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Possible Duplicate:
How do comment @replies work?

When commenting on a question, answer, or another comment, sometimes when I type the @ symbol, it shows a list of the users whose names begin with the first letter I typed. Sometimes it doesn't though. Is this a feature that can be disabled in a settings page on our profiles, or is it something else?

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marked as duplicate by Michael Mrozek, Mat, Shadow, Pops, ChrisF♦ Jan 24 '12 at 13:36

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    What do you mean by "sometimes"? You'll want to refer to How do comment @replies work? and see if it covers any of your cases. – BoltClock's a Unicorn Jan 22 '12 at 23:53
  • @BoltClock'saUnicorn, I'm not sure if it's random, that's why I'm asking – mowwwalker Jan 22 '12 at 23:54
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    This should not be downvoted, such thing is not trivial to know. – Shadow Jan 23 '12 at 8:53
  • @sha it's pretty trivial if you click HELP under the ADD COMMENT button which explains this in about 3 sentences. – Jeff Atwood Jan 23 '12 at 10:50
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    @Jeff the help box does not mention the list it just says "The post author will always be notified of your comment" - it doesn't directly mean he will be omitted from the list. Actually that list that is popping up is not mentioned anywhere, not even in the full faq. – Shadow Jan 23 '12 at 11:13
  • @sha "To also notify a previous commenter, mention their user name" it is indeed covered with examples! Reading is hard? :) – Jeff Atwood Jan 23 '12 at 11:24
  • @Jeff not arguing about that - the existing help is more than enough but like I said - that auto complete list is still a cornet IMO as it's not explained anywhere. Maybe worth adding something to the full help page? – Shadow Jan 23 '12 at 11:30
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I'm assuming you're talking about when you're trying to use the @ to target the owner of the post, because that won't always show up in the list. And if no one else starts with that letter, no list shows up because there are no names for it.

You can't use the @ syntax to target the owner of the question or answer, because they are always notified when you comment on their post, so its useless, and in fact the system will remove it from your comment if you type it in anyways.

The only time this rule is ignored is if there have been other comments already on the post, where your comment could be targeting the post's owner or the other person/people who have commented.

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