# Are we still bolding other members' screen names? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2020, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974 "2020-10-15T00:13:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/1 "2020-10-15T00:13:12Z")
I just replied to a post in another thread, and out of habit I put the other person’s **screen name** in bold. That used to be customary here, to make it easy to find someone’s reference to your post. Are we still doing that, or will it just look peculiar? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/2 "2020-10-15T00:22:28Z")
I, for one, am still doing it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/3 "2020-10-15T00:24:54Z")
I still do so. Just like **panache45**. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/4 "2020-10-15T00:26:07Z")
The @ notifys the person that he’s been mentioned. @panache45 for example is also automatically bolded. Works the same way in Facebook discussion groups. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/5 "2020-10-15T00:29:40Z")
The trick is you gotta spell the user name correctly for the notification to happen. Seems like no one can spell mine. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/6 "2020-10-15T00:35:45Z")
I guess there’s no error checking. @aceplaace57 Still bolds but it’s not highlighted in a box like my earlier example. It did error check but very subtly. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/7 "2020-10-15T00:39:03Z")
Trick is to cut and paste: @Acsenray ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/8 "2020-10-15T00:45:08Z")
Well, thanks. I tried it on another message board, and the other guy thought I was threatening him. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/9 "2020-10-15T01:00:51Z")
I still do it because I think it’s nice to do. I use the @ if it’s something where I think the person should be notified. I don’t use the @ if it’s just some casual reference, or if I’m just referring to Ascenray’s post a few posts above. But I think new members may not be aware of our little tradition here, so maybe a lot of them don’t. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/10 "2020-10-15T01:17:52Z")
I do it still, but I don’t like using the @ sign, so I code it by hand. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/11 "2020-10-15T01:20:35Z")
There is a **Bold** button in the editor, why would you use the @ feature unless you’re trying to get someone’s **attention**. You can also use Control B to bold a highlight word(s). ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/12 "2020-10-15T10:35:04Z")
If the person’s already posted in the thread, the name will get suggested. So if I type @ by itself, I get a list of all the people who posted in this thread and I can just select the name. Of course I would only use that if I wanted to attract that person’s attention. (@Acsenray is top of the list, so it seems to be alphabetical.) I use Bold in the MMP thread, because many users have a **MMP nickname** which is different than the screen name. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/13 "2020-10-15T10:39:12Z")
I use either the @ notation or bolding, but never both. I don’t find the list of people in the thread useful, as it goes away as soon as I type a letter, rather than keeping people in the thread on top. I’m not going to take my hand off the keyboard to select, as that will always be slower than just typing, so it needs to be within the top 3 or so for me to select it with the keyboard. It’s another one of the design oddities of Discourse. Even Stack Exchange does it better. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/14 "2020-10-15T13:41:28Z")
Another vote for using the @ format unless shortening the name in which case I use bold. I don’t want to use @ with a short form because some day that short form may become somebody else’s username. > [@Senegoid](#): > > … some casual reference, or if I’m just referring to Ascenray’s post a few posts above. And we have our winner in the “how not to spell someone’s name” sweepstakes. 😉 Not trying to pick on you, it was all-but inevitable where poor @Acsenray’s name is concerned. As he himself said upthread. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/15 "2020-10-15T14:10:14Z")
That’s kind of my thinking as well. If I’m referring to someone who has been contributing to the thread already, then I’ll just bold it. They probably don’t want a notification telling them that someone posted something like _'As **Bump** said a few posts up, “blah blah blah” ’_ But if I’m talking about someone who wasn’t contributing to the thread, then I’ll probably put a @ on it as more of a courtesy to let them know their name came up. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/16 "2020-10-15T14:10:20Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Well, thanks. I tried it on another message board, and the other guy thought I was threatening him. LOL, something similar happened to me. The others posters were like why in the Hell are you bolding people’s names?! ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/17 "2020-10-15T14:17:11Z")
Pardon me, is this the thread in which we **Acsenray** , or @Acsenray? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/18 "2020-10-15T14:31:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I use either the @ notation or bolding, but never both. ?? Discourse automatically bolds the @ notation. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/19 "2020-10-15T19:37:32Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The trick is you gotta spell the user name correctly for the notification to happen. Seems like no one can spell mine. Yeah, I though it was Ascenray until I tried to @ you and it didn’t highlight. Which means I was also pronouncing it wrong in my head. Never would’ve noticed if we’d stayed on the old board. I also though **Puzzlegal** was Puzz Legal at first. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974/20 "2020-10-15T21:23:17Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > . I also though **Puzzlegal** was Puzz Legal at first. Dayum. I learn something every day. > [@bump](#): > > That’s kind of my thinking as well. If I’m referring to someone who has been contributing to the thread already, then I’ll just bold it. They probably don’t want a notification telling them that someone posted something like _'As **Bump** said a few posts up, “blah blah blah” ’_ Not disputing with you, but that’s the direct opposite of my take on it. If I’m going to mention you, _in a thread you’re already involved in_, that’s the time I think you want to know you’ve been mentioned so you can return to defend yourself, straighten me out where I’ve misunderstood you, or just preen in the knowledge that somebody else though enough of your post to springboard off it. Etc. > [@needscoffee](#): > > ?? Discourse automatically bolds the @ notation. Not exactly. How the @ notation appears depends on what theme you’re using. @A\_NonExistent\_User shows as bold in my theme. But @LSLGuy shows as sorta-bold on a medium gray background with rounded corners. Other themes are different. And of course the @LSLGuy format is a clickable link to their user profile page. Which in turn can lead viewers to their other recent posts, threads, PMs, etc. And so is more useful to the audience than is a mere **LSLGuy** in bold. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-bolding-other-members-screen-names/922974.md?page=2)