Use of Mentions
Mentions is a feature that can be used to actively pull people into a conversation, wherever that conversation might take place in a Study. For example, Do you also agree with this @john? will send a notification to John that he's been mentioned and link them directly to the comment.
Mentions are initiated by simply typing the @ symbol followed by a username or Segment name (e.g. @john or @segment-abc). Additionally, special group names are also available such as @everyone and @participants.
Mentions are supported in:
Mentioning Individuals
Multiple participants and administrators can be mentioned in a single post. To do so, simply type @ to reveal a menu of names that will be refined as you continue typing. Press the DOWN ARROW key to highlight the desired name if multiple names appear. Press the ENTER key to select the highlighted name and repeat this process for each person you’d like to mention.
Note that if an individual has been mentioned in an area they cannot access (or cannot access yet), the related notification will not be dispatched. If the area is scheduled to be revealed in the future (e.g. an upcoming discussion topic), the notice will be delivered at that future release time.
Participants are permitted to directly mention one another. They are not permitted, however, to use group-level mentions described below.
Mentioning Segments
Recollective also provides the ability for Analysts and Moderators to mention groups of participants by referencing Segments by name. After typing the @ symbol, type the name of any existing Segment. You will notice that Segments in the menu start with @ so you can distinguish them from individuals.
Everyone in that Segment will receive a notification. The Segment name will not be revealed to participants as they will only see @participants.
Mentioning Everyone
Although we recommend using it sparingly, there is also the ability for Analysts and Moderators to mention everyone in a single step. Everyone is defined as all active participants in the Study including administrators (those that can access the Study). All users in the Study will get a notice as if they were individually mentioned and will see @everyone in the final post.
To minimize notifications to administrators, you can also use @participants option instead as it will not deliver notices to any administrators.
Backroom Mentions
The use of mentions in backroom entries is a great way for Study administrators to collaborate. Participants and Segments can be mentioned in a backroom entry without concern that participants will get notified. Since backroom areas are not accessible to participants, such mentions serve only to create shortcuts to user profiles and Segments.
Appearance of Mentions
Mentions will appear in bold and match the theme color of the Study. Individual mentions will be linked to the individual’s profile inside the Study (if profiles are accessible to the viewer).
Note that display of identities will automatically match the privacy settings established for a given user role. For example, administrators might see full names while participants see usernames only.
When a mention includes the person viewing the page, the mention will be highlighted. The sample screenshot below is from a participant’s perspective in a Study. Notice that only usernames are appearing.
In this example, Lylah is the one currently viewing the page and so she sees her own name highlighted in blue with white text. The same highlighting will occur for any Segment mention being viewed by Lylah that includes her. Analysts and Moderators have an added benefit in that they can hover their mouse over a mentioned individual to quickly access a profile summary.
Notification of Mentions
Individuals that are mentioned (i.e. directly, via a Segment, with @everyone or @participants) will receive a notice similar to the example below.
Participants will only receive a notice if they are mentioned in an area they can currently access. For example, an Activity or Discussion might be setup to require a response before seeing the contributions of others. A mention of someone that hasn’t contributed yet will not trigger a notice to that individual as the comment would still be inaccessible.
As indicated above, the same applies to mentions in the backroom. Only the administrators that can collaborate in the backroom will be notified when they are mentioned. One exception is when mentions are in Discussion Topics that have a delayed start date. Mentions in such Topics will get delivered after the scheduled topic becomes available to participants.