Plenty of what an element carries is invisible on the canvas: the link it jumps to, the note behind it, an action waiting on someone, a comment thread. Element indicators are the small icons that give these away. They read like metadata printed on a card: quiet until you look for them, and one click opens whatever they point to.
What They Show
An element shows an indicator for each of these it has, always in this order:
- Link: the element links to another tab, another document or a web address. Hovering it shows a card naming the destination.
- Note: the element has a note.
- Action: the element has an open assigned action. Hovering it reads Assigned to and the person's name. A completed action stops showing.
- Comments: the element has unresolved comments, with the count beside the icon. Resolving the last thread clears it.
Comments come last because they are the most frequent and the most urgent, and the far end is the first place your eye lands.
A margin note on an article page shows its comments or its action on its own face, so it carries no indicators at all.
Choosing a Style
Open Settings, go to Editor and pick an option for Element Indicators. It is your own preference, so it changes what you see and nobody else's view.
- Top (the default) prints the icons inside the element along its top, in the element's own text colour at half strength, so they suit any fill, theme or style.
- Footer puts a row along the inside of the element's bottom edge, the way a task card shows its details, with a word beside each icon: Link, Note, the assignee's initials on a small coloured disc with Action, and the comment count. When the words don't fit, the row drops them and keeps the icons, disc and count.
- Off draws no indicators at all. Everything they open is still in the element's menu (see With Indicators Off).
Where They Sit
Indicators always sit inside the element's outline, never across it:
- On a box-like element (a rectangle, rounded rectangle, pill, card or panel), Top sits at the top-right.
- On a round or pointed shape (a circle, diamond, hexagon, cloud, triangle, trapezoid, star or actor), Top is centred along the top, since there is no corner for it.
- Footer starts at the bottom-left of a box, and is centred on the same round or pointed shapes.
They look for a spot clear of the element's label and icon first. When there isn't one, the label shifts just far enough to make room (down under Top, up over Footer), and a label set to scale to fit shrinks a little instead.
On an element too small, thin or spiky to hold them (a small pill, a progress bar, a star, an actor, a small diamond), the icons gather in a small chip on the element's edge instead, half in and half out, drawn in the element's own fill.
Using Them
Each indicator is a button. Click it to:
- Link: follow the link, to the other tab, the other document, or the web page in a new tab.
- Note: open the note.
- Action: open the action, showing who it is assigned to.
- Comments: open the comment thread.
Hovering the element brings its indicators up a little, and the one under the pointer to full strength. From the keyboard, each indicator is reachable with Tab and shows a focus ring.
While an Element Is Selected
Selecting an element brings its own handles, + buttons and toolbar onto the same edges, so its indicators shrink and fade away while it is selected and come back when you deselect it. Nothing else moves: the label stays exactly where it was. To reach a link, note, action or comments on a selected element, deselect it or use its menu.
With Indicators Off
Turning indicators Off hides them on every element. Nothing becomes unreachable:
- Actions, comments, links and notes are the buttons along the top of the element's menu, tinted when the element has one; every open thread and action is also listed in the Collaborate panel.
When They Don't Show
- Zoomed far out: below 40% zoom, indicators hide, along with the padlock on locked elements and the avatars of collaborators who have an element selected. An overview is for shape, not detail. See Pan and Zoom.
- Exports: indicators are editor chrome, so PNG and SVG exports and document thumbnails never include them.
- Viewers and Participants still see links, notes, actions and comments, and can open each one to read it.
- Embeds: a document embedded in another page shows no indicators at all, whether the embed is for viewing or editing and whatever style you chose. Open it in livedocuments to see them.
Zen mode hides the editor's panels and bars, but indicators are part of the elements, so they stay. Set Element Indicators to Off too for the cleanest possible canvas.
On a Phone or Tablet
Indicators work the same on a touch screen: tap one to open what it points to. See Mobile.
Element indicators are separate from the other marks an element can wear. The padlock on a locked element and the avatars of collaborators who have it selected are not affected by this setting.
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