--- title: "Mentioning a member, a role, or a whole group" description: "Type @ to mention someone. What the list offers, and whether the mention sends a notification, depends on where you are writing." category: communication section: notifications type: Tutorial lastUpdated: 2026-08-05 locale: en canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/communication/mentioning-a-memberall-group-members --- # Mentioning a member, a role, or a whole group ## Mentioning a member, a role, or a whole group Type **@** and pick a name from the list that appears. In the Newsfeed and in Chat that list holds the people who can see what you are writing, plus one entry called **Group (all members)**. In Structure, Projects, Goals and Meetings the same **@** offers roles and circles as well as people, and mentioning a role or a circle reaches everyone in it. A mention is not always a notification. It sends one from a post, a chat message or a comment, and it is only a link everywhere else. The last two sections say exactly which is which. ## Mentioning in a post, a comment or a chat message Type **@** anywhere in the text, then start typing a name and choose from the list. ![The mention list open in a Newsfeed comment, with Group (all members) at the top followed by individual members](/images/communication/mentioning-a-memberall-group-members/01-mentioning-in-a-comment.png) Who the list offers depends on who is receiving the post or message: - **A post or comment addressed to a group**: any member of that group, plus **Group (all members)**. - **A post or comment addressed to individual people**: only those recipients, plus **All recipients**. - **A chat room**: only people who belong to that room, plus **Group (all members)**. - **A one to one chat**: no list appears. There is nobody else to mention. Three things to know before you rely on it: - Choosing **Group (all members)** puts a confirmation in front of you when you publish: "By using @Group, you will notify everyone in this group. Are you sure?", with **Cancel** and **Send anyway**. The same confirmation appears when you have mentioned someone who cannot see the post. - The **@** menu is not offered when you edit a post or a comment that has already been published. Add your mentions while you are writing. - Mentioning somebody does not give them access. If a person cannot already see the post, the mention will not open it for them. ## Mentioning in Structure, Projects, Goals and Meetings Here, one **@** menu covers everything and groups its results by type: **Users**, **Roles**, **Circles**, **Projects**, **Goals**, **Tasks**, **Metrics** and **Checklists**. Inside a meeting it also offers **Agenda items**. Groups whose app or add-on is switched off for your organisation are simply absent, and **Users** is always there. If your organisation has renamed roles, circles or checklists, the headings use your own names. ![The mention list in a working agreement comment, showing results grouped under Roles, Circles and Projects](/images/communication/mentioning-a-memberall-group-members/02-mentioning-a-role-or-a-circle.png) Governance fields are narrower on purpose. In a role or circle field, and in the proposal form, the menu offers **Users**, **Roles** and **Circles** only. **A role or circle mention reaches people.** When the mention sends a notification, a mentioned role is expanded to everyone assigned to it, and a mentioned circle to every member of that circle, whether they sit in it directly or through a role. That is the closest equivalent to **Group (all members)** in these apps. ## What a mention actually sends | Where you mention | In the app | By email | |---|---|---| | A post or a comment in the Newsfeed | Yes, in your notifications | Yes | | A chat message | No notification entry. The room is flagged with a mention badge instead | Only if you are not connected at the time | | A comment on a working agreement, a checklist or a proposal | Yes | Yes | | A comment on a task, a project, a goal, a key result or a metric | Yes | Yes | | A role or circle field, a meeting note, a task description, a custom field | No | No | The last row is the one that surprises people. A mention typed into a role's purpose, an accountability, a policy, a meeting note or an item description becomes a clickable link and nothing more. Nobody is told about it. If somebody has to act, write a comment or assign them. You are never notified about a mention you wrote yourself. Only member, role and circle mentions reach anyone. A project, task, goal, metric or checklist mention is always just a link, even in a comment that would otherwise notify. Clicking a mention opens the item: members go to their profile, roles and circles to their Structure page, and tasks, projects, metrics, checklists and proposals open in a side panel without leaving the page. ## Choosing which mention notifications you receive For Structure, Goals, Projects and Meetings, open your profile menu, go to **Notifications**, and use the tab for the app you want. Every event has its own **Email** and **Desktop** switch, and the mention rows read "When you are mentioned in a comment on ...". They are all on by default. ![The Notifications preferences, Structure tab, with an Email and a Desktop switch on every event including the three mention rows](/images/communication/mentioning-a-memberall-group-members/03-mention-notification-settings.png) These four tabs cover only the newer apps. Newsfeed and Chat mentions are switched separately, on your own preferences page, and they include a switch of their own for the moment somebody mentions all members of a group you belong to. An administrator can switch off notification emails for the whole organisation. That switch covers the Structure, Goals, Projects and Meetings emails above. It does not reach the Newsfeed and Chat emails, which are sent by a different part of the platform. ## Who can mention Anyone who can write where they are writing. There is no separate permission for mentions: if you can publish a post, comment, or send a message in that place, you can mention in it. One caution for Structure, Projects, Goals and Meetings: the **@** menu searches every member of your organisation, not only the people who can open the item you are commenting on. Check who has access before you mention somebody from outside the circle or project. ## What's Next? - [Assigning vs mentioning](/communication/differences-between-assigning-and-mentioning) - [How do I configure my notification settings?](/getting-started/how-to-configure-my-notification-settings) - [How do I publish, edit, or delete a post?](/communication/publishing-editing-or-deleting-a-post)