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Mentions don't seem to be working when typing messages

bradley.wagner

18 Jan, 2012 03:28 PM via web

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Hi, I'm following the instructions and I"m able to get it to autocomplete the name with the TAB key but when I send the message it just shows up as:

@First Last message

and not as a mention. It also doesn't seem to use the : as that KB article suggests.

Am I doing something wrong?

1. Support Staff 2 Posted by trevor on 18 Jan, 2012 04:30 PM

   

   Hi Bradley,

   if you're used to Campfire in a browser then you'll be in the habit of doing the mental gymnastics of:

   "I want to mention Theodore in this message. I'll type @theo and then complete the rest of his name".

   Using the @ at the beginning of any name you want to complete forces you to decide you want name completion before you start typing any of the name's characters.

   Propane doesn't use @ as a name completion trigger (so that character has no special meaning) and moves the decision point about auto-complete to much later: after you've started typing the first character of a name.

   You've said "it shows up as ... and not a mention". There is no such thing as "mention" as a first-class concept or special message type in Campfire. There's only a client's ability to recognize certain text and highlight it.

   Also, messages that you type that contain your name will not trigger any sort of notification. Propane takes the attitude that you know you just said what you said so you don't need to be told about it.

   I hope this helps.

   Trev

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2. 3 Posted by bradley.wagner on 18 Jan, 2012 05:30 PM

   

   Ah ok, I think I got confused with the help article. It started including the colon when I just did:

   First + tab

   In general, for those using the web UI, is the default Campfire behavior to only highlight messages that have your name first? I know that Propane is capable of recognizing my name (or any arbitrary expression for that matter) in other parts of the message, but does it make sense for me to use tab auto-completion to "mention" someone mid-message if everyone else is using the typical browser UI?

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3. Support Staff 4 Posted by trevor on 19 Jan, 2012 12:38 AM

   

   Hi again,

   Campfire in a web browser doesn't actually have any default highlighting behavior. If everyone else is just using a web browser then it doesn't have much impact beyond saving you a few keystrokes: messages that mention them appear no different from any other messages.

   There's nothing special about a "name:" at the start of a message - it's just a general "online chat convention" that makes it more obvious, when reading, that it's a message directed at a particular person.

   e.g.: Trevor Squires: is the baker here? vs Trevor Squires is the baker here?

   As such, Propane's name completion behavior is more about trying to mimic what you would have typed manually than it is about trying to trigger alerts or highlights.

   (Which, as an aside is why that other question you commented on is sometimes contentious. People feel that they wouldn't manually type in a full name. However, I have to recognize that names do trigger alerts/highlights in Propane and other non-browser clients so I feel the auto-completed name should be unambiguous.)

   I hope this helps to clear it up, and thanks for taking time to ask the questions. You've highlighted a place where I've assumed everyone is fully aware of Campfire's behavior and limitations - a risky assumption to be sure.

   Regards, Trev

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4. 5 Posted by bradley.wagner on 19 Jan, 2012 12:49 AM

   

   Thanks Trevor.

   Sorry for the confusion. A little background...

   It just occurred to me that I've never used Campfire strictly in a web browser. Before Propane I was using Fluid and using some JS (specific to Fluid I guess) to notify me via Growl when someone mentioned my name. Whatever that script was, it only worked when the message started with my name: i.e. Bradley Wagner: blah blah blah and not when my name appeared anywhere else in the message.

   Propane is infinitely more flexible with its alerts and the ability to do tab name completion anywhere in the message is really cool. I will definitely encourage my team to use it.

   Thanks for all your help!

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5. trevor closed this discussion on 19 Feb, 2012 06:32 AM.

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