> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.crowdwork.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/staff-notes.md).
# Staff Notes
Leave internal, staff-only notes on customers, students, orders, shows and classes — who can read them, who can edit them, and where they appear in your reports and CSV exports.
Notes let your team leave short internal reminders on the records you already work in — "called about a refund, comped them," "wheelchair seating needed," "front row reserved for the director." They live on the patron, the order, or the event they're about, so the next person who opens that record sees them without having to ask anyone.
{% hint style="success" %}
**Patrons never see notes.**
Notes appear only inside your Dashboard, in your reports, and in the CSV files you download. There is no patron-facing page, confirmation email, or ticket that shows a note.
{% endhint %}
***
## Where You Can Leave a Note
Four kinds of records can be annotated. Each one has a **Notes** card on its page.
| Record | How to get there |
| ------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Customer** (a patron who bought show tickets) | [Dashboard → Customers](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/customers) → click the patron's name |
| **Student** (a patron who registered for a class) | [Dashboard → Students](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/students) → click the patron's name |
| **Order** | [Dashboard → Orders](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/orders) → click **View** on the order |
| **Show or class** | [Dashboard → Shows](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/shows) (or [Classes](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/classes)) → open the event |
{% hint style="info" %}
**Not sure where a note belongs?**
Put it on the record it will still be true about later. Something about the person ("uses a wheelchair," "always calls ahead") belongs on their Customer or Student record, where it follows them to every future purchase. Something about one transaction ("comped after the cancelled Saturday show") belongs on the order.
{% endhint %}
***
## Adding a Note
1. Open the customer, student, order, show, or class
2. Scroll to the **Notes** card — on an order it's labeled **Order Notes**
3. Click **+ Add Note**
4. Type your note. Notes support basic formatting — bold, italic, lists, and links
5. Click **Save Note**
Your note is saved with your name and the date and time, and appears at the top of the card. Newest notes are always listed first.
***
## Editing and Deleting Notes
Under every note is a line showing who wrote it and when. When you're allowed to change that note, **Edit** and **Delete** appear on the same line.
* **You can edit and delete your own notes.**
* **Admins can edit and delete anyone's notes.**
* An edited note is marked **(edited)** next to its timestamp, so it's clear the text changed after it was written.
* Deleting asks you to confirm first, and can't be undone.
{% hint style="info" %}
**A note is edited where it was written.**
A patron's page also shows notes left on their orders, and those appear read-only there, labeled with the order they came from (*From Order #1234*). To change one, open that order and edit it from its **Order Notes** card.
{% endhint %}
***
## Who Can See and Add Notes
Notes follow the record they're attached to. Anyone on your staff who can open a record can read its notes and add new ones.
| Staff member | Can do |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Any staff member | Read every note on any record they can already open, and add new notes |
| Any staff member | Edit and delete the notes they wrote themselves |
| Admins | Edit and delete any note in the theatre |
{% hint style="warning" %}
**There is no separate permission setting for notes.**
Note access is exactly record access — a producer who can't see your Students can't read or add student notes either. To control who sees which notes, control which records that person can open, using [Custom Permissions](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/managing-staff-and-users/custom-permissions).
{% endhint %}
Removing a staff member from your theatre does **not** delete the notes they wrote — your theatre's history stays intact. Their notes remain on the record, credited to **Deleted user**.
***
## Finding Notes Around Your Dashboard
You don't have to open a record to find out whether it has notes.
* **A notebook icon in your lists.** On the Customers, Students, Orders, Shows, and Classes screens, a small notebook icon appears next to any row that has notes. Click it for a read-only preview without leaving the list. A row with no icon has no notes.
* **A patron's page gathers everything about them.** It shows their own notes *plus* the notes left on their orders, so a remark typed while working one transaction still surfaces the next time someone looks that person up.
* **An order page shows both sides.** The **Order Notes** card holds notes about that transaction, and the patron panel alongside it has a **Notes** line linking to that patron's other notes — so you can check "is there anything I should know about this person?" without navigating away.
***
## Notes in Reports and Exports
### In reports
The transaction list behind your reports — **View Line Items** on any financial report — includes a **Notes** column. Because notes are free-form, the on-screen cell shows the opening of the text; click it to read the whole thing. The CSV download carries the full text.
On a transaction row, that column combines the notes on the order with the notes on the patron who placed it, answering one question: *is there anything I should know about this row?* For more on running and exporting reports, see [Reports Overview](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/reports-and-analytics/reports-overview).
### In CSV exports
Four exports carry a `notes` column. It's always the last column before any custom checkout field columns, so it doesn't shift the position of anything you already rely on.
| Export | What the `notes` column contains |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Customers** | That customer's own notes |
| **Students** | That student's own notes |
| **Orders** | The order's notes plus the purchaser's notes |
| **Tickets / Registrations** | The order's notes plus the purchaser's notes. These are order-level, so the same text repeats on every admission row belonging to that order |
When a record has more than one note, they're joined into a single cell, newest first, separated by a vertical bar (`|`) — the same way the exports already combine multi-value columns like items and tags. Formatting is stripped, so the cell reads as plain text. Full export details are in [Exporting Your Data](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/exporting-your-data).
{% hint style="warning" %}
**Notes leave the Dashboard in exports.**
They're invisible to patrons, but they do travel into spreadsheets that get emailed to accountants, board members, and guest staff. Write them as internal business records — useful and factual — and keep sensitive personal details out of them.
{% endhint %}
***
## FAQs
Can patrons see my notes?
No. Notes are staff-only. They don't appear on any patron-facing page, in confirmation or reminder emails, or on tickets. The only places they appear are your Dashboard, your reports, and the CSV files you download.
Who can delete a note?
The person who wrote it, and any admin. Everyone else on your staff can read the note and add their own, but can't change or remove someone else's. Deleting can't be undone — if a note is wrong rather than obsolete, editing it leaves a clearer record.
What happens to notes when a staff member leaves?
They stay exactly where they are. Removing a user from your theatre doesn't remove their notes — the note keeps its text and its date, and the byline reads **Deleted user**. This is deliberate: a note explaining why a patron was comped two seasons ago is still worth having after the person who wrote it has moved on.
Where should I put a note about someone's seating needs?
On their **Customer** or **Student** record. Notes on the person follow them to every future order, and they show up in the notebook-icon preview on your Customers and Students lists — so the box office sees them next time, not just this time.
Can I format a note?
Yes — bold, italic, lists, and links all work, which is handy for longer notes about an ongoing situation. Formatting is kept on screen and stripped when notes are exported to CSV, where the cell reads as plain text.
***
## Related Tasks
| Task | Guide |
| --------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Control who on your staff sees what** | [Custom Permissions](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/managing-staff-and-users/custom-permissions) |
| **Invite and manage staff** | [Managing Staff & Users](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/managing-staff-and-users) |
| **Export your data as CSV** | [Exporting Your Data](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/exporting-your-data) |
| **Run and read financial reports** | [Reports Overview](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/reports-and-analytics/reports-overview) |
| **Resolve a common patron issue** | [Helping Your Patrons](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/helping-your-patrons) |
| **Group and label events** | [Tags](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/tags) |
***
## Need Help?
If notes aren't behaving the way this guide describes, [contact our support team](https://docs.crowdwork.com/contacting-support) from your Dashboard. We're here to help!