Based on a recent flag where curators were implementing some of the new suspension guidelines, it looks like it may not be possible to @ mention suspended users. Has anyone else come across this or know if it is a bug or intended?
Not being able to tag suspended users seems like a bug to me (unless the user is formally banned). The hope is that a suspension will lead to changed behavior and the user will come back and be productive on iNat, so we would want them to still get notifications from IDs/comments/etc. when their suspension is over. It also means that they can’t be mentioned in comments relating to their suspension. I also think it will likely just confuse other users - they don’t know the user they are trying to mention is suspended.
I can see potential value in not allowing banned (or even indefinitely suspended) users to be mentioned (as this could be a heads up to other users of that status and to not expect a reply). But for timed suspensions, this doesn’t seem ideal. If the behavior is desired for indefinitely suspended/banned users, maybe it’s possible for the system to distinguish temporary vs. indefinite suspensions and allow mentioning for temporarily suspended users.
@schoenitz @insectobserver123
I was the one who initially tried to tag a suspended user on the flag referred to here
Using entirely fictional usernames, lets say the suspended user’s name is “i_am_suspended”
In this case, when I type “@i_am_suspen” I see suggestions for “i_am_suspenseful” and “i_am_suspension_bridge” but “i_am_suspended” does not show up.
Yeah, this should probably a feature request. As long as i can remember it hasn’t been possible to access suspended users’ profiles via an @-mention. Links like https://www.inaturalist.org/people/i_am_suspended still work, but not an @. That didn’t seem to make a difference while all suspensions were indefinite, but it makes a difference now that suspensions can be temporary.
edit: no longer sure about this, see below
Does it still mention them if you type the name out completely instead of relying on the dropdown?
No, the name will remain gray/without link.
I tested suspending a dummy/testing account. I was able to mention the user in a comment by just typing out their username with an @ in front. The mention was blue and linked to their account after saving the comment. I then unsuspended the test account and logged into it and it did receive the @ mention notification.
Looks like the issue here is just that the users don’t appear in the dropdown when typing out the @ mention.
Now I’m doubting myself. I just tried the same thing you did, and it does work like you say. But I could have sworn that it didn’t used to. I guess that does take care of this problem though.
This does not take care of this problem because it makes it impossible to tag users unless you memorized their username perfectly
I did not try saving it (doh!), but thanks for figuring that out @bouteloua
I do still think this could be improved by allowing the username to be selected for temporarily suspended users. Not having it available will likely cause confusion for users.
Personally I don’t think even banned users should be hidden from the header search, Explore filter, Identify filter, @mentions, etc. If their content remains visible on iNat (which observations and IDs do), it should still be as findable as anyone else’s.
If specific content needs to be hidden (graphic, violent, hateful, illegal), most of those things can now be hidden by curators. Some exceptions being usernames, profile images, and user profile text.
I agree that the content of those users should be accessible from searches and such with no change to normal functionality.
The only thing I can see utility for is not having the @mentions autofill for banned users (so that users don’t have the expectation that they will reply, or maybe get them to notice that they are suspended). But maybe the potential confusion of the autofill not working isn’t worth it, not sure.