When there is a discussion in comments (especially on meta), sometimes I miss an opportunity to call two users in one comment. Hence, when I need to answer both users and I want to be sure that they will receive answers in their inbox, I have to write two comments - which would be meaningless if only both users can be called in one comment. On the other hand, maybe I don't consider some negative situations which may be caused by such feature?
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1$\begingroup$ That has been declined on Meta.SO two years ago, and I don't think the opinion on that has changed a bit. $\endgroup$– user9733Apr 22, 2012 at 20:20
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$\begingroup$ @Fabian: thanks for the link. Although no clear reasons for the declination were stated there $\endgroup$– SBFApr 22, 2012 at 20:26
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$\begingroup$ "No means no!!" $\endgroup$– Asaf Karagila ModApr 22, 2012 at 20:28
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$\begingroup$ @Asaf: seems like a quote :) anyway, as one has a right not to implement the feature he does not seem to fit *SE/SO, the other has a right to ask for clear reasons for such decision. Especially bearing in mind that *SE/SO are community-driven sites and community was 'pro' this feature. $\endgroup$– SBFApr 22, 2012 at 20:31
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3$\begingroup$ It looks like a quote, but it smells like toxic waste! $\endgroup$– Asaf Karagila ModApr 22, 2012 at 20:39
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$\begingroup$ possible duplicate of Tagging more than one person in a comment $\endgroup$– user856Apr 23, 2012 at 1:22
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1$\begingroup$ If needed, you can add a separate comment explaining just something like: @Ilya ping for you too - I think the above comment is interesting for you. (And don't forget that the poster is always pinged when you comment - it's not necessary to ping him.) $\endgroup$– Martin SleziakApr 23, 2012 at 5:54
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2$\begingroup$ @Martin: thanks for the idea - after pinging another user, I can immediately delete the comment since the notification will still appear in his inbox and hence he will take a look on the thread even if the comment which pinged the user is deleted. $\endgroup$– SBFApr 23, 2012 at 6:26
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$\begingroup$ @Martin & Ilya: one of you should post that work-around as an answer! $\endgroup$– Willie WongApr 24, 2012 at 9:29
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$\begingroup$ @Willie: with this post I'll check how does the Martin's idea works :) Martin, please put your idea as an answer. I'll ping you now $\endgroup$– SBFApr 24, 2012 at 9:37
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$\begingroup$ @Willie: I posted that bellow as you suggested (and made CW, if someone wants to add something). Although I was not sure whether I should post an answer here - it seems that this question might be closed as a duplicate. $\endgroup$– Martin SleziakApr 24, 2012 at 15:19
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$\begingroup$ @Martin: it might, then again, it might not :) It is good to have the information somewhere visible. $\endgroup$– Willie WongApr 24, 2012 at 15:47
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1 Answer
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A possible workaround would be to put a separate comment just for the sake of adding a ping to a specific user; e.g.
@XYZ: Perhaps you could check the above comment, too.
Of course, if you prefer, you can delete the comment once you know the person you wanted to ping has been already notified.
Aside note: In the comments above it was suggested, that a ping from a comment gets to inbox even if the comment itself is deleted. Based on a little testing, it seems that this does not work. In a related thread at meta.SO: Is it OK to use temporary comments to notify users interested in a post? it is mentioned that:
I was wrong in my statement in point #1; Inbox notifications of comments that have been deleted do, in fact, get deleted from the Inbox, also... just not immediately. Additionally, deleting the comment immediately after posting it causes there to be no inbox notification in the first place.
In an answer in that thread another possible workaround was mentioned - to ping the user in chat. (However, this can be used only if the user you want to ping uses chat.)
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4$\begingroup$ It would be nice if SE implemented "ephemeral" comments so e.g. "@@Foo please see this meta thread" would be deleted automatically once Foo receives the notification. This would help avoid much noise caused by such localized comments. $\endgroup$ Apr 24, 2012 at 16:52
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$\begingroup$ Martin, that doesn't work? I know I quite often have comments in my inbox that are gone by the time I try to review them. $\endgroup$– cardinalApr 24, 2012 at 19:27
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$\begingroup$ @cardinal: See the meta.SO thread I've added to the answer. $\endgroup$ Apr 25, 2012 at 4:39
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$\begingroup$ @cardinal: Here you can find some experiments we've done with notifications for deleted comments. $\endgroup$ Apr 26, 2012 at 7:12