diff --git a/client/.eslintrc.js b/client/.eslintrc.js
index 5de6f54c..b9dd09d7 100644
--- a/client/.eslintrc.js
+++ b/client/.eslintrc.js
@@ -94,5 +94,7 @@ module.exports = {
         ],
       },
     ],
+    'no-unused-vars': 'off',
+    '@typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars': 'error',
   },
 };
diff --git a/client/src/components/ContentBlock.vue b/client/src/components/ContentBlock.vue
index 222dc243..04289339 100644
--- a/client/src/components/ContentBlock.vue
+++ b/client/src/components/ContentBlock.vue
@@ -126,9 +126,12 @@ import type { Modal } from '@/plugins/modal.types';
 
 import { PAGE_LOAD_TIMEOUT } from '@/consts/navigation.consts';
 
-import { getSelectionHandler } from '@/directives/highlight';
+import { getSelectionHandler, SelectionHandlerOptions } from '@/helpers/highlight';
 import { graphql } from '@/__generated__';
 import log from 'loglevel';
+import highlightSidebar from '@/helpers/highlight-sidebar';
+import { doUpdateHighlight } from '@/graphql/mutations';
+import { AddHighlightArgument } from '@/__generated__/graphql';
 
 export interface Props {
   contentBlock: ExtendedContentBlockNode;
@@ -255,11 +258,11 @@ graphql(`
     selectionLength
     contentUuid
     startPosition
+    color
     note {
       text
     }
     text
-    color
     contentBlock {
       id
     }
@@ -312,6 +315,16 @@ const { mutate: doCreateHighlight } = useMutation(
   })
 );
 
+let selectionHandler: (event: Event) => void;
+
+const createHighlight = (highlight: AddHighlightArgument) => {
+  return doCreateHighlight({
+    input: {
+      highlight: highlight,
+    },
+  });
+};
+
 onMounted(() => {
   log.debug('onMounted ContentBlock called');
 
@@ -329,17 +342,38 @@ onMounted(() => {
       }, PAGE_LOAD_TIMEOUT);
     }
 
+    const options: SelectionHandlerOptions = {
+      el: element,
+      contentBlock: props.contentBlock,
+      onChangeColor: (newHighlight: AddHighlightArgument) => {
+        createHighlight(newHighlight);
+      },
+      onCreateNote: (newHighlight: AddHighlightArgument) => {
+        // we also open the sidebar when clicking on the note icon
+        createHighlight(newHighlight).then(
+          ({
+            data: {
+              addHighlight: { highlight },
+            },
+          }) => {
+            highlightSidebar.open({
+              highlight,
+              onUpdateText: (text: string) => {
+                doUpdateHighlight({
+                  input: {
+                    note: text,
+                    id: highlight.id,
+                  },
+                });
+              },
+            });
+          }
+        );
+      },
+    };
+    selectionHandler = getSelectionHandler(options);
     // add the listener from highlights
-    element.addEventListener(
-      'mouseup',
-      getSelectionHandler(element, props.contentBlock, (newHighlight) => {
-        doCreateHighlight({
-          input: {
-            highlight: newHighlight,
-          },
-        });
-      })
-    );
+    element.addEventListener('mouseup', selectionHandler);
   }
 });
 
@@ -347,8 +381,7 @@ onUnmounted(() => {
   const element = contentBlockDiv.value;
 
   if (element !== null) {
-    console.log('unmounting');
-    element.removeEventListener('mouseup', getSelectionHandler(element, props.contentBlock));
+    element.removeEventListener('mouseup', selectionHandler);
   }
 });
 
diff --git a/client/src/components/highlights/HighlightPopover.vue b/client/src/components/highlights/HighlightPopover.vue
index 4706f269..acfcdd64 100644
--- a/client/src/components/highlights/HighlightPopover.vue
+++ b/client/src/components/highlights/HighlightPopover.vue
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     <section class="highlight-popover__section">
       <note-icon
         class="highlight-popover__icon"
-        @click="$emit('confirm')"
+        @click="$emit('note')"
       />
     </section>
     <section class="highlight-popover__section">
diff --git a/client/src/directives/highlight.ts b/client/src/helpers/highlight.ts
similarity index 86%
rename from client/src/directives/highlight.ts
rename to client/src/helpers/highlight.ts
index 9cc53f00..afa32357 100644
--- a/client/src/directives/highlight.ts
+++ b/client/src/helpers/highlight.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
-import { DirectiveBinding } from 'vue';
 import * as rangy from 'rangy';
 import 'rangy/lib/rangy-textrange';
 import log from 'loglevel';
-import Mark from 'mark.js';
 import { ContentBlockNode } from '@/__generated__/graphql';
-import ContentBlock from '@/components/ContentBlock.vue';
 import popover from '@/helpers/popover';
 
 // todo: we need to get the following information for a highlight:
@@ -119,8 +116,16 @@ const getSiblings = (element: HTMLElement): Element[] => {
   return children;
 };
 
+export interface SelectionHandlerOptions {
+  el: HTMLElement;
+  contentBlock: ContentBlockNode;
+  onChangeColor?: (highlight: any) => void;
+  onCreateNote?: (highlight: any) => void;
+}
+
 export const getSelectionHandler =
-  (el: HTMLElement, contentBlock: ContentBlockNode, onUpdateHighlight: (highlight: any) => void = () => {}) =>
+  ({ el, contentBlock, onChangeColor, onCreateNote }: SelectionHandlerOptions) =>
+  // (el: HTMLElement, contentBlock: ContentBlockNode, onUpdateHighlight: (highlight: any) => void = () => {}) =>
   (_e: Event) => {
     const rect = el.getBoundingClientRect();
     if (isInsideViewport(rect.top) || isInsideViewport(rect.bottom)) {
@@ -167,24 +172,25 @@ export const getSelectionHandler =
               const positionOfContentBlock = el.getBoundingClientRect();
               const positionOfSelection = startAncestor?.getBoundingClientRect();
               const offsetTop = positionOfSelection.top - positionOfContentBlock.top;
-              popover
-                .show({
-                  wrapper: el,
-                  offsetTop,
-                  onChooseColor: (color: string) => {
-                    console.log('chosenColor', color);
-                    highlightedText.color = color;
-                    onUpdateHighlight(highlightedText);
-                  },
-                })
-                .then(() => {
-                  console.log('confirmed here');
-                })
-                .catch(() => {
-                  console.log('canceled');
-                });
-              // todo: how do we save this? maybe we need to move away from the directive and do this inside the mounted
-              // and unmounted hooks of the ContentBlock
+              const onChooseColor = (color: string) => {
+                console.log('chosenColor', color);
+                highlightedText.color = color;
+                if (onChangeColor) {
+                  onChangeColor(highlightedText);
+                }
+              };
+              const onNote = () => {
+                highlightedText.color = 'alpha';
+                if (onCreateNote) {
+                  onCreateNote(highlightedText);
+                }
+              };
+              popover.show({
+                wrapper: el,
+                offsetTop,
+                onChooseColor,
+                onNote,
+              });
             }
           }
         }
diff --git a/client/src/helpers/popover.ts b/client/src/helpers/popover.ts
index 73b68a32..299ee943 100644
--- a/client/src/helpers/popover.ts
+++ b/client/src/helpers/popover.ts
@@ -9,10 +9,11 @@ interface Options {
   onChooseColor: (color: string) => void;
   // we don't use the id as a param here, because the calling component knows already which entity it is
   onDelete?: () => void;
+  onNote?: () => void;
 }
 
 export default {
-  show({ wrapper, offsetTop, onChooseColor, onDelete }: Options) {
+  show({ wrapper, offsetTop, onChooseColor, onDelete, onNote }: Options) {
     const mountEl = document.createElement('div');
     wrapper.appendChild(mountEl);
 
@@ -46,6 +47,11 @@ export default {
         cleanUp();
         _resolve();
       },
+      onNote() {
+        if (onNote) {
+          onNote();
+        }
+      },
       onClose() {
         cleanUp();
         _reject();
@@ -63,7 +69,7 @@ export default {
 
     setTimeout(() => {
       document.addEventListener('click', clickOutsideElementListener);
-    }, 1); // do not triger ont the same event that created the popover
+    }, 1); // do not trigger on the same event that created the popover
     return promise;
   },
 };