Mentions, notifications and your network of people

A mention is a username

A mention is written with a username, not a display name. A display name has spaces, is not unique, and changes when somebody edits their profile; a handle has none of those problems.

@ is only a mention when it starts a word, so an email address in the middle of a sentence is never read as a mention. A mention pointing to a handle nobody answers to creates no notification and stays plain text; a typo close to a name isn't “almost right” and doesn't get linked to the nearest person.

The last gate is always access: a mention must never reveal an action, chat, page or file the other person couldn't already open.

How to mention someone

In any box that understands mentions, type @ at the start of a word. The list of people opens above the box, not next to the cursor, so it doesn't cover what you're writing. Each letter shortens the list, and it shows at most six people.

Search looks at the username first, then the display name, then the description beside the name, so “@mkh” finds that handle and “@ali” finds someone named Ali. What lands in the text is always the username.

1. Type @ at the start of a word to open the list
2. Type a few letters of the username or name
3. Move with the up and down arrows and choose with Enter or Tab, or click with the mouse
4. Esc closes the list; while the list is open, Enter doesn't send the message

Who gets suggested

Typing @ opens a list, but never of all Flowra users. Only people you're actually connected with are suggested. In a workspace group, or in a comment on an action from that workspace, that workspace's members come first, with the workspace name beside them; then the rest of your network with their usernames. Typing a full username still works; it just isn't suggested automatically. And the notification only reaches someone who can see that chat, action, page or file.

1. Anyone in a workspace you own or are a member of
2. Anyone on a project with you, including guests on your spaces' projects
3. Anyone you've exchanged an invitation or confirmation with, pending or accepted
4. Anyone you already have a direct chat with

Where mentions work

Everywhere has one rule and one notification, but each place differs a little:

1. Chat: the message box in one-to-one chats and groups; a mention creates a “mentioned you in a chat” notification, only for someone who can see that chat
2. Meeting room chat: a mention there creates a notification too, like any other chat
3. Action comment: a notification, plus that action's card with your sentence in your one-to-one chat, only for someone who can see that action
4. Knowledge page text: only new mentions send news, with a notification and an “Open document” card in chat that goes to that block
5. Knowledge page comment: a notification and a document card that goes to that comment
6. Comment or note on a file in My files: a notification for someone who can see that file
7. A collaboration opportunity's note: a notification for the person called

How a mention looks in text

Wherever a mention is shown, in a chat bubble, an action comment, an opportunity note or a Knowledge comment, it becomes a small tag with a photo and username. Tapping it opens a one-to-one chat with that person.

Your own mention has a different color and isn't clickable, so in a busy group a sentence addressed to you stands out from afar. A handle that belongs to no one stays plain text, not a link to anywhere.

The @ badge and the “Mentions” filter

A chat where you were mentioned in unread messages gets an @ next to the unread count, and its badge changes color. The “Mentions” filter in the chat list shows only these chats; on desktop this filter only appears when you have an unread mention.

In a chat forwarded to Telegram, the person mentioned doesn't get the message again as a chat message; the mention itself reaches them with a reply button.

Jump right there

Every mention notification holds the exact address of that spot: a chat, an action, a Knowledge page at that comment, or a file. Tapping the notification in the bell or on the notifications page takes you there and marks it as read.

Cards a mention leaves in chat do the same: “Open document” opens the Knowledge page at that block or with that comment, and the action card opens the action itself. A message search result also opens the chat right on that message and keeps it highlighted for a moment.

Notifications: bell, email and Telegram

In “Notifications” you set, for each event separately, whether it appears in the app, goes to email, goes to Telegram, or none of these. “Mentions of you” is one of these events, with its own switches. The notification text contains the mention's sentence itself, so you know what they want without opening it.

Until you've read a mention notification, new mentions from the same person in the same place don't create a second notification; one notification stays and takes you there.

Notifications, and why a mention is its own event

Notifications have preferences, can be silenced, and a digest mode folds a day's status and comment noise into one counted row.

A mention is deliberately outside that digest. A mention is addressed AT somebody, and folding it into a daily summary is how you find out days later that you were asked something.

Sharing creates notifications too

Sharing a note, file, folder, Knowledge page or Folio sheet creates a notification on the server side, so it doesn't matter which page it was done from. An address that doesn't belong to anyone creates no notification, but the share is still recorded.

“Share with a teammate” boxes, like sharing notes and files and meeting invites, search the same list of people as mentions; they also understand an @ at the start of a name and ignore it.

A full path: from @ to reply

This is the path every mention follows, and each step is explained in one of the sections above.

1. In a chat, an action comment or a Knowledge comment, type @ and pick the right person from your network
2. Flowra checks that they can see that place; if not, nothing is created
3. They get a notification, and for actions and documents, a card in your one-to-one chat too
4. They tap the notification or card and land right on that message, action or comment
5. They reply right there, and call you back with @ if needed