Template:Pinging
Pinging @Example
Usage
editIn 2013, Wikimedia projects adopted a user notification system which allows any user to ping others in discussion replies. This system replaces or complements the {{talkback}} template in use previously. It works on any talk page or Meta namespace page.
Using this template is one of the ways to use the notification system. This template is particularly helpful in a discussion to supplementally notify a user not already involved in the discussion of something. For instance, it is used to notify Admins who have disciplined a discussed user before, Admins who have deleted a file before, participants in previous similar discussions, and editors who may have a stake in a discussion or may bring particular expertise to a discussion, and even editors who have not responded to a question timely and were not previously pinged. If you feel that this template unnecessarily personalizes the discussion, you may still use the {{talkback}} template on the user's talk page to indicate that you have replied to a comment.
Note that it isn't necessary to use this template to ping (indicate) the user if you are already linking to their username from your post.
Single recipient
editTo use it, just add something like the following to an existing discussion:
{{Pinging|User1}}[optional text here]. ~~~~
For example, ":{{Pinging|Jeff G.}} as the author of this documentation.
" displays as:
- Pinging @Jeff G. as the author of this documentation.
The comment must be signed in the same edit and belong to a section in order for the notification to work.
Multiple recipients
editYou can be pinging up to 10 people at once:
{{Pinging|User1|UserII|UserC}} as participants in the previous discussion. ~~~~
Punctuation
editBy default, {{Reply to}} will insert an at-sign "@" before the first name. This template instead inserts "Pinging ". "Pinging" means to the writer "I am sending a ping to" (hence the gerund form), and it means to the subsequent reader "a ping was sent to". By default, {{Reply to}} will insert a colon after the final name. This template doesn't do that, in imitation of the awkward |p=}}
syntax.