TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Commenting on a VoiceThread Overview
- Create a New Comment
- Time and Size Limits for Comments
- Comment on Videos
- Multi-Slide (M/5) Comments
- Doodling
- Replying to Comments
- One-Conversation Mode vs Multi-Conversation Mode
- Editing and Modifying VoiceThread Comments
- Troubleshooting
Commenting on a VoiceThread Overview
View the How to Comment on a VoiceThread tutorial video for a quick overview of commenting on a VoiceThread.
Create a New Comment
Open the VoiceThread and navigate to the slide on which you’d like to record a comment. At the bottom-left corner, click on the Make a Comment button (+ button inside a speech bubble icon).
Click on the Make a Comment button to see all of the commenting options:
- Audio from a microphone
- Video from a webcam
- Text
- Audio or video from a pre-recorded file
Record an Audio Comment
To record an audio comment using your microphone, click on the microphone icon.
You may be prompted to allow your browser to access your microphone. If your microphone is blocked or you are having issues recording your comment, see Audio/Video Recording Issues for troubleshooting information.
VoiceThread will perform a countdown. Once the countdown is complete, record your comment. You may use the Doodler tool to annotate your slide as you record your comment. Click the Stop Recording button when you are done recording.
Your comment will process - this may take several minutes. Once it has finished processing, the comment will play back automatically. Click Save to save your comment or Cancel to discard it. If you were not done recording and want to continue the same comment, click Record More.
Please note that VoiceThread does not have a comment editing feature. You cannot trim or otherwise edit your comment.
Record a Video Comment
To record a video from your webcam, click the camera icon.
You may be prompted to allow your browser to access your camera. If your camera is blocked or you are having issues recording your comment, see Audio/Video Recording Issues for troubleshooting information.
VoiceThread will perform a countdown. Once the countdown is complete, record your comment. You may use the Doodler tool to annotate your slide as you record your comment. Click the Stop Recording button when you are done recording.
Your comment will process - this may take several minutes. Once it has finished processing, the comment will play back automatically. Click Save to save your comment or Cancel to discard it. If you were not done recording and want to continue the same comment, click Record More.
Please note that VoiceThread does not have a comment editing feature. You cannot trim or otherwise edit your comment.
Type a Text Comment
To add a text comment, click on the T icon.
Type your comment in the text box and click Save when you have finished.
Note: If you enter URL in a text comment it will be linked automatically.
Upload Audio or Video From a Pre-recorded File
To upload an audio or video file, click on the upload icon.
Select the file you wish to upload. You will see a spinning wheel over your identity image while your comment processes. This may take several minutes.
If you are having issues uploading your file, see File Upload Issues for troubleshooting information.
Time and Size Limits for Comments
There is no limit to the number of comments you can record, but there are some limitations to the amount of content that can be in a single comment. The following chart details the time and size limit for each commenting type.
| Comment Type | Limit |
|---|---|
| Audio recording (microphone) | 60 minutes per comment |
| Video recording (webcam) | 60 minutes per comment |
| Text | Unlimited |
| Audio and Video Upload | 3 GB per file or 3 hours in duration |
Comment on Videos
VoiceThread allows you to easily comment on videos as you interact with it. To begin, locate the position in the video where you want your comment to appear and then begin recording an audio or video comment.
As you record your comment, use the play button at the bottom of the slide to begin playing the video or use the scrubber ball on the timeline to scrub to a different location in the video. You may also use the Doodler tool to annotate your video. Any movements and doodles you make through the video will be made a part of that comment, and whatever you see on your screen as you record is what your viewers will see as they watch your comment.
Multi-Slide (M/5) Comments
An M/5 comment allows you to narrate an entire collection of media in one unbroken comment. As you are recording your comment, you can navigate to other slides in your VoiceThread using the arrows in the bottom-left corner, or you can click on the slide gallery button and then on a slide to jump straight to it.
All movements between slides are recorded as part of your comment, so when people play it, they’ll see the slides that you saw as you were recording. When the comment finishes playing, viewers are taken back to the slide on which you started recording, and the VoiceThread will continue playing through subsequent comments and slides.
Doodling
The doodler allows you to annotate your slides while you comment. Use your mouse (or your finger on a touch screen) as if it were a pen to help your participants see exactly what you’re discussing. All doodles play back in time with your voice, so it’s a little like using a pointer on a visual aid when you’re addressing someone in person.
View the Doodling Tutorial Video for an overview of the Doodling tool.
To use the Doodler, begin recording your audio or video comment. When you are ready to doodle, click on the doodle icon at the bottom of the VoiceThread.
This will bring up the Doodler options. Select the color you’d like to use and select whether or not you want your doodle to fade. By default, doodles will fade over time, but you can also change that setting so that doodles remain on screen for the full duration of a comment.
To doodle, use your mouse to click and drag on the screen to annotate (or your finger on a touch screen).
Replying to Comments
There are three ways you can reply to a comment:
- Direct Reply (only available to the creator or editor of a VoiceThread)
- Threaded Reply
- Private Reply
Direct Reply
If you are the owner or editor of a VoiceThread, you can insert a comment directly after someone else’s even if threaded commenting is not enabled. This allows you to help guide the conversation and give feedback directly.
To do this, click on the reply icon inside a person’s comment window.
After you have saved your comment it will appear in the conversation just after the comment of the person you replied to. Since threaded commenting is not enabled, this will look like a regular square comment.
Threaded Reply
If threaded commenting is enabled for a VoiceThread, then anyone can reply to a regular (square-shaped) comment. Threaded comments are represented by a round identity image rather than square.
To start a new threaded reply, click on the reply icon inside a person’s comment window.
After you have saved your comment, it will appear in the conversation at the end of the current threaded conversation.
To enable threaded commenting for a VoiceThread you own, select that option in the thread settings.
Private Reply
The private reply feature allows you to start a private, two-way conversation with a commenter. Only the two participants in that conversation can see it. Private comments are represented by a round identity image rather than square, and there is a padlock icon next to them.
To start a new private conversation or add to an existing one, click on the private reply button inside a person’s comment window. It looks like a padlock inside a comment bubble.
After you have saved your comment, it will appear in the conversation at the end of the current private conversation.
One-Conversation Mode vs Multi-Conversation Mode
About One-Conversation and Multi-Conversation Modes
There are two ways to set your VoiceThread to display comments. View the One-Conversation tutorial video for a side-by-side comparison of the two modes.
One-Conversation
One-Conversation mode keeps all comments visible on the left side of the page at all times, regardless of which slide you’re on. Click on each comment to play it, and whatever slide the comment was posted on originally will display as it is playing. You do not need to go looking for comments or conversations throughout the various slides.
Useful for:
- Conversations that span multiple slides.
- Lectures or student presentations where the presenter leverages M/5 commenting.
- Collaborations where comments on all slides are important to all viewers.
- Content creators who simply prefer to see all comments in a unified list.
Multi-Conversation
Multi-Conversation mode is the “traditional” VoiceThread view. Only comments that were recorded on a given slide are visible on the left side of the page. As you navigate to other slides in the VoiceThread, will see any comments recorded there.
Useful for:
- Projects where different groups of participants are collaborating around each of the slides.
- Lectures or student presentations where there is exactly 1 comment per slide.
- Projects where there are video slides that you want to have play automatically without participants having to navigate there manually if there are no comments on it.
- Content creators who simply prefer to keep all comments for a given slide only in that one slide view.
Editing and Modifying VoiceThread Comments
Editing a Comment
Only text comments are able to be edited. Go to Editing a Text Comment for more information.
You may not edit an audio or video comment. Instead, you will need to delete the entire comment and re-record.
Deleting a Comment
You may delete any comments that you have created as well as delete any comments on VoiceThreads that you own. To do so, click on the comment and click on the trash can icon at the bottom of the comment button. Go to Deleting Comments for more information.
Changing the Order of Comments
You can change the order of comments in any VoiceThread that you own or can edit. To to Changing the Order of Comments for more information and detailed instructions.
Comment Moderation
Comment moderation allows you to review all comments before allowing others to see them. If comment moderation is enabled, participants and viewers cannot see one another's submissions unless the VoiceThread owner approves them. Go to Using Comment Moderation for more information and detailed instructions.
Troubleshooting
Experiencing issues commenting on a VoiceThread? The following support resources will help walk you through some of the most common issues with commenting:
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