of the pushpin transparent or allow me to update the pushpin graphic file on the server to include transparent background.

[ssmorgan]

Users are not generally aware that with more careful placement of pins, they can usually avoid obscuring text.  Perhaps a warning could happen the first time a user obscures text with a push-pin.

However, there are times when if you hover over a pin, a mechanism to make it transparent would be extremely helpful.

[scline]

I find the opaque push pin annoying.  Pins are placed in a document or code file at the point where a change occurs. Example: if I am reviewing a complicated formula in a piece of code and I find an error. I want the push pin at the point of error. If I place it in the white space at the end of a line I would likely need to copy the formula into the comment and apply the correction in order for the author and other reviewers to know that the 3rd '-' should be a '+'. Seems very inefficient.

[ssmorgan]

I agree scline (above) that it important to be able to place the pin at the exact point in the document.

What if you could then select the pin and drag the object  to a non-obscuring spot with an arrow point the original placement?

Because it is also is not always clear which the selected pin is. what if the selected pin blinked on and off?

I do think hovering over a pin making transparent would be extremely helpful as well.

[pbauer]

Too much is covered by the new pins.  I would rather see the old pins with a small number in them than I would the new pins and number.  Took much is covered.  The old pins were more slender, had a finer location, and did not cover nearly as much.  I like the comment above (ssmorgan) about selecting and dragging to another location.  It could be like a Word document comment where you highlight it, and then it puts the comment over in the margin.  Just some way of not obscuring the area around the pin.

[dreemen]

When the pin obscures the text, it slows down our reviews; so I'd love a change, too.

WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING:

Adobe Acrobat's method is easy to read: when adding a comment, they put a sticky-note icon (equivalent to CC's pin) on the user-selected location, then the text box is to the side, with a yellow line leading to the sticky-note icon.  They still have the weakness of obscuring the doc with the icon, but they allow you to zoom-in, and the icon stays the same size while the doc grows bigger (so that eventually you can see the obscured part).

I've seen other PDF editors that create a text ballon when you click, with an arrow to the point first-clicked.  The text ballon is moveable.

IDEAS:

Pin-Arrow: I think an improvement over Acrobat's method would be for Code Collaborator to make a yellow arrow from the pin to the use-selected location, and then the pin could go anywhere.  I'd recommend that the yellow arrow be color inverting, so it will still show up in case it is being placed onto a yellow document.  Perhaps this pin-arrow concept could be made such that the first click sets the arrow head, and the second click sets the pin location. Extra points if they can be dragged after placement (I know, now I'm pushing it!).

Arrow as New Artifact: Let me be extravagant for a moment -- but it might actually be easier to implement: Keep the current functionality with the pins.  But then allow users to add yellow arrows anywhere, that don't have to be tracked.  This feature would allow me to put my pin in an empty margin, then draw an arrow from it to the location of interest.  Additionally, I could draw multiple arrows from one pin to several identical targets (e.g. "this item needs wheels in the following locations", or "you missed a period in these three sentences").  Maybe the arrow tail always comes from the pin automatically, or maybe you just let them free-draw it like in Paint or Visio or Word....

Just some ideas...

[jcf]

The old pins looked like pushpins and were clearly placed by collaborator. the opaque rectangles of the new pins almost appear to be part of the document, and are less clearly part of the pin. The rectangle obscures the pin graphic, making it unrecognizable as a pushpin. having a number is a good idea, but putting a small number on the pushpin graphic like pbauer suggested would be much better than what we currently have.

[OlegGontarenko]

Implemented in Collaborator 14.3