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When I "arrived" here the other day I followed the convention of starting a comment with a @ and the name of the person I am replying to etc., but lately this has not shown up on my comment. If I go back in and edit it in, the system edits it out again. Am I doing something wrong or is this the "technology just not working" again?

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@name is automatically removed where

  • you are addressing the post author and
  • there are no ambiguities

Authors automatically receive inbox notifications of all comments on their posts, so if a comment is addressed to them, it doesn't need the @name address. If there are other commenters on a post, and you need to differentiate between a reply to them and the OP, then @name should be retained if even that is the OP.

@name is retained when you are replying to a commenter who is not the post author.

It's been part of SE functionality since July 2011.

If you found @name being removed under other circumstances, please edit your question to give full details (including a link to the comment, which you can get from its timestamp). If that's the case, the tag can probably be reinstated.

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  • Ok, thanks. The last time I noticed the phenomenon falls under your first point, for I was addressing Mr. Shoe the author of the comment. But I seem to remember seeing it happen when this was not the case, that is, in chatter underneath someone else's Answer. I can't remember which comment now, but next time I'll come back here with a comment caught in flagrante delicto, right?
    – David Pugh
    Apr 26, 2015 at 12:01
  • Fine. A link is crucial.
    – Andrew Leach Mod
    Apr 26, 2015 at 12:04
  • If I may presume still... In this particular context I am not clear on the difference between a Question, an Answer and a Comment. Are all three a "post" with a "post author"? I'll start with (arrobaz)Andrew and see what happens. Ah, it disappeared. I assume this is because it's in the comments under your Answer.
    – David Pugh
    Apr 26, 2015 at 12:18
  • @DavidPugh Comments are on a post. You can't comment on a comment, but you can comment on a post to reply to another comment on that post. A post is either a question or an answer.
    – Andrew Leach Mod
    Apr 26, 2015 at 12:22
  • That's clear, thank you!
    – David Pugh
    Apr 26, 2015 at 12:39

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