Frequently Asked Questions

What is ExactNote?

ExactNote is an annotation and content curation platform.

How does ExactNote work?

You and other ExactNote users create the content you find on ExactNote. This content might be annotations from other websites, uploaded photos and videos, or shared links.

Is ExactNote free?

Yes! The ExactNote website and the Exactnote browser extension are both free to use.

Do I need an account?

You don’t need an account to view public annotations. If you want to annotate webpages, to save and organize your annotations, and to collaborate with others, you can create a free account here.

Do I need to install the extension?

You need to install the browser extension in order to annotate webpages. The extension isn’t necessary to use the ExactNote website.

What is an annotation?

An annotation is a comment on a piece of text – imagine highlighting a sentence in a book and writing a note in the page margin to ask a question or to expand on an idea. With ExactNote, you can annotate any website in the same way by selecting text and writing your comment in the annotation box that pops up.

Who can see my annotations?

You control who can see your annotations by clicking the privacy settings icons in the bottom left corner of each annotation box. When the box is white, your annotation is public. When the box is light gray, your annotation is visible to a specific group. When the box is dark gray, only you can see your annotation.

What is an item?

Items include annotations as well as uploaded photos, videos, documents, links, and comments.

Who can see my items?

You control who can see your items by clicking the privacy settings icons in the bottom left corner of each annotation box. When the box is white, your annotation is public. When the box is light gray, your annotation is visible to a specific group. When the box is dark gray, only you can see your annotation.

What is the dashboard?

Your ExactNote dashboard is the home page of your ExactNote account. This is where you can find all of your collections and items and explore the ExactNote website.

What is a collection?

A collection is a way to group and organize annotations and other items like photos, videos, and links.

Who can see my collections?

You control who can see your collection by choosing “private,” “group,” or “public” from the privacy settings when you create your collection. You can edit the privacy settings anytime by clicking the “edit collection” icon from your ExactNote dashboard (in the bottom right corner of each collection box) or from the collection page (in the top right corner of the page).

You can easily see the privacy settings of each collection from your ExactNote dashboard. If the collection box is white, your collection is public. If the box is light gray, your collection is visible to specific group members. If the box is dark gray, only you can see that collection.

What is a group collection?

When you set the privacy settings of your collection to “group,” you can invite other ExactNote users to become group members. Or someone else may invite you to join a group collection. That collection and the items inside it will only be visible to group members.

Where are annotations stored?

Annotations are saved to an online storage system so you can access them from any device by signing into your ExactNote account.

How can I annotate someone else’s website?

When you annotate using the ExactNote browser extension, it’s like copying text from a website and pasting it on ExactNote. You’re not editing the original text or changing the website in any way.

What is a notepad?

A notepad is a curated list of annotations. Notepads are like a guided tour through several points on a page or multiple webpages. The notepad floats on top of the page and travels with you as you click down the list and visit each website.

You can share a notepad to present information from across multiple webpages, to lead someone through a process with multiple steps, to show a friend multiple links with your comments, and much more.

Who can see my notepads?

Only you can see your notepads until you share them. If you share a notepad with another ExactNote user, the notepad is only visible to you and them. You can edit your notepad privacy settings and permissions anytime.

How are ratings used?

ExactNote users can rate an item or comment to provide feedback on how thoughtful, helpful, funny, or controversial it is. This shows users the quality of an item or comment at a glance and jumpstarts conversations. Ratings are reflected in the score next to each user’s name to show that they’ve contributed high-quality content that other users found valuable.