System and method for comment permissions

1 . A method for restricting comment access for a document, the method carried out by one or more computing devices and comprising:

receiving a request for comment permissions to be applied to a comment within the document, wherein the comment permissions include a target user to an access type for the comment;

applying the comment permissions to the comment, wherein the comment permissions are distinct from document permissions for the document, and wherein applying the comment permissions to the comment comprises verifying that the request is from a user with permission to access the comment, verifying that the request is from an owner of the comment, and verifying that the owner of the comment has permission to create any comments and to create comments within the document;

generating content data of the document, for display on a user interface for the target user, according to the document permissions;

generating content data of the comment, for display on the user interface for the target user, according to the comment permissions, including restricting the target user from the access type for the comment; and

generating the content data of the document to include a summary card for the comment that omits the content of the comment and includes data about the comment for which the target user has permission according to the comment permissions, wherein

the access type is a resolve access type,

generating the content data of the comment according to the comment permissions comprises allowing the comment to be marked as resolved by the target user and preventing further comments to the comment, and

the summary card further indicates a current status of the comment including at least one of whether the comment is an open thread where replies are still allowed, a resolved thread where no further replies are allowed, and a hidden thread where limited information is provided.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the access type is a view access type; and

generating the content data of the comment according to the comment permissions comprises allowing viewing of the content of the comment by the target user.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the access type is a write access type; and

generating the content data of the comment according to the comment permissions comprises:

generating the content data of the comment to display the content of the comment and allow modifications to the comment by the target user.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the comment permissions include a target group of users from the access type for the comment.

5 . The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

retrieving the content of the document from a document store, wherein the document is a text-based document, presentation document, or spreadsheet document; and

retrieving the content of the comment from a comment store that is separate from the document store.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein retrieving the content of the comment from the comment store comprises retrieving metadata for the comment that includes a location identifier for a location within the content of the document where the comment is to be indicated.

7 . The method of claim 5 , the method further comprising:

receiving, from another user, a request for a comment reply to be added to the comment within the document;

retrieving the comment permissions from a permissions store that is separate from the comment store; and

adding the comment reply to the comment when the comment permissions allow replies from the other user when the comment is not marked as resolved by the target user.

8 . The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

generating, for an owner of the document, a comment notification that includes a summary of metadata for comments within the document and excludes content for the comments within the document.

9 . A computing device that restricts comment access for a document, the computing device comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable memory, wherein the processor is configured to carry out instructions from the memory that configure the computing device to:

receive a request for comment permissions to be applied to a comment within the document, wherein the comment permissions include a target user to an access type for the comment;

apply the comment permissions to the comment, wherein the comment permissions are distinct from document permissions for the document, and wherein applying the comment permissions to the comment comprises verifying that the request is from a user with permission to access the comment, verifying that the request is from an owner of the comment, and verifying that the owner of the comment has permission to create any comments and to create comments within the document;

generate content data of the document, for display on a user interface for the target user, according to the document permissions;

generate content data of the comment, for display on the user interface for the target user, according to the comment permissions, including restricting the target user from the access type for the comment; and

generate the content data of the document to include a summary card for the comment that omits the content of the comment and includes data about the comment for which the target user has permission according to the comment permissions, wherein

the access type is a resolve access type,

generating the content data of the comment according to the comment permissions comprises allowing the comment to be marked as resolved by the target user and preventing further comments to the comment, and

the summary card further indicates a current status of the comment including at least one of whether the comment is an open thread where replies are still allowed, a resolved thread where no further replies are allowed, and a hidden thread where limited information is provided.

10 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein:

the access type is a view access type; and

the processor is configured to carry out instructions from the memory that configure the computing device to:

generate the content data of the comment according to the comment permissions to allow viewing of the content of the comment by the target user.

11 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein:

the access type is a write access type; and

wherein the processor is configured to carry out instructions from the memory that configure the computing device to:

generate the content data of the comment to display the content of the comment and allow modifications to the comment by the target user.

12 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the comment permissions include a target group of users from the access type for the comment.

13 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to carry out instructions from the memory that configure the computing device to:

retrieve the content of the document from a document store; and

retrieve the content of the comment from a comment store that is separate from the document store.

14 . The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to carry out instructions from the memory that configure the computing device to:

retrieve metadata for the comment that includes a location identifier for a location within the content of the document where the comment is to be indicated.

15 . The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to carry out instructions from the memory that configure the computing device to:

receive, from another user, a request for a comment reply to be added to the comment within the document;

retrieve the comment permissions from a permissions store that is separate from the comment store; and

add the comment reply to the comment when the comment permissions allow replies from the other user when the comment is not marked as resolved by the target user.

16 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to carry out instructions from the memory that configure the computing device to:

generate, for an owner of the document, a comment notification that includes a summary of metadata for comments within the document and excludes content for the comments within the document.

17 . A method for comment access for a document, the method carried out by one or more computing devices and comprising:

receiving a request for comment permissions to be applied to a comment within the document, wherein the comment permissions identify a plurality of target users to be granted access for the comment and the comment permissions include the plurality of target users to an access type for the comment;

applying the comment permissions to the comment, wherein the comment permissions are distinct from document permissions for the document, and wherein applying the comment permissions to the comment comprises verifying that the request is from a user with permission to access the comment, verifying that the request is from an owner of the comment, and verifying that the owner of the comment has permission to create any comments and to create comments within the document;

generating content data of the document, for display on a user interface by a document user according to the document permissions;

generating content data of the comment, for display on the user interface, according to the comment permissions, wherein the content data of the comment is excluded from the user interface when the document user has not been granted access by the comment permissions; and

generating the content data of the document to include a summary card for the comment that omits the content of the comment and includes data about the comment for which the document user has permission according to the comment permissions, wherein

the access type is a resolve access type,

generating the content data of the comment according to the comment permissions comprises allowing the comment to be marked as resolved by a target user of the plurality of target users and preventing further comments to the comment, and

the summary card further indicates a current status of the comment including at least one of whether the comment is an open thread where replies are still allowed, a resolved thread where no further replies are allowed, and a hidden thread where limited information is provided.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the request for comment permissions comprises an inclusion list that identifies the plurality of target users and respective access types granted to the plurality of target users.

19 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

verifying that the document user is a document owner before generating the content data of the document to include the summary card.

20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the comment permissions grant the plurality of target users a write access type for the comment.

21 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the comment permissions grant the plurality of target users a delete access type for the comment.