---
title: "Comments"
manual: "How to Document"
version: "main"
permalink: "https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/h2document:writing-rest-comments"
source: "Reference/ReStructuredText/Content/Comments.rst"
rendered: "2026-09-26T10:48:44+00:00"
---

# Comments {#writing-rest-comments}

Parts of the text in reST source can be "commented out":

> Any text which begins with an explicit markup start but doesn't
> use the syntax of any of the constructs above, is a comment.

See [http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/user/rst/quickref.html#comments](http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/user/rst/quickref.html#comments)

This means: write `..␠`, that is dot-dot-blank at the beginning of the
line, taking the indentation level into account.

## Examples {#writing-rest-comments-examples}

Example:

```rst
..  So here we have a comment.
    It can spread over lines as
    long as you keep the indentation.
```

Example:

```rst
..  This text will not be shown,
    but, for instance, in HTML might be
    rendered as an HTML comment, if the html writer is set up for that.
```

Example:

```rst
..  here we start an unordered list:

*   one

*   two

    ..  this is another comment. Since it's within the list it is aligned
        with 'two', which is the contents of the second list item

*   three
```

## Open tasks (todo) {#writing-rest-comments-todo}

Use `..  todo::` for notes addressed to other authors. Its content never
reaches the rendered page, which is intended: a todo note is internal. It is
the better choice over a plain comment, because `todo::` is a distinct string
that can be searched for, while `..` alone also begins every directive and
every anchor.

The flip side is that nothing reminds you of it while reading the rendered
page. Search for `todo::` before merging instead of expecting to notice an
open task in a preview.