Annotate for Word is a comment plug-in for Microsoft Office Word developed by 11trees.com.  This simple, yet versatile add-on allows you to insert pre-designed comments to a Word document.  In this review, I will be highlighting the different features of Annotate For Word, and I will also share my own experience using it this semester with one of my intensive English classes.

When I first stumbled upon Annotate, I questioned its purpose as it looks exactly like the built-in Office commenting feature, and it also does the same exact thing: inserts comment! Well, immediately after I installed it and opened a new Word document, I realized how interesting it was.

Annotate for Word comes in two flavors: A free version with limited features (and from my understanding, no pre-written comments), and a Pro version which provides pre-written comments organized by categories. This review will focus only on the Pro version.

Installation: The plug-in itself is a tiny file that installs in a few seconds.  The next time you open an Office document, you will notice a new tab (Annotate) on the toolbar. Clicking on “Annotate” unveils a new menu consisting of 10 commenting categories, each with a drop-down menu offering further commenting options. The main commenting categories are: Argument, Evidence, Organization, Writing Style, and Grammar/Mechanics.

Usage: The first time I attempted to use Annotate, I was a bit confused, as I spent quite sometime figuring out the different commenting categories while searching for the needed comment.  It took some time for me to understand the way comments were organized and the hierarchy under each category, especially since items under comment categories are not alphabetized.

One major drawback, however,  is that you cannot modify your comments and categories by adding new ones to the Annotate menu.   In other words, you are may only use Annotate’s  comments and categories.  To address this limitation, the developers of Annotate offer customized versions for schools and programs.

Comments: Comments are written in very clear, often generic language that most students are able to understand.  Once the comment has been inserted, you have the option to edit/modify it, just as you would on a regular MS. Word comment.  I rarely needed to modify any of the comments, but I did check to ensure that the hyperlinks still worked. Most comments include a hyperlink to details explanations on Purdue’s  OWL website. In addition to regular comments, Annotate Pro provides praise type comments for positive reinforcement…nice touch!

Overall, Annotate simplified the process of correcting my students’ essays, but it was a bit frustrating when I couldn’t find the comment I was looking for and ended up creating a blank comment.  Hopefully, the developers of Annotate will address this in future updates by allowing users to customize comments and categories  on the toolbar.

To try Annotate for Word, visit http://www.11trees.com

Update: Annotate for Word 2007 now supports customization.  I was able to add new tabs and fully tailor comments to my needs.  It’s really great!  AND, in addition to commenting, Annotate automatically crosses out words by simply using the backspace key and each time you add new text, it is entered in blue.  This makes the process of editing papers a breeze!

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