Which notes fields should I be using?

There are currently four notes fields available to be utilized for specifications. Three of these notes fields are category-centric, whereas one of these notes fields is project-centric.

Short Notes and Long Notes are the first two fields we'll discuss in this article. Both are category-centric and are additionaly local to your spec meaning they can be uniqely edited per spec. Despite being local, if you want to template these notes so that every spec in the same category within a project has the same Short Notes and/or Long Notes, Super Users (i.e. Admins) can create these notes within the firm's Spec Template. To be clear, this means that any spec within the project that matches the category criterion will initially receive these Short Notes and/or Long Notes, but they can still be edited locally within the project per spec. And further, if a Super User was to edit the Spec Template after a spec was already created in the project, the Short Notes and/or Long Notes for those existing specs would be untouched. Put differently, templated Short Notes and Long Notes only apply to specs created after the template was created or edited.

What if I want to edit a note once that updates across multiple specs in the same category?

Say hello to Global Spec Notes, which are also category-centric and can also be templated within the Spec Template. But as the name suggests, Global Spec Notes are indeed global for the project, not local. Similar to Short Notes and Long Notes, templated Global Spec Notes must be in place before you begin creating your specs. But if you need to edit a Global Spec Note, you'll do this within the project's settings (click Settings tab in the left margin of the project and then Global Spec Notes tab) and the Global Spec Note will update across all the corresponding specs that match the category for the applicable Global Spec Note.

*Note, Global Spec Notes generally only appear on Custom Exports.

What if I have some notes that will be the same on every spec, regardless of category?

We've got you covered here too. You'll want to use the Project Notes field. Like all the notes discussed above, Project Notes can be templated too, a feature that was mostly designed for firms looking to reinforce the same Project Notes across all projects. But Project Notes can certainly be edited within the project too. Click the Settings tab and scroll to the bottom of the Main tab.