Appraisal Comments™ Help

This section contains support information for Appraisal Comments™ only.

Important:

• To use Appraisal Comments your browser must have cookies enabled.
• If something seems not to work, click your browser's Refresh button and try again.
• Do not attempt to use Appraisal Comments via multiple browser windows.
• Please try and avoid using your browser's Back button.
• Note: all Appraisal Comments forms have a help panel on the right hand side containing instructions on how to use the particular form.

How to Log In

Before you can use Appraisal Comments to write appraisals you will need to log in using your email address and subscription code.  You can obtain a subscription code here.  Once you have a subscription code, enter your email address and the subscription code into the login form on the menu column, taking care to ensure you enter both pieces of information correctly.  Then click the login button.  When your details have been checked you can then proceed to use Appraisal Comments.

Note: If you wish to see how Appraisal Comments works before purchasing a subscription, then you can use the Demonstration Comments without having to log in.

Quick User Guide

1. Select which database you wish to use by clicking the corresponding Select button.  The Write an Appraisal form will then be displayed.
2. If you are writing an appraisal for a member of your staff, enter their first and last names and their gender.
3. Select a Level of Achievement for each of the Comment Categories that are appropriate to your appraisal.
4. Check the Comment Language radio button is set as required.
5. Click the Choose Comments button.
6. The Select Individual Comments form is now displayed.  Select comments from some or all of drop-down boxes and then click the Compose Comment button.
7. You can now edit the composed appraisal text displayed in the Appraisal Comment text area if required in order to reflect your own writing style, or to improve the 'flow' of the text.
8. Click the Check Spelling button to check the spelling of your appraisal text.  Spelling errors will be highlighted.  Hover your mouse over highlighted spelling errors to see a list of suggested spelling corrections.
9. To copy the appraisal, either right-click inside the comment text box and click the 'Select All' menu option, or left click inside the comment text box and press Ctrl-A on your keyboard.  Then either right-click again and click the  'Copy' menu option, or just press Ctrl-C.  Paste (Ctrl-V) the appraisal text into your appraisal report as required.
10. To print the appraisal, right-click inside the appraisal text box and click 'Select All' (or Ctrl-A).  Then select the Print option from your browser's File menu, check the Print Selection option and then click the Print button.
11. To save the appraisal to your Appraisal Comments account, click the Save This Appraisal button.  Saved appraisals can be recalled by selecting a person's saved appraisal and clicking the Recall button.
12. To save the appraisal as a text file, click the Export as Text File button then save the downloaded file on your computer.

Advanced User Guide

To achieve the best results, you should configure the Appraisal Comments system to suit your own requirements before you begin to write your appraisals.  The following steps explain how to configure the system:

1. Select which database you wish to use by clicking the corresponding Select button.  This registers with the system which database of comments will be used for writing your appraisals, and the Write an Appraisal form will then be displayed.
2. If you wish to add your own bespoke comment categories to your appraisal then click the Edit Categories button or menu link.  This will display the Comment Category Editor form.  You are now free to add additional comment categories that may be very specific to your appraisal requirements.  Any comment categories you add are saved to your own personal database and are not visible to anyone else.  Once you have added any additional comment categories, you will need to write individual comments to populate them, see below.
3. To add your own individual comments to your own comment categories or our standard comment categories click the Edit Comments button or menu link.  This will display the Comment Editor form.  You can now add individual comments to any comment category.  Any comments you add are saved to your own personal database and are not visible to anyone else.  Read the help panel on the right hand side of the Comment Editor form for specific instructions on how to use the form.
4. Click the Select Categories button or menu link.  This will display the Select Comment Categories form with all categories listed alphabetically.  Initially, all comment categories will be checked.  You now need to decide which of the comment categories you wish to use in writing your appraisals; uncheck all categories you do not wish to use, and click the Update button at the bottom of the form.  This will ensure only those comment categories you are interested in will be displayed on the Write Appraisal Comments form, making the form shorter and easier to use.
5. Click the Re-order Categories button or menu link.  This will display the Change Comment Category Order form with only the comment categories you selected previously displayed in alphabetical order.  You can now re-order the comment categories as you require for your appraisals.  Click the Change button at the bottom of the form to save your changes.  The appraisal comments system generates a single, sometime large, paragraph of appraisal comments.  The order of the comments in the generated appraisal text is dependent on the settings of this form.  It will probably make more sense for you to group related categories together, so that the appraisal text generated reads more logically than if the comment category order is left alphabetical.  You can split the one paragraph of appraisal text into several smaller paragraphs by inserting carriage returns into the appraisal text.
6. Now you can write your appraisals by following the Quick User Guide above.

Write Appraisal Comments Form Items

Level of Achievement Radio Buttons

These determine what level of comment for a comment category is used in the final appraisal text.  Only select a level of achievement for categories that are relevant to your appraisal.

Select Categories Button

This displays a form that allows you select a sub-set of the available comment categories.  This helps to shorten the form to a more relevant and manageable length.

Sort Categories Button

This displays a form that allows you to change the order of the comment categories.  When generating appraisal comments, comments are picked in the order in which the categories are displayed.

Edit Categories Button

This displays the Comment Category Editor which allows you to add your own comment categories to the current database.  Not applicable to Personal subscriptions.

Edit Comments Button

This displays the Comment Editor which allows you to add your own comments to the comment categories of the current database.  Not applicable to Personal subscriptions.

Reset Button

This button resets the whole form to its default settings.

First Name Text Box

Enter the first name of the person who's appraisal you are writing.

Last Name Text Box

Enter the last name of the person who's appraisal you are writing.

Gender Drop-Down Box

Select the gender of the person who's appraisal you are writing.

Comment Language Radio Buttons

Select which language version of English you you like your comments written in.  The options are UK English or US English.

Choose Comments Button

Clicking this displays the Select Individual Comments form so you can pick each comment separately.

Appraisal Comments Text Area

This is where the appraisal comments are displayed.  You can edit the text if required before copying, printing, or saving it.

Save This Appraisal Button

This saves the currently displayed appraisal text to your online account.  If you have a Personal Account you can only save a single appraisal, otherwise you can save an appraisal text for each person you write one for.

Copy To Clipboard Button (Internet Explorer only)

This copies the currently displayed appraisal text to your computer's clipboard.  Press Ctrl-V or right-click to paste it into your appraisal document.

Highlight Appraisal Button (Mozilla based browsers only)

This highlights all of the currently displayed appraisal text.  Press Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V or right-click to copy and paste it into your appraisal document.

Export as Text File Button

Click this button to download and save your appraisal on your own computer.

Recall Button

This recalls the saved appraisal for the person who's name is displayed in the adjacent drop-down box.

Email to Me Button

This emails a saved appraisal to you at your login email address.

Delete Button

This deletes the saved appraisal for the person who's name is displayed in the adjacent drop-down box.

Support Request

If you can't find the answer to your question about Appraisal Comments in the previous sections then you can contact us.