PSA: How the (broken) @mention system works right now
09-16-20, 01:29 AM
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PSA: How the (broken) @mention system works right now
The forum system for mentioning isn't working properly at the moment which some of you might have noticed because it has been ages since you got a notification of someone calling you out. 
Here's what one of the mods had to say about it:
I came across it a few months ago but I thought it would be helpful for everyone to learn how it works until it is fixed again. I'm sure the forum moderators and the crew maintaining the software are working on it but as someone who works in software QA I know the lead times can be long.
That's why there are workarounds!
Current:
Before you could simply type @ and select or write out someone's name for it to mention someone and they would get a notification by e-mail or through the forum.
Right now it will only link to someone's profile page through either method but it is a good start to make it work.
For example: IBJoel will link to the user page with id 422547 whereas it looks like a mention.
In the plain BBCode that looks like this:
But what you want is this: @IBJoel
(remove the spaces to use this)
You can see the difference by clicking on the Source button on the top right of a post.
It will bring you to the plain text BBCode version of your post. just replace the text utag with mention in both places and post or preview your message.
Now there is lots more you can do with this but I would recommend looking up a BBCode page for that.
My guess is that there is a small bug in the forum software that inserts the wrong code or there is a problem with the order in which each code gets used. But I am only a software tester, I'm better at pointing out the problem than offering solutions.
Here's what one of the mods had to say about it:
They're working, but very specifically (and kind of counter-intuitively). If I type your name in all the way @JaccoW then you get the notification. If I select it from the list of usernames that pop up as I begin to type you username, you do not. This is a known issue and we are working on it. It will take some time, though. It's in the core software and so a different team is taking a look at it.
That's why there are workarounds!
Current:
Before you could simply type @ and select or write out someone's name for it to mention someone and they would get a notification by e-mail or through the forum.
Right now it will only link to someone's profile page through either method but it is a good start to make it work.
For example: IBJoel will link to the user page with id 422547 whereas it looks like a mention.
In the plain BBCode that looks like this:
Code:
[ utag=422547]IBjoel[ /utag]
Code:
[ MENTION=422547]IBjoel[ /MENTION]
You can see the difference by clicking on the Source button on the top right of a post.
It will bring you to the plain text BBCode version of your post. just replace the text utag with mention in both places and post or preview your message.
Now there is lots more you can do with this but I would recommend looking up a BBCode page for that.
My guess is that there is a small bug in the forum software that inserts the wrong code or there is a problem with the order in which each code gets used. But I am only a software tester, I'm better at pointing out the problem than offering solutions.
Last edited by JaccoW; 09-16-20 at 03:09 PM.
09-16-20, 09:38 AM
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Aha! No doubt some of you have been wondering why your cheeks have been burning, but you haven't gotten any MENTION notifications from me. 
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RUSA #7498
Originally Posted by noglider
People in this forum are not typical.
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09-16-20, 09:55 AM
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Everyone demanding their 15 minutes of fame?
oh dear.
oh dear.
09-16-20, 10:34 AM
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Far from it. I've had a fair amount of cases where I've invited a forum member into a thread to provide their knowledge to a thread. Since the mention system didn't work, they were never notified.
-Kurt
-Kurt
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09-16-20, 05:08 PM
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Now that you [/mention] it...
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Somewhere, a village is missing its idiot.
Somewhere, a village is missing its idiot.
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09-16-20, 05:32 PM
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Makes sense!
Just tested this and, yup, the autocomplete did indeed make it utag instead of mention.
Did this send you a notification JaccoW?
@JaccoW
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09-16-20, 06:10 PM
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I think one could count on one hand and have fingers left regarding the number of threads I have started.
09-16-20, 06:15 PM
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09-16-20, 06:20 PM
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I prefer archaic.
09-16-20, 11:55 PM
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09-17-20, 07:17 AM
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09-18-20, 03:17 PM
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09-18-20, 03:39 PM
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Not me. I went because I heard the women there were mostly single, and I wanted to know if that was qualitative or quantitative.
Last edited by RobbieTunes; 09-18-20 at 03:48 PM.
