@mention the Person You Need, Where the Work Is
The decision belongs on the task, not in somebody's inbox. Mention a colleague, they get notified, and six months later the reasoning is still there.
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What is an @mention?
An @mention tags a specific person in a comment so they are notified and pulled into that piece of work. It matters because it moves conversation from email and chat, where it disappears, onto the task it is about, where it stays. In Orangescrum a mention is stored as a real record rather than as text, so it survives the comment being edited, and the same control can point at another task as well as at a person.
Why context gets lost
Conversation attached to the work
01Mentioning
Tag a colleague
Type the at sign, pick a name, and that person is pulled into the thread with a link straight to the work.
Only the people on this project
The list is the active members of the project you are in, narrowed as you type, so you are not scrolling a company directory.
Point at another task
The same control also mentions a task, so you can reference the work you are talking about without pasting a link.
A mentioned task opens in place
A task mention is a live cross reference, so clicking it opens that task rather than sending you off to find it.
The server checks the list
Mentioned people are re-checked against the project on save, so a mention cannot reach somebody who is not on the work.
From the comment or the task
Mentions work in a comment and in the task body itself, because both go through the same editor.
It is a record, not text
Each mention is stored with the message, who mentioned whom, the project, and the comment it came from.
Edits keep it honest
Editing or deleting a comment updates or removes its mentions, so the record never disagrees with what is on screen.
02Reaching
An email that lands on the task
A mention email uses its own template and resolves a comment back to its parent task, so the link opens the work rather than a thread.
Never your own mention
The person who wrote the mention is skipped, so nobody is emailed about something they just typed. Available in Self-Hosted and Community.
Each person decides
Mention email is a per person notification preference, so somebody can keep mentions on and turn other emails off. The setting is in Cloud.
A notification centre
Mentions appear in an in app list alongside comments, assignments, status changes, reminders, and due soon alerts. Available in Cloud.
Mark it read
Clear a single notification or mark the whole list as seen. Available in Cloud.
Follow without being mentioned
Watch a task, mute it, add somebody else as a watcher, and get a digest of what changed. Available in Cloud and Self-Hosted.
A mention subscribes you
Being mentioned adds you as a watcher on that task, so you keep getting the thread without anyone remembering to add you. Available in Cloud.
It arrives while you are looking
A mention is pushed to open sessions as it happens rather than waiting for the next page load. Available in Cloud.
03Finding
Every mention aimed at you
One list of the mentions you have been sent, newest first, each with who wrote it, the line it came from, and a jump link to the work.
Narrow it to one project
Filter the list to a single project when you only want to catch up on one piece of work. Available in Self-Hosted and Community.
Managers see the whole company
Administrators and managers read every mention in the workspace, not only their own, so nothing raised goes unanswered. Available in Self-Hosted and Community.
Rewriting does not re-notify
Editing a description only tells the people newly mentioned in it, so a small correction does not ping everyone again. Available in Cloud.
04Comments
On the work item
Discussion sits on the task it is about rather than in a separate thread somewhere else.
Rich text, editable later
Write formatted comments and correct them afterwards without deleting and reposting.
Files on the comment
Attach the file to the comment it belongs to, so the reference material sits with the point being made.
Permanent history
Every field change is recorded with who made it and when, next to the discussion that caused it.
05Elsewhere
Knowledge base pages
Mention people on wiki and documentation pages, not just on tasks. Available in Self-Hosted.
Document comments
Document comments carry their own mentions, so a review conversation names the person who has to act. Available in Self-Hosted.
Chat when it is not a decision
In app chat with groups and file sharing sits alongside, for the back and forth that does not belong on a task. Available in Cloud and Self-Hosted.
06Control
Who may reply at all
Replying to a task is its own permission, so a client can be given comment access without anything else.
What reaches your inbox
Each person picks which task events email them, and can schedule a regular summary instead.
Everyone can be reached
Unlimited users on every plan, so the person you need is actually in the tool.
How it works in practice
For teams that hand work over
Which edition includes what
| Capability | CloudManaged SaaS | Self-HostedOn-premise / private cloud | Open SourceCommunity Edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comments on tasks | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| @mention a colleague | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mention another task | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Attachments on comments | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mention email with per person control | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| In app notification centre | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Task watchers | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| In app chat | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Mentions on wiki and document comments | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
Mentions FAQ
How do I mention someone?
Type the at sign in a comment and pick their name. They are notified with a link that takes them straight to the task, so they arrive with the context already in front of them.
Can I mention a task as well as a person?
Yes. The same control accepts a task, which is how you reference related work from inside a comment without pasting a link. Mentions of people and mentions of tasks are stored as two different kinds of the same record.
Can I mention a whole team or use @all?
No. Mentions name one person, or one task, at a time. To keep a group informed, add them to the project or use task watchers rather than a group mention.
Does mentioning someone assign the task to them?
No. A mention notifies and pulls somebody into the conversation; the assignee only changes when you change it. That is deliberate, because most mentions are questions rather than handovers.
Does the person need to be on the project?
Yes, they need access to it, because a mention notifies somebody but does not grant them access. Since every plan includes unlimited users, adding the people you need to reach does not cost anything extra.
What happens if I edit the comment?
The mentions are rewritten to match. If you remove a name the mention record goes with it, and if you delete the comment its mentions are deleted too, so the record and the screen always agree.
Will I be emailed about my own mention?
No. The person who wrote the mention is skipped, and everyone else only receives it if they have mention email switched on in their own notification preferences.
Are mentions in the free Community Edition?
Yes. Comments, mentions of people and of tasks, attachments, and mention emails with per person preferences are all in the Community Edition. The in app notification centre and task watchers are not.
Can I follow a task without being assigned to it?
Yes, with task watchers, so you get updates on work you care about without owning it. You can also mute a task you no longer want to hear about. Watchers are available in Cloud and Self-Hosted.
Can clients be mentioned?
Yes, if they have access to that project. Replying is its own permission, so you can let a client comment on their own work without exposing internal detail.
Can I mention people outside a task?
In the Self-Hosted edition, yes. Knowledge base pages and document comments carry their own mentions, so a review conversation names the person who has to act.
Does this replace our chat tool?
Not for quick back and forth, and there is in app chat for that in Cloud and Self-Hosted. Mentions replace the part of chat and email where decisions about specific work get made and then lost, because those belong on the work item.
Put the conversation on the work
Mentions and comments are in every edition, including the free Community Edition.