Suggestion: Pings avaliable on CS? 400+ SUPPORT!

[crazy cranky critter]

Yes please! This would make it so much easier to read and reply to all the posts directed at oneself without having to fanatically stalk the forums c:

[Anastasia]

Support! They have a system like this on goatlings and its better than checking every single thread you posted on to make sure you didn't miss a reply xD

[5404]

tl;dr Support + important notes bolded below.

I'm too lazy to check out this forum addon (i.e. I don't know how it exactly work), but the argument about un-changeable usernames is invalid... but counter-argument is invalid as well.
Basically, old pings do not need to link anywhere. Normally that thing is done so thing after @ is recognized as valid username (matches up in database), and ping is added to the table with pings for particular user id, yup.
If username is changed, the ping is dead - it doesn't show new username nor links anywhere*.
(Of course with more sophisticated code it can do that, but that can be heavy for the server.)
[Note: I have no experience with coding pings, but I have some experience with coding - all above is how I would've done it, but I am pretty sure it's that way or very similar. If anyone is interested, I can further explain parts of my post.]

*If pings were ever linked to profiles.
If they were a) that's extra server load, b) abandoned usernames that are later taken by someone else = ping links to wrong person.


For people pointing out situations like "user wanted to be notified, but changed their un, so I can't ping them!", then it's user's who changed their un problem. That's exactly how things work like now in some topics - some people note down only usernames, not id's, so they can't check if the username's been changed (unless that user posted in the topic and is easily trackable, e.g. by form with previous username).

Pinging using id's (like on Aywas) is not good for a site with many kids on (if I recall correctly, Aywas is advertised as site for "mature" people, teens and young adults), because a) Many topics with questions about how to ping. b) Typos and pinging wrong person. c) Mass-pings ("let's ping every number from x to x+n!").
Also - only numeric usernames (such as mine) would be confusing.

As for special-character un's - maybe that would reduce their number a bit, lol.

Important thing to check in this addon
Pinging usernames with spaces in them. It's important to check if it's implemented and if yes - how it's done (e.g. reco uses @"username with spaces", normal usernames can be pinged that way too).
As I said, I'm too lazy to check this addon not, but if someone kicks me in a few days, I may do so (but only if the code can be previewed w/o phpBB forum, I'm too lazy to install a testing forum, I have one using another engine already).

Problem
Usernames can contain any characters, right? Does that include double quotations (") and at symbol (@)?

A bit offtopic:

[...]
Thing is Aywas was written in HTML/CSS and not PHP so I'm not sure how that would get coded on CS.
[...]

Nope. It couldn't have been written in only html/css - if so, it would be static. No login, no posts, no forms that are displayed after being sent (forms are html thing, but for basic stuff, e.g. mail contact forms)...
Sites always show to user as html/css/js mix - php is only a server-side language.
(Sorry, I had to correct you.)

[Aaron✦]

If it's as possible and plausible as you say, support!

[evilpineapples]

I think its brilliant, because when i post things asking for questions half the time i forget about it! I think it would be very useful and easier than PM's for short little notes. Ive thought about this idea too, I'm really glad you made a forum!

[Lil'Tiger]

I support this! As long as you'd be able to turn off the pings then I'm all for it.

[farewell]

I really do like this idea and I think it would benefit the community a lot.

[Huskyy]

This is a great idea! c:

[[Shadow]]

I am indifferent at the moment. Yes, I could see the benefits. But what about the many users on mobile?

1. When I use mobile, the only notifications I get are my inbox messages. Where would these notifications be placed? The bar is already filled with buttons for trades, messages, posts, and bookmarks.

2. I already cannot copy and paste so what happens if I want to ping a user with odd symbols and characters?

3. By clicking "first unread post" my mobile only takes me to the page with the post and I have to scroll down anyway. Maybe it is different for other mobile devices. This seems similar in that it would take me to the post which my mobile device does not do already.

That is my input.

[cyleris]

I definitely support this. As someone mentioned, Flight Rising has this, and it is extremely useful.