Tagging other members

I have had a couple of people contact me through the purple moose thingy, asking for individual advice. It's not that I mind so much, but it seems to defeat the purpose of the forum which is to spread public knowledge to the multitudes. However, I also understand the need to ask a for a specific person's input. Is there any way to tag users in a post similar to the way Facebook allows you to tag other Facebook users?

A common way people do this is to click the “quote” button at the top of another’s post. This puts their post in quotes. If they have already read all the other posts in the thread and have posted, this probably will notify them, depending on their watch settings for the particular thread. If they have already had another new post email from that particular thread, they may not get an email for your post.

I will often just say something like “Lawren, what are your experiences with suchandsuch?”

What I usually do if I want someone to see something and think they may miss it is send a PM with a link to the post or thread. It seems like the simplest way to get someone’s attention.
Usually I trust that they’ll see it even without a PM, if they are paying attention.

M Ljin wrote:A common way people do this is to click the “quote” button at the top of another’s post.

If I'm understanding you correctly, this only works if I have posted in that thread, right?

The scenario I'm considering is Stranger A starts a new topic of which I'm unaware, but he/she would like me to respond.  By definition I do not know the post exists, nor do I read random new topics that people post. In this scenario is there a way for "A" to catch my attention other than a PM with a link?

Thanks.

Sometimes, when I get a PM like that, I'll respond with something along the lines of, "That's a great question! I made a new thread about it here_______" or, "Thank you for asking! I figured other people might want to know as well, so I posted about it here_____. If you have more questions, ask them in the thread and I'll be happy to answer."

We moderators deal with this sort of thing a LOT. You'll see Paul make public posts replying to something someone emailed him. I've done the same quite a few times, too.

It feels kind of weird to reply to a PM by directing someone to a forum. But, like you said, permies is a place for perennial discussion and public storage and accrual of knowledge. PMs don't help with that.

As for tagging people, we sort of can do that, but only if someone has set up a "watch" for their name.

In your profile drop down, there's a link to "Bookmarks and Watches" (this should also take you straight there: https://permies.com/forums/bookmarks/list/)

In the Bookmarks and Watches, there's a section called, "You are watching the following phrases: _______" You could put in your full name, so that if someone mentions it, it'll notify you. You can also use it for other phrases that you want to be notified about. Maybe you want to know if someone local to you is posting, so you might put a watch on your town, or maybe you're curious about a certain plant, you might put a watch on the name of that plant, etc.

It seems to me that those people are looking for a friend.

Maybe suggest that they post their questions to the forum?

Nicole Alderman wrote:As for tagging people, we sort of can do that, but only if someone has set up a "watch" for their name.

That's *exactly* what I was looking for, thank you! The people emailing me don't have a definitive topic, they just send me a general "are you willing to answer lots of questions to help me" which actually I am but makes more sense to do it in a forum, so this way they can pick the forum and I'll be alerted if the type my name. Awesome!

Adding an addendum later: I went to the link and searched everywhere on the menu & under my profile but cannot see an option to add my own watch phrases? I just see the threads I've posted in. No section for adding watch phrases.

Anne Miller wrote:It seems to me that those people are looking for a friend.

Maybe suggest that they post their questions to the forum?

They don't have forum-specific questions; I have 25 years of experience on a multitude of forum topics and they are asking if they can email me "for advice."  I definitely want to direct them back to the forums, but they need a way to alert me when they ask a question there. I can't just follow a single topic, forum, thread, or whatever it's called.

It's mentorship they want, and I'm happy to do it but makes more sense to use public forums not email.

Please be aware that there are sometimes spammers who PM us privately in a friendly way in order to open the 'door' to more communication.

If it is someone who has never posted here publicly and is relatively new to join I am automatically suspicious when it is a non specific friendly private message...and sometimes report to staff.

Tagging won't stop people from this kind of PM.  Some people feel that taking hours to private answering detail questions for free is normal and expected.  

Things I do
. Turn off PM when busy
. Don't reply
. If they asked really nicely, reply "good looking questions, what answers did you get when you asked in the forums?"  

I don't do one on one communication well, and almost everything people ask are faster and better answered by others.  We have a huge source of knowledge on the forums, i never understood why hobble themselves by only asking one person who may or may not be too busy to spend 6 hours composing an answer or spend the 2 hours trying to figure out what the actual questions were in the wall of unrelated text... and not as good an answer as the hive mind can give.

Edit to add: post history is important.  If no or few posts in singles or other self advertising forums, easier to ignore.  Someone with varied post history with multiple interests might be worth the time

Lawren Richards wrote:Adding an addendum later: I went to the link and searched everywhere on the menu & under my profile but cannot see an option to add my own watch phrases? I just see the threads I've posted in. No section for adding watch phrases.

Interesting! Maybe "watch phrases" is a PIE perk? I think you now have 20 apples, which should cause you to get a free slice of pie. Do you now have access to watch phrases?

Nicole Alderman wrote:

Lawren Richards wrote:Adding an addendum later: I went to the link and searched everywhere on the menu & under my profile but cannot see an option to add my own watch phrases? I just see the threads I've posted in. No section for adding watch phrases.

Interesting! Maybe "watch phrases" is a PIE perk? I think you now have 20 apples, which should cause you to get a free slice of pie. Do you now have access to watch phrases?

It's under 'my bookmarks and watches' in the drop down menu for your profile.
I couldn't find it either and I knew I had mine set for 'judith'.

I looked through edit profile over and over first,as I was sure that's where it was.

I feel that not everyone on the forum likes the Purple Moosage.

I for one used to hate seeing that someone has sent me a Purple Moosage.  After ten years I have found that I can just ignore them.

It's under 'my bookmarks and watches' in the drop down menu for your profile.
I couldn't find it either and I knew I had mine set for 'judith'.

Weird! I wonder if there's a glitch here. Do you still get notifications for your name?

yes, I just got an email for 'judith'

I:ll try to do a screen shot.
I am using desktop on my phone if that makes a difference?

Thank you! I'm glad the watch phrase is still working, even if it's not visible. It's one less problem.

---

And, yes, it is a pie perk. I should have known this, because I actuallymade a tutorial on how to use them. The screenshots are kind of old, because I made the tutorial 8 years  ago (which makes me feel about having forgotten about it...)

I think I got it ..

Nicole Alderman wrote:
Maybe "watch phrases" is a PIE perk? I think you now have 20 apples, which should cause you to get a free slice of pie. Do you now have access to watch phrases?

I did get the pie, but the watch page has not changed from the earlier screenshot. Phrases is not a section option.

I know I can ignore the PMs, but I *like* mentoring people who are interested in a more sustainable lifestyle. However, I have to do it in a way that's sustainable for me which right now looks like telling the mentees to PM a post link if they want my feedback. Even pie stuff that works is not sustainable-- I'm too busy to fiddle with the various gamifications. (Don't get me wrong; I think they're useful to build interest, I just don't have time to even figure out how it works.) Thanks for trying, though!

Judith Browning wrote:I think I got it ..

Mine *definitely* doesn't look like this.  I'm in my phone; is your screenshot mobile or PC?

Lawren Richards wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:I think I got it ..

Mine *definitely* doesn't look like this.  I'm in my phone; is your screenshot mobile or PC?

Looks like it's desktop mode.

Judith Browning wrote:I am using desktop on my phone if that makes a difference

Lawren, could you post a screenshot of what you're seeing? There might be a glitch, and we might be able to fix it if we can see it.

Thanks!

Nicole Alderman wrote:
Lawren, could you post a screenshot of what you're seeing?

I switched to desktop mode (on my phone) and it looks exactly the same as mobile view.

Nicole Alderman wrote:
Lawren, could you post a screenshot of what you're seeing?

I switched to desktop mode (on my phone) and it looks exactly the same as mobile view.

Hmm, do you currently have access to the PIE forums?

Sometimes, for new permissions to show up, you have to log out and log in again.

Ah-ha! Logging out and in did it! Weirdly I had access to the pie forums before doing so, but now I have added "Lawren" as a watch phrase; thank you!

My next question is: will I lose that phrase when my pie is consumed in a month? I don't do any of the pie/apples stuff and don't really want to fiddle with it.

I ran out of pie once, and I still got emails for my watch phrases. I wasn't able to update them, but I still got the emails for the watch phrases I had set up.

I think it's supposed to stop when pie expires, so shhhhh... if it doesn't, don't let the developers know or they may fix it.

🤫😁