Usually the site allows me to tag an individual member at the start of a comment by typing @username, but sometimes it does not recognise the name and the string beginning with @ is automatically deleted from the comment. Am I doing something wrong?
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5 This happens when you're trying to ping the author of the post you're commenting on. The author gets notified of every comment on their post anyway, so the system automatically deletes such superfluous pings.
If you want to make it clear you're addressing the author of the post, just start your comment with their name but leave out the @.
The precise condition for the ping to get removed is:
If there are no comments, or only you or the author have commented on the post so far, the @name will be automatically removed from the beginning of the comment, as it adds no value. (To avoid breaking sentences, mentions not at the beginning will not be removed.)
Note that this condition is different from the author being included in the autocompletion list for pings, which is:
Only users who have commented on the post are populated into the list. Editors and other users from the post's history will never appear there, even if they are able to be notified by typing manually. The author is also not included unless they commented.
- 1$\begingroup$ Fantastic. Thank you ever so much for your speedy reply. $\endgroup$Professor Sushing– Professor Sushing2023-10-18 10:17:56 +00:00Commented Oct 18, 2023 at 10:17
- $\begingroup$ Not always -- see e.g. physics.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/14543/…. (One can however see it beforehand: It will disappear exactly if (at least I think so) if no autocompletion is offered.) $\endgroup$Norbert Schuch– Norbert Schuch2023-10-18 20:08:19 +00:00Commented Oct 18, 2023 at 20:08
- $\begingroup$ I believe if a third person gets involved in the comments, it becomes possible to ping the author (presumably to make it clear who comments are directed at). $\endgroup$JMac– JMac2023-10-19 14:11:59 +00:00Commented Oct 19, 2023 at 14:11
- $\begingroup$ @JMac This seems to simplistic, e.g. neither for the comment above nor now, I was able to ping ACuriousMind. Another conjecture, equally untested, is that this only works once the OP left a comment. $\endgroup$Norbert Schuch– Norbert Schuch2023-10-19 20:32:54 +00:00Commented Oct 19, 2023 at 20:32
- 1$\begingroup$ @NorbertSchuch I've linked a meta.SE post that explains this feature in depth and cited the directly relevant sections. $\endgroup$2023-10-19 21:02:53 +00:00Commented Oct 19, 2023 at 21:02