Annotations

The word panel’s Annotate tab lists a word’s annotations and adds new ones.

Types of annotation

Note

Free text, optionally with a category. A note is written as a <note> attached to the word.

Semantic category

A category and subcategory — for example a personal name — with an optional label. It is written into the word’s ana attribute.

Paleographic

An observation about the writing: an unclear reading, an addition, a deletion, supplied text, or a feature of the letters. Details such as reason, placement and hand can be recorded.

A paleographic annotation can apply to the whole word or to selected characters. It is written into the word’s ana attribute.

Annotating several words

An annotation can cover several words. With the panel open, Shift-click another word to extend the span.

A single-word annotation can be applied to every occurrence of the same form at once with Apply to all.

Where annotations are stored

Annotations are saved in the project.

For imported TEI files, notes and other annotations are kept in the project only. They are not written into the file, because they would add markup the file does not have. The file itself remains byte-for-byte identical outside the passages you edited. See Importing existing files.

Tip

Annotations are a good place for the reasoning behind an editorial decision. Because they are stored separately from the transcription, the shorthand stays readable, and the annotations can be exported or processed independently.