Files & Comments

Two things belong on a record and nowhere else: the documents that prove what was agreed, and the conversation about it. HotCRM keeps both on the record, so the contract is where the account is and the "why did we discount this?" thread is where the deal is — not in someone's mailbox.

📎 Attachments

Open any account, contact, opportunity, quote, contract or case and you'll find an Attachments panel below the record details.

Uploading

1. Open the record.
2. Click Upload in the Attachments panel (or drop a file onto it).
3. The file appears in the list with its name, size and type.

Each row has a download and a delete action.

Who can see and do what

Attachments have no permissions of their own — they inherit the record's. That single rule answers every question:

• Uploading requires edit access to the record. If you cannot edit the opportunity, you cannot attach to it.
• Seeing and downloading requires read access to the record. A colleague who can open the deal sees its files; someone who cannot, does not — the file list comes back empty for them rather than teasing a locked row.
• Deleting is limited to the person who uploaded the file and anyone who can edit the record.
• Anonymous visitors get nothing. Someone filling in a public web-to-lead or web-to-case form is never handed a file, even with a direct link.

Because access follows the record, sharing a record — by territory, by account team, or by changing the owner — carries its attachments along automatically. There is no second permission to remember.

Leads deliberately don't take attachments

Unqualified leads arrive from forms and lists in volume, and an attachment surface on them mostly collects junk. Once a lead converts, its account, contact and opportunity all accept files. If your team has a real reason to attach to leads before qualification, ask your admin — it is one flag.

A file field on a record (like a product datasheet) is a different thing from an attachment: the field holds exactly one file and is part of the record's data, while the Attachments panel holds as many as you like alongside it.

💬 Comments

Every record carries a Discussion feed: a comment box plus the record's activity, newest at the bottom.

• Write in the box and press Ctrl+Enter (Mac: ⌘+Enter) to post.
• Basic formatting is available — bold, italic, lists and code.
• Type @ to mention a colleague; they get a notification.
• React to a comment with an emoji, or reply to start a thread.

System entries (a stage change, an owner change) appear in the same feed, so the conversation and the record's history read as one story.

What to put in a comment

• ✅ "Procurement wants net-60; approved by finance, see attached MSA."
• ✅ "Champion left the company — new contact is Dana, re-qualifying."
• ❌ Anything you would not want the whole revenue team to read. Comments are visible to your colleagues; treat them as internal notes on shared work, not as private messages.

Tips

• ✅ Attach the document at the moment it is signed — the deal record is the only place everyone will look for it in six months.
• ✅ Put the decision in a comment, not just the outcome in a field. Stage = Negotiation says what; the comment says why.
• ✅ @-mention the person you need something from. A comment nobody is tagged in is a diary entry.
• ✅ Name files so they read in a list — apex-msa-2026-signed.pdf beats scan_0043.pdf.