In some drawings, you want to provide your reader with additional
information that doesn’t need to be visible at all times. Visio
provides two convenient options with very different characteristics:
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ScreenTips display pop-up text
when you point to a shape, but they are otherwise invisible. Indeed,
there is no way to know that a ScreenTip exists unless you point to a
shape containing one and a pop-up appears.
Important
ScreenTips are part of a shape. Consequently, they move with a shape and are deleted when you delete a shape.
-
Comments provide a visible
indication of their presence, but require you to click the indicator in
order to view the text of the comment. Each comment stores and displays
the name of the comment author and the date when it was created. New in
Visio 2013, one comment shape can contain multiple comments from
multiple authors; individual entries are displayed in chronological
order.
Important
If one shape is selected when you add a comment, the comment will be
attached to that shape. If more than one shape is selected when you add
a comment, the comment will be attached to the anchor shape . If no shapes are selected, the comment will be attached to the drawing page.
In general, use ScreenTips
to provide useful but noncritical information about a shape. You should
make the assumption that the reader may discover a ScreenTip, but also
may not. Use comments when it is vital that the reader know that they
exist and when it is important to know who created the comment and when.
In this exercise, you’ll add a ScreenTip to a shape. You’ll also add and edit a comment.
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In the Shapes window, click Computers and Monitors. The Computers And Monitors stencil opens.
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Drag a PC shape onto the page.
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On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click the ScreenTip button to open the Shape ScreenTip dialog box.
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Type I need a new PC in the dialog box, and then click OK.
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Point to the PC and observe the pop-up text that you’ve created.
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Drag a Laptop shape from the Computers and Monitors stencil onto the page.
-
With the laptop shape still selected, on the Review tab, in the Comments
group, click the New Comment
button.
Tip
Comments are part of the review feature set in Visio. Consequently,
you will find comment buttons on the Review tab and not on the Insert
tab where you found ScreenTips.
Visio drops a comment indicator and an edit box for the comment body
onto the page. The indicator is located in the upper-right corner of
the shape and looks like a cartoon dialog balloon; the edit box appears
above or near it.
-
Type This laptop contains Visio Professional 2013.
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Click anywhere on the background of the page to close the comment edit box.
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Point to the comment balloon but don’t click it, which causes Visio to display the word Comments but only for as long as you continue to point to the indicator.
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Click once on the comment indicator to view the Visio display of the comment edit box.
-
Click in the Reply
area of the edit box and type It also contains Office Professional 2013.
Tip
If you click on the text of the previous comment, you can edit it instead of typing a reply.
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Click anywhere outside the comment balloon to close it and then click the balloon again to reopen the comment box.
The comment feature in Visio 2013 is much more robust than in
previous versions because it supports threaded conversations.
Tip
If you prefer not to view pictures of the person who made a comment,
click the blue triangle to the left of the person’s name to collapse
the view.
Note
CLEAN UP Save your changes to the Text and Data on Shapes drawing, and then close it.
Tip
You can turn all comment indicators in your drawing on or off by clicking the lower part of the Comments pane button in the Comments group on the Review tab, and then clicking Reveal Tags.
