Template talk:Reply to/Archive 1

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Archive 1

Line break issue with template.

There seems to be a line-break issue with this template. I made the following post at ANI.[1] Even though my post was on a new line, it begins at the end of the previous post. IOW, it looks like my post is part of the previous post without the line break. I've since modified my post,[2] which seems to have resolved the issue, but line-breaks are something that the template should handle on its own. I'm not at all familiar with templates. Can someone who knows more about template fix this issue? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 02:46, 27 June 2013 (UTC) If I put text here without indenting it, you'll notice the same behavior.

I'm not sure why you think the template should change this (expected) behavior. --MZMcBride (talk) 15:35, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

Advice against overuse

It could get very annoying if people use this every time they post on a talk page. I think it is fair enough to use if a discussion has been dormant for some time, but I would like to add a note in the documentation page, suggesting not to use this in an active discussion. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 10:30, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

Advice against use at all. This template needs to be deleted immediately. It's use is never appropriate. Apteva (talk) 16:10, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
I'm not sure how you reason that. — Richard BB 16:53, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

Be generous in what you accept

Can we upgrade this template - perhaps using Lua - so that it will accept {{Reply to|User:Example}} as well as {{Reply to|Example}}? This accords with Postel's law. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:29, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

@Pigsonthewing:I'm on it. I think I know how to do it. — Preceding signed comment added by Cymru.lass (talk • contribs) 16:14, 7 September 2013 (UTC)
Woo! I figured it out! Lemme just do it for the rest of the parameters and test it out in /testcases a bit more to make sure I didn't make any mistakes. — Preceding signed comment added by Cymru.lass (talk • contribs) 16:23, 7 September 2013 (UTC)
then. Guess I haven't quite figured it out yet. Somehow, I'm causing {{Reply to/sandbox|User:Example|User:Example|User:Example|User:Example|User:Example}} to give "@Example: @Example, Example, Example, Example, Example:". Yet if I subst the template (using the same exact parameters), it gives: "@Example, Example, Example, Example, Example:". I wonder where the extra "@" is coming from in the former! There's only one "@" in the template code, and the editing tool I have installed that checks for unbalanced parentheses/brackets/what-have-you is telling me all is peachy. — Preceding signed comment added by Cymru.lass (talk • contribs) 16:44, 7 September 2013 (UTC)
Figured out the problem. It wasn't {{Reply to/sandbox|User:Example|User:Example|User:Example|User:Example|User:Example}} that was producing that string of text... It was {{Reply to/sandbox|User:Example}}{{Reply to/sandbox|User:Example|User:Example|User:Example|User:Example|User:Example}}... Whoopsies. Everything's all good. I've tested out Template:Reply to/sandbox with multiple permutations of "User:Example" and "Example" as parameters. Everything's good. Putting it in now. — Preceding signed comment added by Cymru.lass (talk • contribs) 16:54, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Template: Reply RFD

You are welcome to participate here: Wikipedia:Redirects_for_discussion/Log/2013_September_16#Template:Reply Tito☸Dutta 17:44, 16 September 2013 (UTC)

Substitution

If you use {{subst:reply to|Example}}, then you get excessively long wikicode: @Example:. I think that some "subst" statements need to be added to the wikicode so that it doesn't get too long if someone decides to substitute the template. --Stefan2 (talk) 21:36, 29 September 2013 (UTC)

Colon

Is there an option to remove the colon? Mohamed CJ (talk) 08:19, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

You probably want the {{user link}} template instead. Kaldari (talk) 21:33, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
What's the difference? What purpose does the colon serve, other than assuming an editor is going to use a colon, when they may wish to use other punctuation? -- Brangifer (talk) 19:36, 11 October 2013 (UTC)
No purpose other than the one you describe. Kaldari (talk) 09:17, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
In that case, I'm going to remove it. It's just irritating and this way people can use whatever punctuation they wish. If I'm wrong, just revert. -- Brangifer (talk) 01:00, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
 Done -- Brangifer (talk) 04:17, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

The problem with just removing it, is that all the existing uses will now be badly punctuated. The better option (for those that really care) is to use a parameter so that it possible to change the punctuation to whatever is required. This will not affect people who want to continue using a colon. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 09:40, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

I see your point, but is it really that bad of a problem? What's gone is gone. Will anyone even notice what's happened to old and archived stuff? This idea applies to any and all templates. It would mean we can never improve any of them. We need to look forward.
BTW, how would this "parameter" work? -- Brangifer (talk) 15:16, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
Examples:
Stefan2 (talk) 16:16, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
That looks pretty cool, but it still requires that editors, including newbies, know about and can figure out some coding. It's all extra work that is totally unnecessary if we just get rid of the colon, or ANY punctuation. Let users decide what they want in the simplest of ways. Isn't that the whole idea of automation, to make things easier, not harder? The existing format and the necessary tweaks make it harder. That makes no sense. -- Brangifer (talk) 04:29, 15 October 2013 (UTC)
What do you guys have against colons anyway? I think they're kind of nice :) <-Notice the versatility of the colon. Kaldari (talk) 20:44, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
Occasionally a colon might be appropriate, but rarely at the beginning of a sentence. A comma would be the most common punctuation after such an introduction to a sentence, but we never know what part of a sentence this template will be used. Therefore it would be best to leave it up to editors to do it in the simplest way. -- Brangifer (talk) 04:29, 15 October 2013 (UTC)
Suggest you just use the {{user link}} template then, i.e. {{user link|BullRangifer}}, and you can do what you wish with it. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 08:04, 15 October 2013 (UTC)
Yes, I'll likely do that. That begs the question "What purpose does this template serve?" It's obviously unnecessary. -- Brangifer (talk) 16:42, 15 October 2013 (UTC)
This template serves those editors who like the convenience of having the @ before and the colon after :) — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 19:12, 15 October 2013 (UTC)
LOL! Yes, it does. -- Brangifer (talk) 03:41, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

At sign

I removed the at sign from this template. I don't think it's needed. I am considering hijacking Template:@, however. --MZMcBride (talk) 02:41, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Apologies for undoing your edit without discussion; I didn't see that you'd posted on here (I should have checked here first, really). In light of this, I've undone my own edit. However, I'd still argue that the @ symbol works quite nicely with this template: as I said in my edit summary, "@" has sort of become the universal sign to represent tagging someone else in a discussion (which is what it does here, what with the new notifications system). I'd further add that in a wall of text (as you get in many a talk page) it allows you to quickly see that the statement it precedes is directed at a specific person. Sure, the fact that their name is there does that too, but I'd argue that it allows you to quickly spot something intended for you or someone else. — Richard BB 15:01, 25 June 2013 (UTC)
Actually, I like the @ sign. Can we get this back in here? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 15:22, 25 June 2013 (UTC)
My feeling is that the at sign is a bit silly and not needed. We've generally responded to each other without any prefix at all (as we're doing here). A link is now necessary in order to ping a user, but the at sign itself seems like superfluous decoration to me. I also think it's arguably a bit confusing given that "@" doesn't have the same magical properties here as it does on Twitter or Facebook.

All that said, if others disagree and would like to see the symbol re-added to the template, I'm fine with that. --MZMcBride (talk) 17:43, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

I think it's worth noting that another user has now re-added it. — Richard BB 17:49, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

Looking at the template history, it seems the @ has been in the template since it was originally created by Kaldari.[3] However, it might be useful to have an alternate template for those who don't want to use the @. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 18:20, 25 June 2013 (UTC)
I'm not a fan. I don't like it on Twitter. I don't see the point of it here. —Tom Morris (talk) 21:29, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
I think that's a compromise we can all agree with. — Richard BB 18:45, 25 June 2013 (UTC)
Guys, if you don't like the @ or the colon, you can just use the {{ul}} template which links the username and add your own punctuation. (See also #Colon above!) Cheers — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 07:47, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

Is this broken?

This edit [4] failed to trigger a notification to me. SpinningSpark 12:27, 9 November 2013 (UTC)

Notifications are not produced by this template, but by linking to your user page, and the template links to the user page. By linking to your user page, User:Spinningspark, this edit should result in a notification for you. I think that there have been some edits for which I haven't received any notification, so maybe there is a bug somewhere in mw:Flow. --Stefan2 (talk) 23:56, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
Yes, I understand that it is the linking of the name that triggers flow, but are you sure that it works through a transclusion? SpinningSpark 00:10, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
It used to work, so I assume so. Testing again: @Spinningspark. --Stefan2 (talk) 00:21, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
As I commented on bugzilla:56919, mention notifications are only triggered in the Project: and talk namespaces, and the "failed" ping was in the Template: namespace. I currently have a patch open which would fix this issue, it just needs a bit of work. Legoktm (talk) 00:29, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
Ah, that fully explains the problem. SpinningSpark 00:55, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

Redirect loop

I don't know if this is an accident, but in the article under "Aliases" you can click {{mention}} (which brings you to Template:Mention) and you are then redirected back to Template:Reply to. Is this an accident? teratogen (talk) 19:08, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

Indeed, this is perfectly normal. All those aliases are redirect templates which point to Template:Reply to. So you can use them instead of this template, and the effect will be the same. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 21:51, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

Metrics

I don't see a reason why my edit was reverted. But I don't really care. It's not my main wiki. If you don't want your templates to have the smallest possible fingerprint, it's not my problem. I did measurements before I applied this change.

Metric 1 instance of the source 100 instances of the source 1 templates transclusion 100 templates transclusions
Before After Before After Before After Before After
Preprocessor visited node count 15 11 1401 1001 18 14 1701 1301
Preprocessor generated node count 786 562 78204 55804 413 333 2195 2115

All other numbers stay the same (e.g. 4400 bytes "Post‐expand include size" for the last test which is pretty much negligible for 100 transclusions). Not sure what metric and tool you used when the "template transclusion size" increased for you. --TMg 23:03, 26 November 2013 (UTC)

  • Okay, I know what you did, and I know why it "appears" that the template include size didn't change. Let me ask a question, and I'll bet you get it too (if not the below collapsed table is a spoiler). When you did your test with a 100 templates, did you use a different user name for each one?
Metrics using existing template with empty parameter
Metric 0 transclusions
(Base numbers)		 1 transclusion
Technical-13		 2 transclusions
ShoeMaker		 3 transclusions
Example		 4 transclusions
Foo		 100 transclusions
(mathematically generated)
Preprocessor visited node count 2 19 36 53 70 1,750
Preprocessor visited node count 8 419 437 455 473 2,201
Post-expand include size 0 98 178 246 290 7,250
Template argument size 0 36 63 84 93 2,325
Metrics using reverted template with includeonly tags
Metric 0 transclusions
(Base numbers)		 1 transclusion
Technical-13		 2 transclusions
ShoeMaker		 3 transclusions
Example		 4 transclusions
Foo		 100 transclusions
(mathematically generated)
Preprocessor visited node count 2 15 28 41 54 1,300
Preprocessor visited node count 8 339 357 375 393 2,201
Post-expand include size 0 98 178 246 290 7,250
Template argument size 0 36 63 84 93 2,325
Okay, there is now complete data, and it seems like the template include size goes up the same either way (which is semi-confusing because the template size went up over 200 characters). So, it's not a problem leaving your change and I apologize. I've been known to be wrong, and have no problem admitting it when there is complete data to support it. These kinds of things are exactly why I include let's discuss it in such edit summaries! There are many other templates out there that use the dummy parameter and could probably stand for being changed as well based on this research. I'll get a database dump from someone I know that does that for people and update the others as needed. Happy editing!!!! Technical 13 (talk) 02:47, 27. Nov. 2013
I think you should not revert other users edits if you don't really know how the parser works and how the parser limits are calculated. This is very frustrating. Targeting for the smallest possible source is a good thing if you do code golfing or participate in a size coding competition. In almost all other cases the smallest possible source is rarely the most efficient solution. --TMg 01:04, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
Really? I do your work to find out what the real metrics are, revert my change as yours seems to have a smaller footprint and you reply with a rude and un-professional comment of crap? Perhaps you need to review WP:AGF and learn how to just say "thanks" in the future. Just a suggestion, of course, but I think you will find yourself in a better position if you do. Happy editing! Technical 13 (talk) 15:26, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
What's wrong with you? Calling an advice "crap" is unprofessional. I gave metrics and told about the smaller footprint in the summary. Instead of reverting you could have asked. Just a suggestion. Reverts are "shot first, ask later", the opposite of AGF. --TMg 02:55, 4 December 2013 (UTC)
Thanks to both of you for helping to improve the template. Kaldari (talk) 22:30, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

Twitter style

I don't like it used against **me**, because I'm not "@Gryllida", I'm Gryllida. I just edit other user's post and remove it.

Gryllida (talk) 20:59, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

Not everyone's username is obviously a username. The @ helps to make it clear that you are addressing someone. Plus this convention is commonly used in threaded discussions across the internet. Indeed, I was not aware of Twitter's use of it until after I created the template. Kaldari (talk) 22:37, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: not moved (non-admin closure) --Mdann52talk to me! 18:27, 27 May 2014 (UTC)

Template:Reply to → Template:Ping – Not every usage of this template is a reply. Some usages are just public messages directed to a specific user. — Petr Matas 10:30, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

  • Oppose Not every usage of this template is a reply. — not every usage is ping too. "Reply to" is clear and simple and does its work. Tito☸Dutta 17:03, 6 May 2014 (UTC)
In that case, maybe Template:Mention is the right name? Petr Matas 21:41, 6 May 2014 (UTC)
  • Hi "Reply to" has been well-accepted, unless there is a strong reason to move it, we should not go ahead. "Reply to" does it work. As T13 has pointed below, the mentioned alternatives are already redirect, if you want use Template:Ping, Template:Mention, those will work too. Tito☸Dutta 02:08, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
    I admit, your last idea "mention" sounds better, but, "reply to" is clear and already accepted. Tito☸Dutta 02:11, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
  • Support: A reply-to is a ping (in the sense used here – this of course has nothing to do with submarines ;-), but many pings are not replies to anything. Of the 9000+ transclusions of this template, 7000+ of them are as {{ping}} (tool: http://tools.wmflabs.org/templatecount/index.php?lang=en).  — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼  21:44, 6 May 2014 (UTC)
  • Oppose as switching the what page name the template is at with one of its redirects does nothing to improve the wiki. The end result is the same either way, so this is a useless waste of time to change it. — {{U|Technical 13}} (t • e • c) 00:00, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
  • No compelling reason to move. This is mostly pointless. "Ping" was nominated for deletion, so it has some negative meaning for a minority of editors. The reason "ping" dominates the transclusions is stated in that RfD: "The new notification system has proliferated the use of ping instead of using talkback", and indeed "ping" originally redirected to Template:Talkback. "Reply to" was just created 2 May 2013, for the notification system, while "ping" dates to 2 April 2009, as an alias for {{talkback}}. When the notification system was introduced, "Ping" was widely mentioned as the means to trigger it, so many editors, myself included became aware of "ping" before they learned of "reply to". So, now I use both, depending on the context of usage. Behind the scenes, it really doesn't matter which redirects to which; I didn't know for some time that "ping" actually redirected to "reply to", as I never bothered to look at the documentation or source. Template:Notify, which would be neutral usage that incorporates both ping and reply-to, is a disambiguation, and I see no reason to disrupt that. Wbm1058 (talk) 22:08, 22 May 2014 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

<noinclude />

Last Technical 13's edit introduced some <noinclude /> tags. What is their purpose? As I understand it, this is equivalent to <noinclude></noinclude> with no contents and therefore does nothing. Petr Matas 19:44, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

  • The purpose of <noinclude /> is to separate the SAFESUBST: or SUBST: from the rest of the template or parser function call so that it doesn't substitute on this template itself, but instead substitutes once placed on the destination page. It has exactly the same function as wrapping the SUBST: or SAFESUBST: in <includeonly>...</includeonly> tags or as a dummy parameter such as {{{|SAFESUBST:}}} but this method contains less characters (and therefor reduces template size (but not transclusion size) than the includeonly method and has been tested to be more efficiently parsed than the other methods reducing page rendering time and CPU usage. — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 19:50, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

Autogenerated redirects

Is there a reason that text is formatted in the docs as it is? Are we using {{Clarify}} just for the superscript or is there something I'm missing? Protonk (talk) 17:21, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

p param breaks ping

I'm told that using the |p= parameter breaks the ping function. Eh? Is this intentional? czar ♔ 16:47, 8 July 2014 (UTC)

  • @Czar, Technical-13, and ShoeMaker§ There is no reason it should I can see in the code. What character are you using it with and does it affect all people listed or only the last one? — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 17:14, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
  • Nope, Czar, I'm assuming you just got pinged with me using that parameter because I just got emails I was mentioned for both Technical-13 and ShoeMaker. Unless it is one specific character you are experiencing a problem with (which there might be a character or two the don't play well). Launchballer, why did you think it was an issue? — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 17:17, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
I tend use use the parameter blank ({{ping|Technical 13|p=}} @Technical 13 test) so it shows as "@editor". That's likely the issue czar ♔ 17:22, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
I didn't receive an echo for it, I only spotted it on my watchlist. That nom could've spent another three days up when there is no need to be.--Launchballer 17:26, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
  • @Czar Czar mentioned you on the Reply to talk page in "p param breaks ping". 30 minutes ago Seems to work fine even when blank/empty. — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 17:54, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
Hm, yeah, likewise. Oh well. @Technical 13, perhaps it's when there's something right after the template, then? czar ♔ 18:14, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
  • Maybe, (I got a ping even with the comma after), feel free to ping me if you find one that doesn't work. Don't forget, some people have notifications turned off and never get pings (well, they do get them, but they never see them because they have the grey/red indicator hidden/removed with css and/or js). — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 18:20, 8 July 2014 (UTC)

Doesn't work with certain signatures/usernames?

As the signature input box doesn't accept unaccompanied ampersands (they cause an error reading "Invalid raw signature. Check HTML tags"), the ampersands in my signature are rendered as &amp;, though my username isn't Arms &amp; Hearts but Arms & Hearts. Recently at WP:RX another editor ping'd me using {{ping|Arms &amp; Hearts}}, which would seem to make sense seeing as that's how I sign my posts (and the link to my userpage, which isn't a redirect, is rendered that way). However because the version with &amp; isn't my username, I didn't receive a notification, and now I'm wondering if there might be other instances of this happening that I (and other users with names including ampersands and possibly other punctuation) will have missed. Is this possibly fixable? – Arms & Hearts (talk) 20:54, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

@Arms & Hearts: By manually programming parsing of HTML in Lua. See this diff; I hope it worked. If it does not work, then I will look into the paperwork associated with me registering a second account so that I can test. Gryllida (talk) 22:41, 1 August 2014 (UTC)
Seems to have worked! Thanks for the speedy response. – Arms & Hearts (talk) 03:10, 2 August 2014 (UTC)
Please notice that I had used another template, {{Ping2}}, while {{Ping}} itself is not in Lua.
No problem. --Gryllida (talk) 05:46, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

Question

How does this template access your notifications? That's actually pretty neat! -Fimatic (talk | contribs) 23:04, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

  • It doesn't. It just creates a link to your user page. The Echo extension detects that link and notifies you that someone mentioned you. -- [[User:Edokter]] {{talk}} 00:09, 14 November 2014 (UTC)
  • The notification fires if someone links to your personal page and signs their message. What the template does is link to a contributor's personal page. Click "view source" and you'll see lines to this effect:
@[[:User:{{SAFESUBST:<noinclude />BASEPAGENAME:{{{1|Example}}}}}|{{SAFESUBST:<noinclude />BASEPAGENAME:{{{label1|{{{1|Example}}}}}}}}]]
What this means is that if you pass it a param (param number 1 in this case, it is up to 6 or so), then the template would return a [[:User:YOURPARAM|YOURPARAM]] (YOURPARAM) link. See also how to read templates and write your own, what Echo does (and Extension:Echo, How to become a MediaWiki hacker, and why this is possible).
--Gryllida (talk) 00:12, 14 November 2014 (UTC)
Oh; interesting! -Fimatic (talk | contribs) 00:05, 22 November 2014 (UTC)

Ping

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T76961

Since "Template Ping" redirects here, I'll ask this about it: how come this doesn't always send notifications? For example, in this edit, I didn't get pinged at all. Snuggums (talk / edits) 16:31, December 5, 2014

Technical 13Should we fix it to also notice signatures containing a talk page link? Gryllida (talk) 22:31, 5 December 2014 (UTC)
I don't see Gryllida as signature as a problem, so I disagree. I also disagree because other sister projects in other languages can't make such policy change easily, and this issue would remain there. (I don't have a user page on almost any other wiki other than English Wikipedia (and I only have it here because its content was considered insufficiently broad for an essay in the Wikipedia namespace).) Gryllida (talk) 22:50, 5 December 2014 (UTC)
The problem is nothing to do with {{reply to}}, so there's nothing that can be done by way of amending that. It's the way that notifications work: the criteria are complex, often misunderstood and delicate - that is, if you make a mistake and one criterion is not satisfied, the whole notification fails and can't be re-triggered if you go back and amend the mistake. You could try asking the people who wrote the notifications system to clarify whether it is supposed to work if the poster's sig has a user talk page link w/o user page link - if not, you could ask them to relax the criteria. Changing WP:SIGN is a matter for WT:SIGN, not here. --Redrose64 (talk) 23:30, 5 December 2014 (UTC)
I didn't ask to amend our template. Was only suggesting to report the bug with Echo folks. Do we really want to avoid that, and invent a local change in policy instead, while ignoring all our wonderful sister projects who don't do such policy change (as well as any victims who simply keep their old signature, due to our inability to enforce the said policy change)? Gryllida (talk) 23:55, 5 December 2014 (UTC)
@Technical 13, how about now? My userpage redirects anyway, so it's not a big change. Just wish I knew when I was first asked to add a talk page link. If this is fixed, could someone please let me know? (Also might be preferable to get talk page consensus before adding something like that to a guideline.) czar ⨹ 16:23, 6 December 2014 (UTC)
  • Yes, I got that ping. As to the guideline change, since it is already added, I'll just leave it unless someone reverts it, then I'll more than happily discuss it as needed. I'll likely ping you from that discussion if it happens as you are one of the individuals that unknowingly removed your ability to have your mentions actually ping people. Thanks! — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 16:40, 6 December 2014 (UTC)
My decision to put my signature link straight to my talk page is only because I don't use a userpage at the moment. It's unfortunate that pings may not work because of it, but there's no point in linking to a page that's empty. Gloss 17:01, 6 December 2014 (UTC)
Technical 13: I have undone your edit, per what Gloss said a line above my message. I don't like such non-technical approach which ignores the fact that other sister projects have less strict signature requirements and end up encountering this bug. Gryllida (talk) 23:36, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

I repeat that we need to file a bug with the Echo software so that such old signatures work too. Gryllida (talk) 23:32, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

  • What does that have to do with warning people that they will be unable to use the notification system if their signature does not include a non-colon prefixed link to their user page? If you want to file a bug, file it, what is stopping you? In the mean time, I'd really like to know why you think other users shouldn't be warned. — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 00:27, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
  • I don't have any idea how to file a bug with the new Phabricator system. If I could figure it out adequately, I'd've filed a bug. Gryllida (talk) 00:47, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
  • I put it back, I misread it (I thought it was a policy change, which it wasn't). I apologize. I am yet to comprehend why people are so wordy on talk pages... Gryllida (talk) 00:50, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
  • To be more specific: your longer line above says that you would be happy to discuss your edit if it's undone. I don't understand why you said so. If it was merely informative without a policy change, there was no need to be that prolific on wording... Gryllida (talk) 00:51, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
Filed as phab:T76961. (@Gryllida: to file a new task (aka bug), just click the "+" at top-right -- Let them know at mw:Talk:Phabricator/Help if you have any problems. (There's also a test instance (unattached) at https://phab-01.wmflabs.org/ if you want to experiment/test things.) HTH :) Quiddity (WMF) (talk) 05:06, 7 December 2014 (UTC)

Usage

Please will someone rewrite the first sentence in "Usage". It does not make sense. Please also replace "Aliases" with "Displays the same text". "Aliases" is the wrong word and refers to people not things. ~ P-123 (talk) 10:16, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

I made an effort. However, you can edit the documentation yourself. -- [[User:Edokter]] {{talk}} 12:44, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Necessity to have userpage?

Is it necessary to have an existing user page for this mechanism to work? Stratoprutser (talk) 21:07, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

  • To have a userpage, no. To have a link to a userpage (even a non-existent one), yes. — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 21:32, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
  • Why then doesn't it work for me? Stratoprutser (talk) 09:08, 28 December 2014 (UTC)
    • Details? Example? Link? — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 13:31, 28 December 2014 (UTC)
Try linking me? Stratoprutser (talk) 22:43, 29 December 2014 (UTC)
@Stratoprutser: Technical 13 is asking for an example of an edit which you believe should have notified you, but didn't - these are best given in the form of a WP:DIFF. --Redrose64 (talk) 12:54, 30 December 2014 (UTC)
@Redrose64: Whop whop! It did arrive. Could you try the same with WP-NL? Stratoprutser (talk) 14:52, 2 January 2015 (UTC)
I didn't do anything to Template:Reply to, so can't do "the same" to nl:Sjabloon:Reply to. --Redrose64 (talk) 15:11, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

Template : Ping never works

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T78424

{{Ping|username}} never works, I never use this template but whenever somebody called me with the help of this template, I had no call. See [5]-[6]-[7]-[8]. Bladesmulti (talk) 04:53, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

@Bladesmulti: Please post diffs of the problem edits, not links to a third-party site that locks up my computer with slow-loading advertising. --Redrose64 (talk) 14:01, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
No it is necessary to post screenshots for proof. Diffs cannot prove the defect of this template and you can already see where this all happened, on a talk page of a user. Bladesmulti (talk) 15:32, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
In which case, why are Wikipedia screenshots unsuitable? --Redrose64 (talk) 17:04, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
Thanks for writing, but do something about this template. Can we warn/alert users not to use this template? This can be misleading because people use this template and waits for the reply, without knowing that this template is no more applicable for calling others. Bladesmulti (talk) 17:14, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
The template is not the problem (see threads further up the page, also WT:Echo#Pings not working). All that this template does is to make a link to a user page, with a small amount of formatting. I shall make a non-templated link here: User:Bladesmulti. If it is not working for you, there are three main possibilities: (i) the other person isn't notifying you in a manner that the notifications system recognises; (ii) your settings at Preferences → Notifications do not include "Mentions"; (iii) a bug in the Notifications system itself. I can't check (i) without those diffs; only you can check (ii); and (iii) is outside the scope of this page, and better posted at WT:Echo. --Redrose64 (talk) 17:44, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
[[User:(username)]] works, but {{ping|}} template, I would post at echo instead then. Bladesmulti (talk) 17:57, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
@Bladesmulti:, did this work? — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 11:05, 29 January 2015 (UTC)
Worked. Bladesmulti (talk) 11:07, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

The devs are looking into this, at phab:T78424. Thanks for the details. --Quiddity (WMF) (talk) 20:07, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

IPs

Does this work for IPs? I know it shouldn't since they don't have ECHO but I recently saw someone ping an IP here. Thanks, Ugog Nizdast (talk) 12:41, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that it doesn't. A better place to ask questions like this is probably WT:Echo. --Redrose64 (talk) 17:29, 29 December 2014 (UTC)
It does not. (Note: The enhancement request, to develop "Echo for anonymous users" is phab:T58828). --Quiddity (WMF) (talk) 00:53, 6 January 2015 (UTC)
Maybe the template should test whether the parameter is an IP address and do something to let the poster know it doesn't work, so they can for example choose to post on user talk. If adding a note is too much then it could simply omit linking the IP user page to hint there is something wrong. I have mentioned in the documentation that it only works for registered users.[9] PrimeHunter (talk) 19:55, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
It would be better to add that warning to the notifications system, since it is not specific to this template - you can't notify an IP by using {{u}}, {{user}} or even a regular wikilink like [[User:192.168.255.255|192.168.255.255]] --Redrose64 (talk) 20:36, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
Other templates like {{User}} are frequently used for other purposes than notifications so a warning would give too many false positives. {{Reply to}} is specifically intended for notifications. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:50, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
The {{user}} template shouldn't be used for IPs - instead, {{useranon}} is provided. Regardless of that, since people like Quiddity (WMF) (talk · contribs) are looking at the possibility of the notifications system showing a message like "Your edit notified users x and y", it's a natural extension of that to indicate a problem with the notification. --Redrose64 (talk) 22:23, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
It's common that users falsely think they have notified somebody and improvements to the notification system would be nice but I don't know whether something is likely to happen soon. This template seems like the most relevant place if we want to do something now at the English Wikipedia. But if we want subst to give a nice result then I don't know what is possible and practical, and catching issues like unsigned posts is of course impossible. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:59, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

Label1 parameter bug

I encountered a bug in the label1 parameter that capitalizes nicknames when they are entered as not capitalized. Specifically, "loupgarous" resulted in "Loupgarous" in the following diff [10]. --Bob K31416 (talk) 14:19, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

It's fixed in my sandbox version here, but a template editor would need to copy it into the main template. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 14:48, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

Use "and" when multiple names are used?

Currently, the template uses commas to separate multiple names (e.g. "@Example1, Example2:" or "@Example1, Example2, Example3:"). Should the template use "and" before the last list entry (e.g. "@Example1 and Example2:" or "@Example1, Example2, and Example3:")? I mocked up the code for this in the sandbox. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 14:17, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

  • {{Noping}} actually does this already, question is, why 'and' and not 'or'? "@bob, jack, or peter: can one of you please update..." — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 15:18, 26 March 2015 (UTC)
I had suggested "and" specifically because {{Noping}} used it. It also makes sense here since all three (in your example) are getting notifications, but I would see nothing wrong with an c= parameter to let you specify your own conjuction (or, nor, etc.) --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 22:32, 26 March 2015 (UTC)
  • Sandbox it and add a test case and I will look at and implement it. :) — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 00:54, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
  • @T13: It's sandboxed here, and I expanded the testcases. --Ahecht (TALK
    PAGE    ) 17:03, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
  • @Technical 13: I updated the sandbox version to fix the label display bug mentioned below as well as a bug when using a blank c= parameter with two names. My latest version is here. --Ahecht (TALK
    PAGE    ) 15:01, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
  •  Done - It all looks good to me and I see no object or reason to postpone any longer on this change. Thanks for your contribution, Ahecht, and happy template coding! — {{U|Technical 13}} (e • t • c) 15:32, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

No ping

Don't know if anybody watches this template, but I was just {{ping}}ed and it didn't work. I was pinged at 4:50 UTC and happened across the message (on another editor's talk page) at about 5:05 UTC only to find that it should have notified me, but didn't. Just thought it should be known that this template does not appear to be working. Painius  05:14, 18 September 2015 (UTC)

There are still occasional issues with echo, try WP:VPT for more details. In this case, the diff looks odd and suggests the software may not have identified Anthony_Appleyard's signature correctly. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 08:29, 18 September 2015 (UTC)
@Paine Ellsworth: There is no fault with the template (for explanation, see my post of 17:44, 23 January 2015 at #Template : Ping never works and threads linked back from that). The problem is in how it was used. In this case, Anthony Appleyard removed a blank line and also added a bullet in front of your post. This means that the line that he wrote his new text on wasn't seen as anew line but a modification to an existing line. You can avoid such problems by either: only remove blank lines; or only change the content of a paragraph (including indents/bullets) - never do both in the same edit because it confuses the diff parser. --Redrose64 (talk) 09:22, 18 September 2015 (UTC)
How is it that you and Martin always make the complex so clear. You're not only good at what you do, you're good at explaining it to others. Thank you both for helping me understand! Painius  19:43, 18 September 2015 (UTC)

Name shortening

If a user has a long name that takes up a lot of space on a line, would it be possible somehow to modify the template to shorten it? Like if their name is 5 words, to use those 5 first letters as initials? Maybe like make a variant for a single user called Template:nping (nickname ping) with a 2nd parameter where you substitute your chosen shortform? This way you could still ping the user without cluttering the line with their long name.

Also going to the bother of typing long names sucks on bad keyboards where it is hard to type quickly without mistakes or to copy and paste. I would like options for official nicknames. Like perhaps the first user with a 5-word name could get dibs on those 5 initials, and any time others can type the initials in all-caps to ping or link to that user and it will redirect to them. Would speed up communications with them. 64.228.91.102 (talk) 15:38, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Try {{u}} - first parameter is the true name of the user, second param is the alias. So if you were replying to me you could use {{u|Redrose64|Rr64}} which produces Rr64. --Redrose64 (talk) 16:52, 21 September 2015 (UTC)
This template has parameters for changing the displayed names as well: {{Reply to|Redrose64|label1=Rr64}} → @Rr64:.
As for the second request: if Echo works for links to redirects to user pages (C678, mind if I ask you?), no changes to the template would be required, as a redirect from a shortened name can simply be created. If not, a data page containing all nicknames and corresponding users would be needed for these nickname pings to work. SiBr4 (talk) 17:27, 21 September 2015 (UTC)
Unfortunately, echo does not work like that. You are able to ping me because I set up a redirect account and set up echo on it. That when people link to my shortcut, I still get notified via email. The account itself, of course, is never used.—cyberpowerChat:Limited Access 17:37, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Annoying colon

Dammit, the colon on the end of this is annoying! If you want to use punctuation after this, then a colon is hardly the most likely choice (a comma would be far more useful), and there doesn't seem to be an easy way to stop the colon from appearing (yes, you can add parameters, but for regular editors that's time consuming and clumsy, and for newbies it's probably a total mystery). It's counterintuitive, too - you expect with inline templates that you'd add your own punctuation afterwards, surely. I'd like to suggest running a quick bot to add colons (and any other parameter-stated punctuation) after all current uses and then editing the template to get rid of the colon. Grutness...wha? 11:02, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

See also #Colon. If you just want the username linked you can use {{ul}}. Then you can add whatever punctuation you desire! Regards — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 11:23, 17 December 2015 (UTC)
{{ul}} doesn't look like it pings the user, which is the whole purpose of this template. And as I said, most of the time in pinging someone it makes far more sense to follow the name with other puncturation, e.g., "@MSGJ, surely it'd be easier to leave this template without punctuation." or "I replied after reading the comment by @MSGJ." My suggestion would (1) make it less counterintuitive, especially for newbies, (2) save a lot of time for users who don't want to use a colon (probably the vast majority), and (3) simplify the template in server terms. And running a bot to change current usages would solve the only problem to altering the template mentioned at #Colon. It's just common sense. Grutness...wha? 00:06, 18 December 2015 (UTC)
@Grutness, it is true that the {{ul}} template doesn't look like it pings the user: in fact, it doesn't ping the user - and nor does {{reply to}}. No templates have this ability. But both of these create a link to a user page, and it is that link in combination with certain other factors, such as a fresh, valid signature, that notifies the user. This post will have notified you, because of the template I used right at the start in combination with this signature: --Redrose64 (talk) 08:19, 18 December 2015 (UTC)

Doesn't work with some usernames

Pinging doesn't work with the username User:7&6=thirteen, as in [[User:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]]. Something to do with the "equal" sign? Can it be fixed? FunkMonk (talk) 01:04, 14 January 2016 (UTC)

See Template:Reply to#Error messages. The general issue is mentioned at the first bullet at Help:Template#Usage hints and workarounds and applies to all templates with unnamed parameters containing equals signs. {{u|7&6=thirteen}} is interpreted as assigning "thirteen" to a parameter called 7&6. {{u|1=7&6=thirteen}} works. At meta:Talk:Title blacklist/Archives/2015#Equals sign I proposed to disallow equals signs in new Wikimedia accounts, but it didn't get support. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:58, 14 January 2016 (UTC)
Ah, didn't see that. So did the User: template I used instead also work as a ping? FunkMonk (talk) 14:26, 14 January 2016 (UTC)
Anything that makes a wikilink to the user page works (assuming all other conditions are satisfied). PrimeHunter (talk) 14:51, 14 January 2016 (UTC)
Ok, thanks! FunkMonk (talk) 15:01, 14 January 2016 (UTC)

Proposal: Adding a date parameter

Proposal: Add a date parameter which, when used with the singular user reply to form, will put the date stamp that you're replying to.

Context: Typically when I reply it's to a highly complex thread in which several editors have come in and made replies to the thead and I would like to go back to a specific section and reply to a specific comment. I see two ways of doing this: the first being a inline diff link to the user's add of the statement and the scond being Date/Time of the user's signature to their post. The first requires more effort in the revision history to slice out the revision (or revisions) where the user saved their comment. This has the downside of potentially if it's a very active page (like ANI) other user's saves could get interleaved amongst the revisions that someone is wanting to reply to. The second has (for the most part) the ability for a user to search on the page for the date/time) and find the discussion post in question. This also has the side benefit of presenting other discussion in relation to the original post that might help clarify the new reply.

At this point I'm not asking to change the template, only trying to establish consensus for such a change.

Thank you Hasteur (talk) 14:05, 13 April 2016 (UTC)

7 users

Is there a reason this template still only supports 7 users, when Echo provides for up to 20 right now? --Izno (talk) 17:15, 8 March 2016 (UTC)

It was increased from 5 to 7 at 09:58, 20 December 2013 by TeleComNasSprVen (talk · contribs). It doesn't seem to have been discussed above (or indeed anywhere else, judging by TeleCom's contribs on that day). --Redrose64 (talk) 17:31, 8 March 2016 (UTC)
And I think Echo had a prior upgrade from 5 to 7 around that timeframe, which would explain why it's 7, yes, but not why it's not 20 (since a future upgrade went from 7 to 20). --Izno (talk) 17:48, 8 March 2016 (UTC)
@Izno and Redrose64: I created a Lua module version of this template at Module:Reply to/sandbox, so that it can take an unlimited number of inputs without getting unwieldy. I also updated Template:Reply to/sandbox to implement the module with a maximum of 20 names. As far as I can tell the outputs are identical, but I'm no Lua expert. If there are no objections, I can switch over the main template to use Lua as well. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 17:31, 7 April 2016 (UTC)
I'm no Lua expert either. --Redrose64 (talk) 17:42, 7 April 2016 (UTC)
Also, per https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Manual:Echo&diff=1863782&oldid=1686403 it looks like the max is now 50, not 20. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 17:45, 7 April 2016 (UTC)
I'm going to go ahead and switch things over to the Lua version. If things become wonky, feel free to revert me. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 04:00, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

Subst'ing the template broken?

A change to the code yesterday broke the ability to subst: this template. Is that intentional? Does this need send to the Village Pump for technical suggestions for repair of the module? —C.Fred (talk) 16:40, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

Fixed. SiBr4 (talk) 16:59, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

Requested addition

Since {{CC}} is a redirect, initials also shared with Creative Commons and Commons Category ({{cc}}) perhaps a hatnote directing users to Category:Creative Commons copyright templates would be helpful. It is reasonable to think that given templates like {{cc-sa}} or {{cc-by}}, a likely first search would be here (indeed, it's how I found it).

I don't know much about navigational hatnotes or footnotes in template namespace, but I would propose something to be added the effect of:

"{{CC}}" redirects here. You may be looking for {{cc}} or {{Creative Commons}}. For other Creative Commons templates, see: Category:Creative Commons copyright templates.

Cheers, --Animalparty! (talk) 20:37, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

@Animalparty: I put {{redirects|Template:CC|"Commons category"|Template:cc|Creative Commons templates|Category:Creative Commons copyright templates}} in the documentation. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 00:24, 7 April 2016 (UTC)
@Ahecht: Thanks, that's very helpful. --Animalparty! (talk) 21:10, 7 April 2016 (UTC)
Since {{CC}} was only transcluded once, I am just going to redirect it to the same target as {{Cc}} to avoid confusion. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 20:45, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Module should detect broken input

I saw an example like the following (the output is simulated here to avoid generating the error):

  • {{ping|Example]]}} → Lua error in Module:Reply_to at line 12: attempt to index a nil value.

That puts the page in an error tracking category which clutters that category even if the user does not care about the problem. It should be fixed so it produces a built-in error message like the following:

Questions:

  1. The message should be "Invalid username"? (probably should be "user name" with a space).
  2. No pings would be generated (if other, valid, names were entered), just the error message?

Johnuniq (talk) 05:03, 30 June 2016 (UTC)

@Johnuniq: The input {{ping|Example]]}} should now produce Error in Template:Reply to: Input contains forbidden characters.. "Username" is one word per Wikipedia:Username policy. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 19:18, 30 June 2016 (UTC)
@Ahecht: Thanks, but it's better to test the result from mw.title.new because it will either give a valid result or not, even if the rules for what is a valid user name change. I put the code in Module:Reply to/sandbox for review, but I'm confident it would be more reliable. Also, when getting non-blank parameters from origArgs, it is much easier to check for %S which will match only if there is a non-blank character. It is impossible for v:match('^%s*(.-)%s*$') to be nil.
The next line shows the diff, although it won't indent for some reason...
I see what you mean about "username", thanks. Johnuniq (talk) 02:16, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
@Johnuniq: Good idea with the %S. The only problem with not checking for an explicit list of characters is that mw.title.new won't observe the $wgInvalidUsernameCharacters = '@:' parameter in the current Wikipedia setup which prohibits @ and :. However, these are unlikely to break the script, so we may not care. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 04:06, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
OK but "@" is used by at least one active user with a grandfathered account name (see here) so ping should work with "@" even if new usernames with that character cannot be created. Johnuniq (talk) 04:50, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
@Johnuniq: Good point. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 15:08, 6 July 2016 (UTC)

At sign

Coming from outside wikipedia, one would assume the at sign is what you'd use to ping people.

This help page does not forestall this confusion - the at sign is there right at the beginning, but nowhere is it explained that this is not what you're supposed to write to ping someone, it's just notation showing someone got pinged.

I feel our doc needs to make this difference much more clear, and to take into account how other sites (like forums) allow you to ping people by using the at sign as a prefix. Not just after the fact, but actively. CapnZapp (talk) 10:58, 22 November 2016 (UTC)

Empty parameter causes script error

An empty parameter appears to cause a script error. Example:

{{reply to|Jonesey95||Johnuniq}} → @Jonesey95 and Johnuniq:

The error, at this writing, is Lua error in Module:Reply_to at line 34: attempt to concatenate a nil value. Can this error be captured within the module? Ideally, the empty parameter would be ignored. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:11, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

I just checked the modules and found:
Mr. Stradivarius did a lot of tweaking to the sandbox. I'm hoping he will want to check whether it is finished and should be copied to the main module. I can say that the sandbox template calls the sandbox module, and it works for the above:
Possibly a bit more checking and examination of Template:Reply to/testcases will see that Mr. S has fixed the problem. Johnuniq (talk) 04:01, 18 July 2017 (UTC)
While Mr. S's code is much cleaner than mine, there are a few regressions:
I can try to work on these. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 15:40, 18 July 2017 (UTC)
@Jonesey95: I updated the working module to gracefully handle empty parameters. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 22:16, 18 July 2017 (UTC)
Delightful. Thank you for your work. – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:55, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

Invisible, empty label

If this template is used only to notify the recipients, to be invisible itself, with empty label, like {{Reply to|UserX|label=|prefix=|p=}}, it currently creates unexpected and broken [[User:UserX|]].

Temporary workaround for template users can be some explicit whitespace character as a label.

—Mykhal (talk) 11:05, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

​It seems like it's a lot easier just to type {{u|Mykhal|{{zwsp}}}} than {{Reply to|Mykhal|label=|prefix=|p=}}. I might see some utility in invisibly pinging multiple people, but using this template for that purpose is still cumbersome. I went ahead and fixed the unexpected output, but invisible pings should either be a new parameter (e.g. |invisible=) or a separate template. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 22:52, 18 July 2017 (UTC)
​ I created {{hidden ping}}, which should do what you want. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 16:29, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

Template:Ping

Does not appear to work well. Not sure why. @Doc James: gives nothing. neither does @Doc James: Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:12, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

@Doc James: and @Doc James: does not appear to work either. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:13, 28 December 2017 (UTC)
@Doc James: and User:Doc James Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:14, 28 December 2017 (UTC)
@Doc James: Did you get this notification? Johnuniq (talk) 06:45, 28 December 2017 (UTC)
@Doc James: This may relate to Talk:Finasteride. The reason the pings to you did not work there is that the IP did not sign their comments. For a notification to work, a ping has to be added in a new edit which also adds a signature. Sometimes editing of other text in the same edit can cause the ping to fail—that's on the basis that some people fiddle with comments with several edits, and recipients should only be pinged once. You cannot notify yourself. Johnuniq (talk) 06:53, 28 December 2017 (UTC)
Thanks User:Johnuniq, yes I received these. Thanks for figuring this out. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 07:25, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

Template-protected edit request on 30 January 2018

Change from <noinclude>max=50<noinclude> in {{{{{|safesubst:}}}#invoke:Reply to|replyto|<noinclude>example=Example</noinclude>|max=50}} to max=40. Usernames are usually not that long and are rarely more than 40 characters long.  Anchorvale T@lk  09:15, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

 Question: what is the advantage of changing this number? — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 09:24, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
OK, never mind. There's no need to change it, so could we close the request? Thanks,  Anchorvale T@lk  09:28, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
max=50 is the max number of users to be pinged. I see no reason to change it from the software default 50. See Module:Reply to#Usage within templates. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:29, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

Ping project

On Wikidata there's d:Template:Ping project to send a notification alert to all signed-up participants of a WikiProject, sending them an echo alert linking to the discussion the template is added to.

Is that something it would be useful to have here as well? Would it be straightforward to port over? Jheald (talk) 16:06, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

The projects where it would help the most are too large, and it might be seen as canvassing only to canvass the most-popular (or whatever other criterion you use to stay under the 50-total persons pinged limit). --Izno (talk) 16:23, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
I am not sure that d:Template:Ping project is based on {{ping}}, so the 50 person limit might not apply? Jheald (talk) 17:47, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
It is. --Izno (talk) 19:59, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
Whether it is or it isn't, the 50-user limit is part of the notifications system and has nothing to do with any templates that might be used. I can, for example, notify User:Jheald merely by linking their user page and signing my post. No templates are involved. I could notify up to 49 other people if I wished, by linking 49 other user pages. Here's one: User:Izno. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 20:58, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
I understood his reference to {{ping}} as referring to the notification system rather than any specific template, which is how Wikidata's ping project template works (notably, you take a page, you put a list of user names on that page, then you transclude that page through "ping project" with e.g. {{ping project|Video games}}, thereby generating notifications for the people listed on the transcluded page). --Izno (talk) 21:11, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
Whether you name the users in your post, or transclude another page that itself names the users, the limit is still 50. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 21:49, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

User talk pages

I try to use pings or reply to to respond to other editors, but it never works. It's work fine on article talk pages. When I preview it, it looks fine. When I submit it, it shows Template:Reply to. But in the past, it has worked. Not sure why it's not working now. Am I doing something wrong or is it a glitch? Mr. C.C.Hey yo!I didn't do it! 20:15, 1 April 2018 (UTC)

@Fishhead2100: I guess you refer to User talk:Fishhead2100. The page is currently in the hidden Category:Pages where template include size is exceeded. This means that template calls at the end are not processed. See Help:Template#Template limits. Until the page leaves the category, you can only ping other users at the end of the page by avoiding templates and instead making a user page link directly like [[User:Username]]. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:10, 1 April 2018 (UTC)
@PrimeHunter: Yes, I am referring to my talk page. Would the way you suggested still notify them? Mr. C.C.Hey yo!I didn't do it! 23:51, 1 April 2018 (UTC)
@Fishhead2100: Yes, assuming it satisfies the normal requirements like being part of a new signed post. But you should fix the template issue instead, e.g. by archiving a large part of the page. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:20, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
@PrimeHunter: Been working on archiving. I got lazy and didn't bother for a number of years. Mr. C.C.Hey yo!I didn't do it! 00:26, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
@Fishhead2100: I investigated why the template limit was broken. The transclusions of Wikipedia:WikiProject Food and drink/Newsletters/template in the Wikiproject Food and Drink Newsletter sections use an unreasonable amount of the template limit. It also causes other user talk pages to fail when there are many newsletters. I will investigate further Monday and contact the responsible editors. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:37, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
@PrimeHunter: Sounds good. Thanks. Mr. C.C.Hey yo!I didn't do it! 00:52, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
I have posted to Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Food and drink#Newsletter uses too much transclusion. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:03, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Suggested improvement

As this template uses Lua, could it be made to work if someone types, say, {{Reply to|User:Pigsonthewing}}, with the User: prefix? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 22:02, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

Typo

Hi, there's a typo in this section: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Reply_to#Multiple_recipients

It reads: "@User1, User2, User3, User4, Usekr5, User6, User7, User8, User9, User10, and ...: Message text. David O. Johnson (talk) 18:42, 9 March 2019 (UTC)"

But it should be: "@User1, User2, User3, User4, User5, User6, User7, User8, User9, User10, and ...: Message text. David O. Johnson (talk) 18:42, 9 March 2019 (UTC)"

David O. Johnson (talk) 18:42, 9 March 2019 (UTC)

@David O. Johnson: You may edit the documentation freely at Template:reply to/doc. --Izno (talk) 18:53, 9 March 2019 (UTC)
Thanks! David O. Johnson (talk) 18:55, 9 March 2019 (UTC)

Prefix formatting

When using |prefix=, one needs to add a hard space at the end to get the basic effect (doc gives example |prefix=Hello&nbsp;). Could this space be added by default once, since it is hard to find a situation where the space is not needed. -DePiep (talk) 09:52, 8 July 2019 (UTC)

Way of expression

(My suggested corrections are in {}, in both: original and improved version.)
In: Template:Reply_to#Usage / 4th enumeration "chapter" (beginning with a black dot), it says:

"The edit must either be entirely within an existing section{s} (it {can}not have {} new section header{s} in the middle) or { } start a new section (start{s} with a new
section header)."

I wonder whether it, partly, should be and, partly, would be better like this:

"The edit must either be entirely within an existing section{} (it {must} not have {a} new section header{} in the middle) or {the edit must} start a new section (start{ing} with a new section header)."

Steue (talk) 17:47, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

Missing notifications

Can anyone explain why this and this attempt to send pings to me did not produce any notifications? —BarrelProof (talk) 06:13, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

My guess is that a copy/paste error added a comment from you after a comment by the editor who saved the edit. Software looking at that would probably see that the signature at the end was from you, but a different editor made the edit. Thus it looks like an edit to the page rather than a new comment. Johnuniq (talk) 07:08, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
Yes, I see. The signature at the very bottom of each of those edits was a copied one from me. Thank you. —BarrelProof (talk) 22:46, 8 January 2020 (UTC)
I looked at the source code [11] and it appears to be a feature not documented at mw:Manual:Echo#Technical details. One of the possible action types is:
* - unknown-multi-signed-addition: Some signed content is added,
*    but it contains multiple signatures.
The loop at foreach ( $interpretation as $action ) only calls generateMentionEvents for certain other action types. If I'm right then it doesn't matter in which order the signatures come. I remember complaints that copying an old discussion could cause notification of all users who had signed a post. This may be a way to avoid that. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:14, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

Notification

Supposing that I already used this template to ping one user once, will a later edit to include the second user notify him or her?

For example, 1st: {{Ping|Example 1}} 2nd: edit to {{Ping|Example 1|Example 2}} in the same line. Will Example 2 get notify? --Horus (talk) 09:07, 24 May 2020 (UTC)

No. For a ping to work, you have to add a new comment with a new signature. That is, edits which appear to be modifying an existing comment are ignored as far as notifications go. That is to avoid someone being pinged multiple times when an editor tweaks their comment. Johnuniq (talk) 09:32, 24 May 2020 (UTC)
Also, {{reply to}} does not, of itself, send a notification. It makes a link to a user page, and it is that link in combination with a signature, both being on a new post (as pointed out by Johnuniq) that triggers the notification. It's covered by WP:Echo#Mentions. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 10:21, 24 May 2020 (UTC)

Capitalisation

@Ahecht and Johnuniq: is it possible to retain the capitalisation of the usernames somehow via displaytitle, as given in the invocation, without using labels or something? I don’t think the lua title lib gives such a property. I tried a fix in the sandbox, but it breaks other tests. Perhaps if arg value (lowercase) is equal to the root text (lowercase), use the arg value instead? For example, {{ping|xaosflux}} turns into @Xaosflux: (capital x). ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 14:46, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

@ProcrastinatingReader: what would you want to do with "displaytitle" here? I'd think a better approach would be to output the literal input as the piped text for the output string (assuming you want to preserve initial lower case characters, but only if input that way?) — xaosflux Talk 15:34, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
@Xaosflux: Ideally it can detect the displaytitle, but if not it should just use the parameter value without trying to second guess capitalisation (since many editors have lowercase first letters, stylistically), just like {{u}} does (eg xaosflux is possible whereas a lowercase X is impossible with this template, without doing something like {{ping|Xaosflux|label1=xaosflux}} - but that’s not very reasonable to expect) ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 16:01, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
Implemented in sandbox, see: Template:Reply_to/testcases#One_name ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 08:28, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
There are too many "fun" ways that users play with DISPLAYTITLE for this to be a good idea. --Izno (talk) 18:49, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

Subst:'ing this template

Should this template be subst:'ed, or not? Please can a note in the template documentation be added. ― Qwerfjkl | 𝕋𝔸𝕃𝕂  (please use {{reply to|Qwerfjkl}} on reply) 16:45, 23 May 2021 (UTC)

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