In January, 2025 Pennington Publishing ended support for the e-Comments Chrome Extension. Pennington Publishing has arranged to transfer all lifetime individual subscription holders to Annotate PRO Plus (AP+), a similar solution from 11trees, at no cost to users. e-Comments will continue to run but could be disabled by Google at any time since it does not meet the latest Chrome Extension standards.

This FAQ covers e-Comments content (comment bank) transfer andthe differences between the two solutions.

While similar to e-Comments, AP+ offers many additional features including a dedicated Word app, the ability to use multiple comment banks simultaneously, colored favorites, checklists, forms, subgroups, and support for most major EDU platforms like Google Docs, Canvas, Brightspace, Google Classroom, and many more.

How do I move my e-Comments content to AP?

11trees has pre-populated accounts for all e-Comments users of record and made the four e-Comments Libraries available. You can use them as-is, customize them to suit your needs, or import your content from e-Comments. It is probably only worth exporting from e-Comments and importing into AP if you have a lot of customizations.

Annotate PRO has an import tool, designed for importing TurnItIn Quickmarks files, .csv files, and e-Comments exports.

e-Comments uses ‘markdown’ language to format text. For example, an italicized word is stored _like this_ in e-Comments. We’ve worked diligently to support as many forms of formatting as possible but you should double-check your content after import before using it. For instance, some markup characters, like “(*, -, _” ,  may not format properly. After importn, you can use the rich text formatting tools in AP to apply the desired formatting.

One call out, as you get to know AP: AP can insert formatted text, like bold, italics, and underlined text into even plain text destination, like Canvas SpeedGrader – a neat trick.

Step 1: Export your comments from e-Comments. To do this load the comment set you want to export, and click the “Export all” button at the bottom of the toolbar. Save the file somewhere easily accessible. 

Note: Google may have already disabled your e-Comments extension. To re-enable it click on the three vertical dots at the top right of Google Chrome, select Extensions > Manage Extensions, and scroll to find e-Comments. From there you can toggle it back on.

Step 2: Import to Annotate PRO. After you’ve installed AP, click the AP icon > Edit > Import a Library

Step 3: Follow the three step process of the AP Importer.

1. Click to agree to the terms of service
2. Create a name for your Library. Leaving the “Selected” toggle on will show the Library when imported. If you want to import a Library but not use it right away you can toggle this off.
3. Upload the file that you exported from e-Comments in step one. This must be done one at a time.

Upon a successful import you will be taken to the editing experience where you can make changes to the content if desired. 

FAQs

Will I find the e-Comment comment banks in my AP account?

Yes. All four e-Comments libraries are available to you for use and customization. You can make one or more inactive to remove it from your workflow.

Can I import my custom e-Comments comment banks or make new ones?

Yes. See above! One nifty feature of AP is the ability to run multiple comment banks at the same time, so you might have a general writing skills comment bank and an assignment-specific one. You can quickly swap comment banks (AP calls them Comment Libraries).

What e-Comment features does AP not support?

AP does not support audio or video comments. Most EDU platforms, like Canvas, 

What features does AP have that e-Comments does not?

AP supports text insertion into all major LMSs, Google Docs, Microsoft Word, email clients like Gmail and Outlook, communication tools like Slack, and more.

We hope you can immediately use AP to find and insert comment text while exploring AP’s additional features, like Checklists, Forms, Subgroups, Sorting & Coloring Favorites, Analytics, built-in Translation, and the Comment Feed. Browse our video library to learn more.

AP offers additional premium comment banks, like the Presentation Skills Edition, along with free Libraries like the Discussion Moderator Edition. AP also offers an institutional license, which facilitates comment bank sharing. This capability is not included in the transition. Interested schools should contact 11trees to learn more.

What happens to my lifetime e-Comments license? 

11trees is honoring all existing individual e-Comments licenses as part of the migration. Named e-Comments users have a perpetual AP+ subscription and access to their e-Comments Libraries with the option to license AP’s premium libraries.

Group e-Comments License holders will start with the quantity of user seats originally purchased and can add additional seats starting at $24 per year (minimum of 10 licenses). e-Comments institutions transitioning to AP will also have admin access to review usage and manage accounts.  Institutions interested in sharing comment banks can review AP’s institutional license or contact us to learn more about comment bank sharing, aggregate analytics, and other institutional features.