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I'm sorry to ask this here, but I can find no information on how to properly use @ to refer to other users.

For example, if I want to refer to someone else's answer--whose name is, say, "User Name"--it can't be simply a matter of writing @User Name. In fact, dealing with this whitespace issue is specifically why I went looking for an answer.

The way to do this may be completely self-evident--please go easy :)

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Simple:

Username: Hello World

Ping: @HelloWorld or simply @Hel

Username: Uniforms For Sale

Ping @UniformsForSale or simply @Uni

Username: user12345

Ping @user12345 or simply @use

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  • I just tried the equivalent of @HelloWorld and that's exactly the text that appeared in the rendered Markdown. Am I correct to assume that this will ping Mr. World, regardless?
    – Pliny Suetonious
    Commented Sep 11, 2015 at 15:24
  • Yes, it will ping him, but you mustn't use code blocks there
    – Universal Electricity
    Commented Sep 11, 2015 at 15:33
  • Ok, great. I now see this notation elsewhere. Sometimes I have seen the @reference appear as hyperlinked, but this must have been the result of someone explicitly using hyperlinking Markdown behind the reference. (BTW, I assume you mean 'mustn't use code blocks' when I try to ping the user. Not that I shouldn't use code blocks in my comment above.)
    – Pliny Suetonious
    Commented Sep 11, 2015 at 15:48
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When the help center doesn't have the information you seek, check the main Stack Exchange meta site, starting with questions tagged FAQ. There is an FAQ on comment @replies.

The main rules are:

  • @-replies only work in comments. If you type @ in a post, it's just an ordinary character, there's no way to notify a user via a post's content. (Also in chat with different rules that I won't discuss here.)
  • You can only @-reply to a previous comment in the same post, to the poster, or to an editor of the post (plus a few more edge cases, see the FAQ for the full story).
  • You can only have at most one @-reply in a comment.
  • The author of the post you commented on is always notified, in addition to the user you @-addressed.
  • Sometimes your @-mention will be erased when you post the comment. Don't worry, that only happens if that user would have been notified anyway without the @-mention.
  • To notify a user, type @ and the first letter of their username, and let completion happen. If you want to type the name, it's the full name without spaces, or a prefix of at least 3 letters. See the FAQ for the nitty-gritty on abbreviations when some users have similar names.
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  • Great, that list of FAQs on the meta site is SO useful. Is there a good reason it's not linked to from the help center? A simple "For All Other Questions" entry that directs users to that page would save (you among others) a lot trouble!
    – Pliny Suetonious
    Commented Sep 15, 2015 at 16:19

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