Bug 169504 - Comments transparency can't be disabled, which can make comments difficult to read.
Summary: Comments transparency can't be disabled, which can make comments difficult to...
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Calc (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
25.8.2.2 release
Hardware: All All
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Calc-Comments
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2025-11-17 21:18 UTC by MacAhi
Modified: 2025-12-05 18:17 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
Here's the comment on hover. (50.97 KB, image/png)
2025-11-26 03:21 UTC, MacAhi
Details
Here's the comment if I choose 'Show Comment' (41.52 KB, image/png)
2025-11-26 03:22 UTC, MacAhi
Details
This is the comment settings. (74.88 KB, image/png)
2025-11-26 03:59 UTC, MacAhi
Details

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Description MacAhi 2025-11-17 21:18:48 UTC
Description:
Even after ensuring that it is set to 'No Transparency', on hover they are still transparent.

Steps to Reproduce:
Steps: 
1. create a comment on a field.
2. click away from the field
3. hover over field to show comment
result: comment is transparent.

Steps to validate the settings:
1. in a field with a comment, select 'Show Comment'.
2. Right-click on the comment and select 'Area'.
3. Click on the 'Transparency' tab.
4. Ensure that 'No Transparency' is selected.
5. Click on [OK]
6 right-click on field, and select 'Hide Comment'
7. Repeat validation steps above to show that on hover, the comment is still transparent.

Actual Results:
Comments remain transparent.

Expected Results:
Comments shouldn't be transparent.


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: Yes

Additional Info:
Is there a global setting somewhere?  I can't seem to find one.  I wouldn't want to have to set each comment individually.
Comment 1 Krithika Yetchina 2025-11-26 02:48:47 UTC
Hey MacAhi,

I am not able to reproduce this bug on 
Version: 25.8.3.2 (AARCH64)
Build ID: 8ca8d55c161d602844f5428fa4b58097424e324e
CPU threads: 11; OS: macOS 15.6.1; UI render: Skia/Metal; VCL: osx
Locale: en-US (en_US.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded

Would you be able to share a screenshot of what this looks like for you?
Comment 2 Krithika Yetchina 2025-11-26 02:49:05 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 3 MacAhi 2025-11-26 03:21:16 UTC
Created attachment 204286 [details]
Here's the comment on hover.
Comment 4 MacAhi 2025-11-26 03:22:44 UTC
Created attachment 204287 [details]
Here's the comment if I choose 'Show Comment'
Comment 5 MacAhi 2025-11-26 03:59:53 UTC
Created attachment 204288 [details]
This is the comment settings.
Comment 6 MacAhi 2025-11-26 19:55:49 UTC
It still happens on 25.8.3.2 on MacOS
Comment 7 Buovjaga 2025-11-27 05:04:34 UTC
In bug 166734 comment 11 it was argued that this is fine. Let's add Armin and Heiko.
Comment 8 MacAhi 2025-11-27 05:21:31 UTC
It's not fine.  Depending on what is behind the comment, the transparency interferes with clear and easy reading of what's in the comment.

If users want to make their comments transparent (as in comment 11 which you pointed out), they can do so.  That comment's argument doesn't make sense since all the user would have to do is hover off of the cell in order to see what's behind it.  Leaving it permanently transparent interferes with anyone who doesn't want that.

As it is currently, it's not working as the interface dictates.  The setting is "No Transparency".  That should be the result.  

I also think this should be a global setting,  maybe with an override at the individual comment, but if someone wants to set a level to apply to all comments, that should be available.
Comment 9 Heiko Tietze 2025-12-03 06:21:20 UTC
You get what you want per View > [x] Comments. The semi-transparency happens only when you hover over a hidden comment.

(In reply to MacAhi from comment #8)
> It's not fine.
The majority has a different view, see bug 166734 comment 9.

> I also think this should be a global setting...
Wouldn't mind a boolean expert option AlwaysOpaqueComments, or the like. But not something in the main UI.
Comment 10 MacAhi 2025-12-03 19:15:45 UTC
I viewed the survey.  It would have been better to have asked if Comments should be *allowed* to have levels of transparency.  Having done hundreds of user surveys in my 40+ year career as a developer, I understand that getting people to respond to surveys can be challenging, but 17 users is hardly representative of the user community.  

If users voted to show the color Red, when a user chooses Green, would you support that decision?  I certainly hope you'd say no, you wouldn't.  Why?  Because that decision, no matter how popular it may be, doesn't make sense.  The setting is Green, not Red, just as No Transparency means zero transparency, not >0% transparency.

If you decided to change the setting title to "Minimum Transparency", I'd still argue that you're making the wrong decision by not allowing a Comment to be opaque on mouseover (the way most comments are viewed), but at least the setting would be doing what it says, unlike how it works today.  It's inaccurate, which is not something you want in a program.

Fonts also has a No Transparency setting, but I notice that actually works correctly.  Why the intransigence on the Comments?

In the end, this setting doesn't break the tool.  It's not going to produce invalid numbers or break any macros, but it is an inconvenience that simply doesn't need to be there.  It can make it very difficult to quickly read comments when the box is over content that interferes with the data in the comment.
Comment 11 Heiko Tietze 2025-12-04 09:41:26 UTC
Let's keep your objection as New and wait for more people joining the choir. Adjusted the summary a bit to make the issue easier to find.

I can imagine an expert option but wouldn't invest effort unless more users benefit.
Comment 12 MacAhi 2025-12-04 19:58:27 UTC
Thank you for the response. 

My summary is more accurate.  Yours is subjective.  Mine is objective.  I've updated it to reflect both.

Here's a resolution.  I'm guessing that the transparency percentage chosen is 10%. I haven't verified, but for the sake of argument, let's go with that.  

- set the default value to 10%
- reflect that in the controls, so when a user opens the setting, it states 10%
- allow users to set any value from 0-100, and actually use that value as the transparency.  As best as I can figure, the app now ignores anything <10%
- get rid of the No Transparency checkbox and just go with 0% to reflect the level.
- have a global setting either for calc or per file to set the default instead of forcing 10%.
Comment 13 Heiko Tietze 2025-12-05 07:46:55 UTC
(In reply to MacAhi from comment #12)
> - set the default value to 10%
You cannot change the transparency yourself, it's hard-coded in a rather complex patch. See https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/185417
Comment 14 MacAhi 2025-12-05 07:54:54 UTC
It probably never should have been implemented in the first place. It seems like it was a lot of work for nothing more than a gimmick with no actual value.

I"d love to see it reversed, but as I said, it's not going to break the app if it isn't.  It's just a visual annoyance.
Comment 15 MacAhi 2025-12-05 18:17:44 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #13)
> (In reply to MacAhi from comment #12)
> > - set the default value to 10%
> You cannot change the transparency yourself, it's hard-coded in a rather
> complex patch. See https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/185417

I just re-read your previous comment.  Maybe I misunderstood, but are you saying that you think users can't set the transparency percentage?  You know that functionality is built into the controls of the Comments and is what I've been talking about, right?  If you're not sure what I'm talking about, please see the attachment titled " This is the comment settings. ".  Here, I absolutely can set the transparency amount but nothing less than the preset value is respected.

If you meant that I was suggesting that *I* would change the default, you're correct, I can't.  My bullet points above were suggestions for design changes to the application.