The Marking App
Store multiple alternative wordings of the same comment and pick the best one while marking.
A variant is an alternative wording of a comment. When a piece of feedback applies in different situations but needs slightly different phrasing, variants let you keep all the options in one place rather than creating separate comments.
For example, a comment about citation style might have one variant for APA errors and another for Chicago errors. Both are the same underlying feedback - just adapted for the context.
Tip: Variants work well when you have feedback that applies broadly but the specific wording depends on the student's mistake. Keep the variants related - if two wordings feel too different, they may be better as separate comments.
Open the options menu on any comment and choose Add variant. A dialog will open showing the original comment above a text box for the new variant. Write the alternative wording and save.
A comment can have any number of variants. Existing variants can be reordered or deleted via Manage variants in the same options menu.
When a comment has variants, small dots appear on the right side of the comment row - one dot per variant. There are two gestures for picking a variant:
Press and hold on the comment row. After a short moment a variant picker drops down. While still holding, drag up or down over the picker to highlight the variant you want, then release to copy it.
Swipe left on a comment to instantly copy the variant you used most recently for that comment - handy when marking several students in a row who share the same mistake.
The app remembers which variant you last copied for each comment and pre-selects it the next time you open the picker.
Note: A regular click (without holding) always copies the currently active variant immediately, without opening the picker.
Open Manage variants from the options menu to see all variants for a comment. From here you can:
Edit the text of any variant.
Drag to reorder variants - the order here matches the order shown in the picker.
Delete a variant.
Last updated June 2026