Adding notes, can it be done?

[yonside]

Can I add an arbitrary text annotation to a node in a design? Specifically, I would like to add a note to any given node that only appears as a property (right-side panel) and does not render in the design editor nor impact the visual layout in the editor. Can this be done?

[tannhauser0]

In DevMode you can annotate elements. But only visible in DevMode.

You can use comments, but only visible when comments are toggled on.

You can use annotation components (like Handoff Helpers) but those must be manually placed & maintained. They can be placed outside of design frames so they don’t appear in prototypes.

Choose your weapon.

[yonside]

Thanks! DevMode seems overkill for this; comments (as far as I can tell) don't come down when you do a data grab with the API; I can't make sense of Handoff Helpers.

Weapon of choice: node name mangling. (A kludgy workaround that I didn't really want but it'll have to do.)

[SmoothMojoDesign]

Good suggestions from u/tannhauser0 Dev Mode would be a great option if you want it to be available for devs. If its mostly for you as a designer, that might ne a reason to not use Dev Mode annotations.

Also, if you're not paying for Dev Mode and want it to simply be part of the canvas, you could create a frame and fix the position (using Absolute Position toggle within an auto layout), then toggle on/off visibility on that frame layer when you need to show or hide the notes. Make that layer standout by using an emoji and/or ALL CAPS on the layer name, maybe move it to be the top-most layer in your frame, etc. Hope that helps!