**Comments** is municipal review. It is not a sticky-note pad. Map **Review tools** are a second, narrower control: only the assigned **Traffic expert** places **Pin**, **Arrow**, and **Rectangle** on an open session.

![Comments panel — Place traffic objects to start a review](https://hel1.your-objectstorage.com/traffic-chart-tutorials/helpcenter/en/review/09-comments-panel.png)

This page names both surfaces, every empty state, and every status card. Who starts the first session, and what to do after **Changes requested**, is [Review for organisers](/hc/test/articles/review-for-organisers). Reviewer inbox and decisions: [Review for reviewers](/hc/test/articles/review-for-reviewers).

## When you need this

Use it when the right-hand **Comments** strip is open, or when **Review tools** appear on the left of the map.

Skip it if you only need a **Copy shareable link** or a PDF. That is not an in-app session. [Share a plan and read-only view](/hc/test/articles/share-link-and-read-only).

Skip it for sketch labels. **Add text** on the map is a drawing. It is not a review comment. [Drawing and measuring](/hc/test/articles/drawing-and-measuring).

You do not start the first in-app review. The municipality does.

## Two different things

### A) Organiser **Comments** (right-hand strip)

On a traffic plan the strip holds **Traffic Objects** and **Comments**, plus **Posts** when your account can see post instructions. Tooltip on the collapsed rail: **Show Comments**. **Collapse** folds the strip.

On an event plan the strip is **Objects**, **Areas**, **Lines & Routes**, and **Comments**. There is no **Texts** tab. **Add text** is on the left of the map.

Open **Comments**. The header is **Review status**, with **Refresh** on the right (**Refreshing** while it works). There is no status pill next to the header; the status lives in the card below.

This panel is how you see **In review by municipality**, **Changes requested**, **Plan approved**, and **Messages from municipality**. You do not get **Pin**, **Arrow**, or **Rectangle** here.

### B) Reviewer **Review tools** (left of the map)

Heading: **Review tools**. Tools: **Pin**, **Arrow**, **Rectangle**.

They appear only when all of this is true:

- There is an active request with status **Submitted**
- The current stage is **Traffic expert**
- You are the assigned person on that step

Events department never gets these tools. Organisers never get them. A share-link viewer never gets them.

![Map comment tools](https://hel1.your-objectstorage.com/traffic-chart-tutorials/helpcenter/en/review/04-map-comment-tools.png)

## Empty states (owner)

Until there is a session, **Comments** depends on what is on the map and whether the municipality is connected.

### No objects yet — traffic

- Title: **Place traffic objects to start a review**
- Body: **Add at least one traffic object so we can link the right municipality. After placing an object you can return here to send it for review.**
- Buttons: **Refresh** / **Refreshing**, and **Place traffic objects**

### No objects yet — event

- Title: **Place event objects to start a review**
- Body: **Add at least one event object so we can find the right municipality. Event areas, lines, and text do not count for review routing yet.**
- Buttons: **Refresh** / **Refreshing**, and **Place event objects**

Put a real object on the Utrecht site. A camping zone or an **Add text** label is not enough.

### Municipality can give feedback in Traffic Chart, no session yet

- Title: **Ready to submit?**
- Body: draw your plan in Traffic Chart and submit it following the municipality's procedure. This municipality can give feedback directly in Traffic Chart. Share a link or PDF according to what they request.
- **Copy shareable link** — toast **Link copied to clipboard**, or **Could not copy the link**
- **Export plan** when export is available

You still wait for them to click **Start review session**. If you try to send the first request yourself, the app can say **Initial review requests are currently started by the municipality. Submit your plan through the municipality procedure first.**

### Municipality uses an external submission procedure

- Title: **Submit your plan to the municipality**
- Body: you can draw your plan in Traffic Chart as usual. This municipality does not yet give feedback directly through Traffic Chart. Create a PDF export and submit it following their usual procedure.

Follow their website's instructions. Whether you can draw, whether sign placement is free, and whether the municipality gives feedback in Traffic Chart are separate questions. A share link does not create a dossier or submit a permit application by itself.

## Empty states (reviewer / viewer)

When you can start a session, **Comments** shows:

- **No active review session**
- **Starting a review session will lock the plan for the owner until you update the status.**
- **Start review session** (or **Starting...**)
- Note: **You can only start a session if the plan contains at least one traffic object in a municipality you are assigned to.** (Event plans need event objects.)

Enabled tooltip: **Start a new review session and lock the plan for the owner.**

If **Start review session** is grey, read the tooltip:

| Tooltip | Meaning |
|---------|---------|
| **Save the plan before starting a review session.** | Save first |
| **There is already an active review request for this plan.** | Do not start a second session |
| **Wait until the plan has finished saving or refreshing.** | Wait |
| **The plan has no reviewable objects in a municipality yet.** | Place objects in the assigned municipality |
| **The events department must forward this plan to the traffic expert first.** | Events owns the first step |
| **You are not assigned to the municipality for this plan.** | Wrong account for Utrecht (or whichever pin) |

If you cannot start anything: **No review requests yet for this plan.**

Success toast: **Review session started**. Failure: **You can't start a review session for this plan.**

## Status cards

Open **Comments**. Read the title, then the body. The same status looks different if you own the plan, if the step is assigned to you, or if you are only viewing.

### **Submitted**

| Who | Title | Body |
|-----|-------|------|
| Owner | **In review by municipality** | **Your plan is locked while the reviewer looks at it. We will notify you when they respond.** |
| Assigned reviewer | **Plan awaiting your review** | **The plan owner cannot edit while you review. Add comments or update the status when you are ready.** |
| Viewer | **In review** | **This plan is being reviewed by the municipality.** |

Extra lines: **Currently with Events department** or **Currently with Traffic expert**. Time line **Submitted 12 Aug 2026, 09:14**. **Reviewer message** when a note exists.

Header save: **Plan is locked while under review**. Event drawing tools: **This event plan is locked and cannot be edited.**

### **Changes requested**

Title for everyone: **Changes requested**.

| Who | Body |
|-----|------|
| Owner, feedback already with you | **Update the plan based on the reviewer comments, then submit again.** |
| Owner, Events has not forwarded yet | **The traffic expert left feedback. The events department will forward it to you.** |
| Reviewer | **You requested changes. Waiting for the owner to update and resubmit.** |
| Viewer | **Changes were requested; the owner needs to update the plan before resubmitting.** |

Time line: **Updated 12 Aug 2026, 16:02**.

If you resend too soon: **Municipality feedback has not been forwarded to you yet.**

### **Rejected** (title is **Review closed**)

- Title: **Review closed**
- Body: **The review was closed. The owner can make adjustments before sending a new request.**

Same for owner, reviewer, and viewer. A new **Send for review** is a new round.

### **Approved**

- Title: **Plan approved**
- Body: **This plan has been approved. Further edits are disabled.**
- Time line: **Approved 13 Aug 2026, 11:05**
- Header can also say **This plan is locked because it has been approved**

In-app **Approved** is this drawing accepted in Traffic Chart. It is not, by itself, a legal permit. The municipality may still have paper, fees, or conditions outside the app.

You cannot resubmit an approved plan: **This plan is already approved and cannot be resubmitted.** Check **Comments** → **Review status** for the decision; an approval email is not guaranteed.

### **Review progress**

Under the card, **Review progress** lists **Submitted**, **Events department**, **Traffic expert**, then the outcome: **Completed**, or **Approved** / **Rejected** / **Changes requested** when the round has finished.

On many event plans **Traffic expert** is skipped.

## After they ask for changes — **Send for review**

This form is for the owner on a later round. Not for the first session.

1. Read **Messages from municipality** and any **Reviewer message**.
2. Edit the same plan. **Save**.
3. Open **Send for review**. Body: **Connect your plan to the right municipality or export if none are available.**
4. **Select the municipality reviewer for this plan.**
5. Choose **Municipality**.
6. **Message (optional)** — placeholder **Add context for the reviewer**.
7. **Send review request** (or **Sending...**). Toast **Review request sent**. Failure: **Could not submit review request**.

The plan locks again. You are back on **In review by municipality**.

If no reviewer can be linked:

- **We could not find a reviewer**
- **Add a traffic object in the right municipality so we can link a reviewer, or export and share manually.**
- **Export plan**

**Pending review** can appear while a request is waiting.

## Reviewer decisions

### Traffic expert — **Update status**

Heading **Update status**, with a **Reviewer** hint.

Choose **Approve**, **Request changes**, or **Reject**. **Request changes** is selected by default, so set the action you actually mean. **Message** placeholder: **Let the plan owner know what you decided**. Confirm with **Update status**. While it saves, the button reads **Saving...**. Toast **Status updated**. Failure: **Could not update status**.

### Events department

Heading **Events department actions**, on both plan types.

When a traffic expert is still ahead of you, the description is **Forward to the traffic expert or send a decision back to the submitter.** Usual action: **Forward to traffic expert**. You can also **Request changes** or **Reject**. **Message** placeholder: **Let the submitter know what needs to be updated**. The button repeats the choice: **Forward to traffic expert**, or **Send update** for the other two. There is no **Approve** here, because approving is the traffic expert’s step.

When the traffic-expert step is skipped, you are the last decision. The description becomes **Make a decision on this event plan.** and **Forward to traffic expert** disappears. Choose **Approve**, **Request changes**, or **Reject**. **Approve** confirms with **Approve**; the other two confirm with **Send update**. This is the normal shape on event plans, and it also happens on a traffic plan whose municipality has no traffic expert in the flow.

When **Direct communication** is off and the traffic expert already wrote feedback: **Forward feedback to submitter**. Toast **Forwarded successfully**. Failures: **Could not forward review request** / **Could not forward feedback**.

## Current request, messages, history

**Current review request** lists **Submitter**, **Plan title**, **Start date**, **End date**, optional **Description**, **Events department note**, **Traffic expert note**. Reviewers with access get **Open dossier**. Organisers do not.

**Messages from municipality** is the live comment list. Empty: **No comments for this request.** A finished note is **Closed**. **Show on map** jumps to it. The organiser can **Close** a comment after they handle it.

**More actions** (your own open comments, if you can manage them): **Edit** or **Delete**. Edit placeholder **Update this comment...**. **Save** / **Cancel**. Delete asks **Delete this comment? This cannot be undone.** Toasts: **Comment updated**, **Comment deleted**. Failures: **Could not update comment**, **Could not delete comment**.

If the app blocks an edit: **Only pending review requests can be commented on.** **Only the author of this comment can edit or delete it.** **Resolved comments cannot be edited or deleted.**

**History & comments** holds earlier rounds. **Show** / **Hide**. Empty: **No previous review requests yet.** A row can show **Unknown area**, **Submitted by Sam Rivera - 12 Aug 2026, 09:14**, **Last updated**, **Message from submitter**, **Events department**, **Traffic expert**.

## Place a map comment (traffic expert)

![Review comment draft](https://hel1.your-objectstorage.com/traffic-chart-tutorials/helpcenter/en/review/07-comment-draft.png)

1. Confirm **Review tools** is on the left.
2. Click **Pin**, **Arrow**, or **Rectangle**.
3. Click or draw on the map.
4. Heading: **Add a note for this point**, **Add a note for this arrow**, or **Add a note for this area**.
5. Placeholder: **What needs to change here?**
6. **Save comment** (or **Saving...**). **Cancel** drops the draft.

Toast **Comment added**. Failure **Could not add comment**. An unsupported shape can say **Unsupported geometry type for review comment**.

Write a place and an action (“move the stack 10 m east on the Utrecht side street”), not only “fix”. Place comments before you set **Changes requested**.

**Add text**, **Add line**, **Add rectangle**, **Add circle**, and event **Texts** are sketches. They do not appear in **Messages from municipality**. Crew labels stay on the drawing. Review comments lock to this request.

## What good looks like

- Organisers waited for **Start review session**. They did not hunt for **Pin**.
- Event plans have at least one event object on the real site.
- Traffic-expert comments sit on the problem, with a sentence the owner can execute.
- After **Changes requested**, the owner edited the same plan and used **Send for review**.
- **Plan approved** was treated as a drawing lock, not as a permit in the letterbox.
- Sketch **Add text** was never used as a substitute for **Review tools**.

## If something blocks you

| Situation | What to try |
|-----------|-------------|
| No **Send for review** on a new plan | Expected. Wait for the municipality |
| **Place event objects to start a review** | Place at least one event object. Areas, lines, and text do not count |
| No **Review tools** | You are not the assigned **Traffic expert** on an open **Submitted** step |
| Plan will not edit | [My plan is locked for review](/hc/test/articles/plan-locked-for-review) |
| **The traffic expert left feedback. The events department will forward it to you.** | Wait for **Forward feedback to submitter** |
| You only needed a link | [Share a plan and read-only view](/hc/test/articles/share-link-and-read-only) |

Email [customer@traffic-chart.com](mailto:customer@traffic-chart.com) only if access looks wrong for your account. Include the plan URL.

## Related articles

- [Review for organisers](/hc/test/articles/review-for-organisers)
- [Review for reviewers](/hc/test/articles/review-for-reviewers)
- [My plan is locked for review](/hc/test/articles/plan-locked-for-review)
- [Share a plan and read-only view](/hc/test/articles/share-link-and-read-only)
- [Drawing and measuring](/hc/test/articles/drawing-and-measuring)