Private Replies for Internal Feedback in Pastel

Being able to get feedback from anyone, without them needing to have a Pastel account, has always been a core part of the Pastel experience.

However, sometimes you don't want everyone to see your comments. Whether it's something that's not relevant to your clients or you simply want to keep conversations internal, private comments and private replies make client review collaboration easier and more organized.

Private replies work similarly to private comments and are available on either our Studio or Enterprise plans.

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What Are Private Replies?

Private replies allow teams to discuss feedback internally without exposing those conversations to clients or external stakeholders. They are ideal for agencies, freelancers, and marketing teams that need to align internally before responding to client feedback.

Private replies help teams collaborate more effectively during website reviews while keeping client facing conversations clear and focused.

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Pastel's private reply commentbox — Private reply commentbox

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How Private Replies Improve Client Review Collaboration

Managing feedback from multiple stakeholders can quickly become overwhelming. Internal discussions often happen across Slack messages, emails, and project management tools, making it difficult to keep context attached to the actual feedback.

Private replies allow teams to discuss revisions directly within the approval workflow, helping everyone stay aligned while keeping clients in the loop throughout the review process.

For teams collaborating with external stakeholders, using private replies alongside client feedback workflows can significantly reduce confusion and speed up approvals.

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‍Leaving a Private Reply

You and your team can leave private replies on both public and private comments. All replies to private comments are automatically private as shown by the yellow reply box.

Once you leave a private reply, you’ll be able to see the PRIVATE label in the sidebar as well as a message in the detailed comment view letting you know that this reply is only visible to teammates.

You can add labels like you would a public comment and export private replies to either as a CSV file or to your project management tool!

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Editing the Privacy of a Comment

You can change the privacy settings of a reply after the fact. Once you've changed the visibility of a private reply to a public reply, the PRIVATE label is removed from that reply.

To change the visibility back to private, follow the same steps again to edit the comment. Click the eye icon to change the reply to be visible only to team members. If the comment is private, the text field will also be yellow.

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Related Features for Review and Approval Workflows

Private replies become even more powerful when combined with other collaboration features in Pastel. Teams can create shareable projects to centralize feedback across multiple assets and move completed work through a structured approval workflow before launch.

Together, these features help agencies and teams streamline client review collaboration from initial feedback to final approval.

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Start Collaborating Internally Without Losing Client Visibility

Those are the basics of private replies. By keeping internal discussions connected to the feedback itself, teams can reduce miscommunication, improve collaboration, and deliver projects faster.

To learn more about private replies, head over to our help article or try it on one of your canvases from your dashboard.

Ready to simplify client review collaboration? Try Pastel today and keep all feedback, discussions, and approvals in one place.

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FAQ

What are Private Replies in Pastel?

Replies that only your team can see, letting you discuss feedback internally, on both public and private comments, without clients or outside stakeholders seeing that conversation.

How can a team discuss client feedback internally without the client seeing?

Reply privately on the comment itself. Instead of moving the internal debate to Slack or email and losing the context, the team's discussion stays attached to the exact piece of feedback it's about, invisible to the client.

Who can see a private reply?

Only your team. Clients and outside stakeholders viewing the canvas don't see private replies at all, so the client-facing thread stays clean.

How do I know if a reply is private?

It shows a "PRIVATE" label in the sidebar, and the reply box itself appears yellow, so there's no ambiguity about who can see what before you hit send.

Can I change a reply from private to public later?

Yes, in Pastel you can change a reply from private to public later on. Clicking the eye icon on a comment toggles its visibility, and the PRIVATE label updates to match.

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Do Private Replies work on public comments too?

Yes. You can reply privately on both public and private comments, so the client's visible thread and your team's internal discussion can coexist on the same piece of feedback.

What's the difference between a private comment and a private reply?

A private comment is a piece of feedback hidden from outside viewers entirely; a private reply is an internal discussion attached underneath any comment, including a public one the client can see.

When would a team use Private Replies?

Whenever the response to feedback needs internal alignment first: debating whether a request is feasible, deciding who'll handle it, or agreeing on how to answer, all before replying to the client in the public thread.

Why keep internal discussion on the feedback instead of in Slack or email?

Context. A debate that happens next to the exact comment it's about stays understandable weeks later; the same debate scattered across chat threads loses its connection to the work.