scidCommunity Help: Comment Editor window

# The Comment Editor window

The Comment Editor window lets you add or edit comments and symbolic annotation symbols for moves in the active chess game.

### Annotation symbols

scidCommunity uses the PGN standard for annotation symbols, accepting NAG (numeric annotation glyph) values for annotations. Some of the most common symbols (such as "!" or "+-") are displayed as symbols, and have a button in the comment editor window for fast entry. For other symbols, you can enter the appropriate numeric NAG value which is a number from 1 to 255. For example, the NAG value 36 means "White has the initiative" and will be displayed as "$36" in the PGN text of the game.

See the help page of NAG values for NAG values defined by the PGN standard.

Hint: You can add the common move evaluation symbols (!, ?, !!, ??, !? and ?!) while in the main window, without needing to use the comment editor window, by typing the symbol followed by the [Return] key. This is especially useful if you are entering chess moves using the keyboard.

### Comments

You can edit comments by typing in the text area provided and using the Clear, Revert and Store buttons. You do not need to press the Store button to update a comment; it is automatically updated whenever you move to another position in the game.

### Coloring squares

You can color any square with any color using a special embedded command which can appear anywhere in a comment. The command format is:

- [%mark square color]

where square is a square name like d4 and color is any recognized color name (such as red, blue4, darkGreen, lightSteelBlue, etc) or RGB code (a # followed by six hexadecimal digits, such as #a0b0c8). If the color is omitted, it defaults to red.

A comment may contain any number of color commands, but each must have in its own [%mark ...] tag. For example, the comment text

Now d6 [%mark d6] is weak and the knight can attack it from b5. [%mark b5 #000070]

will color d6 red and b5 with the dark-blue color #000070.

### Drawing arrows

You can draw an arrow from one square to another using a special comment command similar to the for coloring squares described above. The format is:

- [%arrow fromSquare toSquare color]

where fromSquare and toSquare are square names like d4 and color is any recognized color name (such as red, blue4, etc) or RGB code (like #a0b0c0). If the color is omitted, it defaults to red.

For example, the comment text

The c3-knight and c4-bishop control the weak d5 square. [%arrow c3 d5 red] [%arrow c4 d5 blue]

will draw a red arrow from c3 to d5 and a blue one from c4 to d5.

(Updated: scidCommunity, February 2026)