Effective feedback is crucial for student success, and Book Creator's powerful commenting side panel is designed specifically for this purpose.

Adding a comment

Comments can only be left in Edit mode. To add feedback, click the Comments button in the top right corner of the editing screen.

A blue speech bubble icon with a yellow outline is in the top right corner.

You can add comments using text, audio, video, emojis, or stickers by selecting Add comment. Text comments can be translated into over 130 languages, a premium feature that makes communication more accessible.

A cartoon illustration of a book cover. The comments side panel is open on the right-hand side with the text "Great work Stan!" is visible in the comments section. Another comment is a party emoji, along with the text "Text goes here..." in the text box.

💡 Top tip! Try posting a single emoji for quick, engaging feedback.

Audio and video comments

Book Creator's audio and video comments, which can be up to two minutes long, go beyond simple text. Audio and video help convey the tone and emotion of your feedback, ensuring students feel heard and supported. This is especially helpful for delivering constructive advice while maintaining a positive and encouraging tone that can often get lost in text-only messages.

A comic book cover with the title "The Green Avenger". The comments panel shows feedback in teh form of a video from Dan Amos and an audio clip from Arthur Kennen.

Watch the support video

Apps for engaging feedback

To make feedback more fun, you can enable gifs, animated emojis, and stickers from the Book Creator App Store. As with all our apps, you as the teacher have control, choosing whether to enable these features for yourself or also for your students on a per-library basis.

A comic book cover with the title "The Green Avenger". A GIPHY search for "great work" is open on the right side of the screen in the comments side panel.

Safe classroom use

To promote digital citizenship and prevent misuse, you can see all comments added to a book, including any a student may have deleted. Students cannot edit their comments after they are posted, ensuring accountability. Administrators and teachers also have the opportunity to reach out to support@bookcreator.com to access any comments in books for the last 24 months.

A screenshot shows a comment from Arthur Kennen that says "Your work is poop emoji".

Library control

As a teacher or co-teacher of a library, you can control student commenting with the library settings Add comments toggle.

A screenshot of library settings. The settings include options to allow students to search for images, edit their own books, create multiple books, read each other's books, turn on collaboration, publish their books online, add comments, use spell check, translate, and use speech to text/text to speech. The "Add comments" option is highlighted and turned on.

Collaboration control

In a collaborative book with many students, commenting could become a distraction. You can access Comment Settings by clicking the cog icon in the top right of the comment area. Here, you can disable student commenting for a specific book. Students will still be able to see comments you've left, but they won't be able to add their own.

A pop-up window says "COMMENT SETTINGS" and "Allow students to comment". The text below says "Students will be allowed to comment on any of the pages in this book."

Notification Center

The Notification Center provides an overview of all comments across an entire library. From here, you can mark comments as read or click on a comment to jump directly to the relevant page in the book. Students also have their own Notification Center to track comments from you.

A notification shows "Arthur Kennen commented: Still stuck"

For Administrators

Admin - Managing the comment function

As an administrator you can control the commenting function across all users in the school or organization. From the Admin Dashboard, the comment function is controlled by the comments toggle located on the library settings menu. When disabled the function is switched off for all users and teachers cannot override the settings.

This image shows the library settings of the teacher dashboard, and a warning message that the administrator has disabled the commenting feature.

Teacher view - when commenting is disabled by an admin, users cannot leave a comment.

This image shows a warning message that feedback has been disabled by your administrator.

Teacher view - when commenting is disabled by an admin, teachers cannot enable commenting.

Library settings of the teacher dashboard, displaying a warning message that the administrator has disabled this feature.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: If I move a book to another library do the comments stay in the book?

A: Yes, comments stay with the book if you move it to another library.

Q: If I copy a book do the comments also appear in the copy?

A: No, comments are not included when a book is copied.

Q: Can I add hyperlinks into a comment?

A: Yes, just paste or type a hyperlink into the comment box, and it will become a clickable link.

Q: Can students restore deleted comments?

A: No, students cannot restore comments they have deleted.

Q: Can students comment on each other's books?

A: Currently, a student must be an editor to leave a comment. To allow peer comments, you'll need to enable collaboration for the book, which also allows them to edit the book’s content.

Q: Can co-teachers manage comments?

A: Yes, a co-teacher has the same abilities as you to read, manage, delete, and restore comments.

💫 Share your thoughts with our Product Team!

We're always eager to hear your ideas and understand your needs. If you have feedback, a suggestion, or an unmet user need, please schedule some time – we'd be happy to connect!

Using comments and feedback