METHOD FOR ASSOCIATING A DISCUSSION WITH A DOCUMENT

Associating a discussion with a document by associating the discussion with an identifier for the document, such as the document address. A discussion is associated with the document without modifying the document. A reply can be associated with a general discussion, an in-line discussion or another reply. General and/or in-line discussions can be associated with the document. An in-line discussion is associated with a particular portion of the document through a signature. The signature is determined by analyzing the contents of the document near the in-line discussion location.