# Comments Per-test discussion threads. Live updates, every role can post (including viewers), and authors can delete their own comments. Per-test discussion threads with live updates. Every account member — including viewers — can leave comments; authors can delete their own at any time. Every test has its own comments panel on the test detail page. Use it for hypothesis discussions while a test is running, interpretations once results come in, or just a record of decisions made. Comments are per-test, so each thread stays focused on one experiment. Comments are intentionally the one place where every role can take an action — viewers included. Review is a collaborative activity, and viewers are usually the reviewers, so they can react and ask questions even though they can't edit the test itself. ## Who can do what ### Posting a comment Available to every role: owner, admin, member, and viewer. Comments are the one collaborative action viewers can take. ### Deleting a comment Only the original author can delete their own comment. Admins and owners can't remove other people's comments through the dashboard. ### Editing Not supported. Delete and repost if you need to change something significant. For small typos, most teams just leave them — comments are conversational. ## Live updates The comments panel subscribes to a WebSocket channel for the test, so new comments and deletions appear in everyone's view immediately — no refresh required. Your own comments also appear through the same channel; you don't see a momentary form reset before the comment shows up. ## What's not supported (yet) - **@-mentions** — tag teammates and ping them. Today, write the name in plain text; they'll see it when they next open the test. - **Markdown / rich text** — bold, links, code blocks. Plain text only for now. - **Editing** — see above; delete and repost if needed. - **Threaded replies** — comments are a flat list ordered by post time. - **Slack/email notifications** — the Notifications system covers test lifecycle events, not comments. We're tracking comment-to-Slack as a future improvement. - **Inclusion in shared report links** — shared reports are read-only and externally-facing; comments stay private to the account. > **Comment etiquette** > > **State your hypothesis when you start.** A comment at launch explaining what you expect and why gives the team a clear reference point when results come in. > > **Record the decision when you complete.** A short note explaining why you shipped, didn't ship, or extended the test makes the comments thread a real experiment log. > > **Use comments, not test descriptions, for conversation.** The test name, hypothesis, and description are dedicated fields — keep them as the authoritative statement of the experiment. Comments are where teammates respond and discuss. > > **Delete instead of edit.** Since edits aren't supported, posting a correction below your original comment is fine — but for clarity, you can also delete your original and post a fresh one. Either is normal. ## Frequently asked questions ### Where do comments show up? On the test's detail page. Every test has a comments panel where teammates can leave notes for each other — hypothesis discussions while a test is running, interpretations once results come in, or just a record of decisions made. Comments are per-test, not per-account or per-project, so each thread stays focused on one experiment. ### Who can comment? Everyone on the account — owner, admin, member, and viewer. Comments are the one place where viewers can take an action: they can read everything, and they can leave comments to react or ask questions, even though they can't make any other kind of change. This is intentional — review is a collaborative activity and viewers are usually the reviewers. ### Who can delete a comment? Only the author. If you posted it, you can delete it; nobody else can. Admins and owners can't moderate other people's comments through the dashboard. If you need to remove someone else's comment, ask them to delete it, or escalate to support if it's an urgent issue. ### Can I edit a comment after posting? Not in-place. The simplest pattern is: delete and re-post if the change is significant. For small typos, most teams just live with them — comments are conversational, not permanent record-keeping. ### Are comments live, or do I need to refresh? Live. Every comments panel subscribes to a WebSocket channel for the test, so when someone else posts or deletes a comment you see the change immediately without refreshing. The same mechanism handles your own comments — they appear in the thread without a page reload. ### Do comments trigger Slack or email notifications? Not today. The notifications system (Slack and generic webhooks, daily digest) covers test lifecycle events — started, paused, completed, decision-threshold-reached — but not comments. If you want comment activity in Slack, the workaround is to use Slack's own integration with your dashboard URL pattern. ### Can I @-mention someone or use Markdown? Not today. Comments are plain text. We're tracking @-mentions and Markdown as a future improvement; in the meantime, just write the person's name and they'll see it when they next open the test. ### What's the right etiquette for comments? Use them like a Slack thread for one specific test. Good comment patterns: stating your hypothesis when you start, calling out interesting interim results, recording the final decision and rationale when you complete the test, flagging unexpected behavior for someone to investigate. Avoid using comments as a substitute for the test description or hypothesis — those have dedicated fields. ### Are comments included in shared report links? No. Shared reports are intentionally read-only and externally-facing; they only show the results page itself, not internal discussion. Comments stay private to the account. ### What happens to comments when a test is archived or deleted? Comments are attached to the test. If the test is archived, comments stay attached and visible when you open the archived test. If a draft is deleted (the only state where deletion is allowed), its comments are deleted along with it. --- Canonical page: https://www.otterab.com/docs/analyzing-results/comments