Skip to main content
OsakaWebbie
Inspiring
November 16, 2021
Question

Show comment replies in ascending date order?

  • November 16, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 4338 views

The default order of comment replies in both Acrobat Pro and Adobe Reader is driving my team crazy. [Team: a magazine's proofreader (Reader), designer (me: Acrobat), and managing editor (Reader), who all have input on the same set of PDFs.] From what I can tell, the original comment is first, then the latest reply by someone else, then earlier replies by others, then finally whatever the current person just wrote. And sometimes even that order isn't consistent, mysteriously putting the newest comment somewhere in the middle of the list. It's maddening! What we all would like is for the replies to be in ascending date order, so we can read it like a transcript of a conversation - the initial comment, then the first reply, then the second reply, and so on. Is there any way to do that? Yes, I'm open to a plugin or other customization, especially if it can be added to both Acrobat and Reader.

This topic has been closed for replies.

4 replies

OsakaWebbie
Inspiring
December 15, 2024

Thanks for the in-depth list of suggestions...

1. I have no interest in changing the order of comments - ordered by location within the document is perfectly fine.

2. Way too much work. These documents are for proofreading a magazine, not kept for posterity.

3. I was hoping someone who already knows scripting might have done it - I don't have the skills to try that.

4. It shouldn't be necessary to ask our whole team to learn a new tool just because of this one annoyance - I suspect that abandoning Adobe would have downsides also.

5. Okay, I wrote a request - please vote for it here: https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/49219289-list-replies-to-a-comment-in-chronological-order

New Participant
December 15, 2024

Hi OsakaWebbie, I understand how frustrating the comment order can be. Unfortunately, there isn't a built-in way to sort comment replies in ascending date order in Acrobat Pro or Adobe Reader. You might want to check the ticket for any updates or look for third-party plugins that could help with this customization. If you find any solutions, it would be great to share them with the team!

New Participant
April 30, 2024

The issue still occurs in 2024, I have Acrobat Pro 2023.001.20143 and I already had the "Allow nested replies to sticky notes*" option selectyed nad still get the same issue where hte replies do not make sense because they are out of the order in which they were written.

 

THis is not fixed!

New Participant
July 2, 2024

It is July 2024 and the Adobe Pro on my work laptop has the SAME "problem".  Clicking the "allow nested replies..." setting, then closing Adobe and reopening with the setting turned on, made no difference. Replies are still ordered all "out of order".

Meenakshi Negi
Community Manager
Community Manager
November 16, 2021

Hello,

 

Thank you for rraching out.

 

As you wish to change the order of the comments added in the PDF as per the date it was added, you may use the sort option to Date for the comments.

- In the application, open the PDF and go to the Comment PDF.

- In the comment pane at the right, click on the Sort Comments options as shown in the screenshot below:

 

- Then select Date from the list of the options.

Check if that works.

 

Let us know if you are referring to something else.

 

Thanks,

Meenakshi

OsakaWebbie
Inspiring
November 16, 2021

Thanks for the reply. But I am indeed referring to something else. I'm happy to have the comments sorted by "Page" (location on the page). What I want to fix is the sorting order of the replies under each comment.

Meenakshi Negi
Community Manager
Community Manager
December 1, 2021

Hello!

 

Sorry for the delay in response.

 

As you wish to sort the comments replies as per the date, it will be in sequence if you use the reply tab in the comment box. You do not need to create a new comment to reply to one. Please check the screenshot below:

 

If you add a reply in the box, it will add up to the main comment in the sequence of the reply added.

Hope the information helps.

 

If you are referring to some other issue, please share some sample files so we can check.

Let us know if you have any questions.

 

Thanks,

Meenakshi