diff --git a/src/editor/widgets/comment/CommentWidget.jsx b/src/editor/widgets/comment/CommentWidget.jsx
index f6e168d..5103bc8 100644
--- a/src/editor/widgets/comment/CommentWidget.jsx
+++ b/src/editor/widgets/comment/CommentWidget.jsx
@@ -2,16 +2,16 @@ import React from 'preact/compat';
 import Comment from './Comment';
 import TextEntryField from './TextEntryField';
 import i18n from '../../../i18n';
-import PurposeDropdown from './PurposeDropdown';
+import PurposeDropdown, {purposes} from './PurposeDropdown';
 
-const purposes = ['assessing', 'bookmarking', 'classifying', 'commenting', 'describing', 'editing', 'highlighting', 'identifying', 'linking', 'moderating', 'questioning']
+const purposeValues = purposes.map(p => p.value);
 /**
  * Comments are TextualBodies where the purpose field is either 
  * blank or 'commenting' or 'replying'
  */
 const isComment = body => 
   body.type === 'TextualBody' && (
-    !body.hasOwnProperty('purpose') || purposes.indexOf(body.purpose) > -1
+    !body.hasOwnProperty('purpose') || purposeValues.indexOf(body.purpose) > -1
   );
   
 /**
diff --git a/src/editor/widgets/comment/PurposeDropdown.jsx b/src/editor/widgets/comment/PurposeDropdown.jsx
index 2258283..1821301 100644
--- a/src/editor/widgets/comment/PurposeDropdown.jsx
+++ b/src/editor/widgets/comment/PurposeDropdown.jsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import React, { Component } from 'preact/compat';
 import Select from 'react-select';
 
-const purposes = [{'value': 'assessing', 'label': 'Assessing'}, {'value': 'bookmarking', 'label': 'Bookmarking'}, {'value': 'classifying', 'label': 'Classifying'}, {'value': 'commenting', 'label': 'Commenting'}, {'value': 'describing', 'label': 'Describing'},{'value': 'editing', 'label': 'Editing'}, {'value': 'highlighting', 'label': 'Highlighting'},{'value': 'identifying', 'label': 'Identifying'},{'value': 'linking', 'label': 'Linking'},{'value': 'moderating', 'label': 'Moderating'},{'value': 'questioning', 'label': 'Questioning'}]
+export const purposes = [{'value': 'assessing', 'label': 'Assessing'}, {'value': 'bookmarking', 'label': 'Bookmarking'}, {'value': 'classifying', 'label': 'Classifying'}, {'value': 'commenting', 'label': 'Commenting'}, {'value': 'describing', 'label': 'Describing'},{'value': 'editing', 'label': 'Editing'}, {'value': 'highlighting', 'label': 'Highlighting'},{'value': 'identifying', 'label': 'Identifying'},{'value': 'linking', 'label': 'Linking'},{'value': 'moderating', 'label': 'Moderating'},{'value': 'questioning', 'label': 'Questioning'}]
 
 export default class PurposeDropdown extends Component {
   render() {