Notes

Annotate data with notes to add descriptive context

Notes are static text added to a data point or report to provide some descriptive details.

Observe that unlike comments, notes do not have reply threads or automatic timestamps, and they remain attached unless they are deleted or removed due to layout changes.

You can insert notes at the cell level, row or column header level, as a notes column, or as footnotes.

Plan also provides an option to add notes at the report level as shown below.

In reports with a large number of hierarchies, notes are rolled up to the subtotal and grand total levels even when the hierarchies are collapsed. This allows executives to view summarized, collapsed reports while still seeing exception notes consolidated at the parent levels.

You can export notes along with the report to Excel and PDF.
You can also writeback them to databases, shared drives, or URLs.
Report users can add notes in the reading mode and export them to Excel and PDF.
Notes added in reading mode are not saved to the original planning sheet unless the user chooses to keep them by clicking Save and Proceed after switching to Editing mode.

Notes configuration options are shown below:

Notes will not be retained when switching between certain layouts. For example, notes added in the Measures in Rows layout will not be available if you change the layout to Default.

1. Cell-level notes

1.1. Add a new note

Let’s see how to add a new note. Click on a cell and select Notes → Add New Note. Alternatively, you can click directly on the Notes option for the selected cell to open the note editor and add a note without navigating through the menu.

To add the same note for multiple cells, Ctrl + click to select each cell, then add a note.

An editor opens where you can add hyperlinks and apply rich formatting. Enter a note as shown below.

Try out the formatting options as shown below. Click Save.

You’ll see a note indicator, and when you hover over it, the note appears.

1.2. View All Notes

Click Notes and select View All Notes from the dropdown. This opens the Notes panel on the right, where all notes added across the report are listed together. Cell Level notes & Header Notes are displayed directly in this panel and can be selected to navigate to the corresponding cell.

1.3. Add note to multiple cells

You may need to enter a note that applies to multiple cells, for example, a particular marketing strategy may have contributed to the increase in sales for specific regions and quarters. You can select a series of cells and add a single note that applies to all of them.

1.4. Change the note's indicator color

Enter a note. Let's now change the color of the note's indicator. Click on a different color from the bottom of the editor.

You also have the option to select a custom color for the indicator. Click on the multicolored icon and then choose the required color.

1.5. Edit a note

After saving a note, you can edit it by hovering over the note indicator and clicking the Edit icon.

Alternatively, click on Notes and select View All Notes to open the Notes panel, where you can locate the saved note. Click the Edit icon to modify it.

Along with the existing options, you can also use numbered and bulleted lists while editing the note. Make the required changes and click Save.

1.6. Delete a note

To delete a note, either click the Delete icon that appears when you hover over the note indicator or navigate to Notes > View All Notes and click the Delete icon.

2. Header-level notes

To add a note at the row or column header level, select the row/column. Click on the Notes icon. A notes editor will open allowing us to make notes at the row/column level.

Header-level notes are visible both in the side panel and on hover.

Similarly, select a row and add a note. You can edit/delete the note using the corresponding icons on the right.

3. Report-level notes

With Plan, you can also add notes and explanations at the report level as shown below.

Click on Notes and then Report Summary. In the Report Summary side panel, enter the note.

On clicking Save, the note gets displayed in the side panel. You can edit/delete the note by clicking on the corresponding icon in the top right.

4. Roll-up notes

If you add a note at the leaf node level in a hierarchical data structure, the notes will automatically roll up to the total/subtotal level even when the leaf nodes are collapsed. To configure roll-up notes, click on Notes > Settings > turn on the Rollup Indicator toggle as shown in the image below and click Apply.

In the image below, notes have been added at the category and brand levels. When you collapse the category, the Rollup Indicator icon is displayed. Hovering over this icon shows the consolidated notes.

5. Footnotes

Notes can be viewed as footnotes which are an integral part of financial statements and provide supplementary information such as the accounting method used or an explanation of important financial results.

To enable footnotes, in the Notes drop-down, turn on the Footnote toggle. You can see the footnotes as highlighted.

6. Notes column

Row-level notes can be added in a separate column.

Enable the Notes Column toggle from the Notes drop-down menu.

A notes column gets added. Double-click on a cell and start typing in the rich text editor. You can apply formatting such as bold, italic, underline, font color, background color, and hyperlinks.

You can delete a particular note in the Notes column by hovering over it and clicking the icon.

7. Hide notes

To hide the cell, header, and report-level notes, turn on the Hide all notes toggle. Note that by using this option, all the notes including the footnotes and notes column are hidden.

To hide only the footnotes, turn off the Footnote toggle.
To hide only the notes column, turn off the Notes Column toggle.

8. Settings

You can customize the notes indicator, its position, footnote's height, and more using the Settings option.

Click on Settings from the Notes drop-down.

A dialog box opens. The default selections are shown in the image below.

Let’s explore the options available in the Notes settings.

Indicator display: Choose how the notes indicator appears. You can select from options like numbered, lettered, custom, arrow, asterisk, priority, icon, task, or hide it completely by selecting none.

Size: Adjust the size of the notes indicator to suit your preference.
Indicator position: Decide where the indicator should appear—left or right of the content. By default, it is displayed on the left.
Rollup indicator: Turn this on to show rolled-up notes when you collapse a hierarchy, making it easier to track hidden notes.
Footnote border: Enable this option to add a border around the footnote for better visual separation.
Footnote height: Set the height of the footnote based on your needs to improve readability.
Column: Choose the number of columns to better manage spacing and enhance overall visibility.

The image below displays the changes we made to the default settings.

The notes indicator settings can be configured at the report level (as shown in the images above), ensuring that all notes in the report use the same style of indicator.

If needed, you can also customize the indicator for individual notes by clicking the three-dot (more options) icon, as highlighted below:

9. Marker mode

Marker Mode can be used to highlight important observations during presentations. Markings are temporary and can be cleared.

9.1. Add markings

In the Notes drop-down, click the Marker Mode option.

A marker icon is enabled on the canvas.

Sample freehand markings are shown in the image below.

9.2. Clear markings

Markings can be erased using the Clear Marker option. Switching to another tab also results in the markings getting erased.

9.3. Customize markings

You can set the color, stroke style, shape, and width of markers using the Notes > Settings option.

In the next section, we'll look at Plan's data-level commentary capability.

Last updated 5 months ago

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