Help:DiscussionTools

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This is the help page for Wikipedia editors and other end users who are using DiscussionTools .

DiscussionTools is the default talk page system provided with MediaWiki . It is the default discussion system at all Wikimedia wikis. It is available on the desktop and mobile web site, but not in Wikimedia Apps.

Reply tool

Links are added after each comment for posting quick replies to existing discussions.

Getting started

Screenshot of the visual mode

1. At the end of each signed message, there will be a Reply link. Click that link to reply to the message.
2. A box will open. Your message will be placed where the box is located.
3. Type your reply in the box. Your signature and the date will be added to your reply automatically.
4. When you are ready to post your reply, click the Reply button.

Features

• You can switch between visual and wikitext source editing modes.
• In the wikitext source mode, a live preview shows what your message will look like while you are typing it.
• In both the source and visual modes, you can use keyboard shortcuts to make links, to @-mention the person you're replying to, and to add character formatting.
• If someone else posts a comment in the same section while you are typing your own comment, it will alert you. Click Show 1 new comment to see the new comment. If you have already typed part of your comment, it will try to keep your comment. Restoring your comment is sometimes slow on large pages.
• Replying can be disabled on individual pages and sections as described at Help:DiscussionTools/Magic words and markup .

Limitations

• As of 2022, this tool does not work with multi-line templates or wikitext codes that must be placed at the start of a line (e.g., wikitext table syntax). You will not be able to switch to visual mode if your comment contains this syntax. See reply tool visual mode limitations.
• The tool will only show on:
  • Pages in talk namespaces
  • Pages in namespaces which have been configured to show the 'add signature' tool ($wgExtraSignatureNamespaces). For most Wikimedia wikis this is the project and help namespaces.
  • Pages which have manually added the Add topic button using __NEWSECTIONLINK__
• The reply tool is visible when it detects a link to a user account and a timestamp on the same line. Some custom signatures will not be detected. See Why can't I reply to this comment?.

New topic tool

The new topic tool starts a new discussion topic on the page. The features and limitations are very similar to the features and limitations of the reply tool. Complex formatting, such as tables, is allowed.

Starting a new topic

Screenshot of new topic tool

1. At the top of the page, click the "Add topic" tab.
2. A box will open at the end of the page. Your message will be placed where the box is located.
3. Type a subject heading in the box, where it says "Subject". A subject heading is required.
4. Type your message in the big box. Your signature and the date will be added to the end of your message automatically.
5. When you are ready to post your message, click the Add topic button.

Preloading message content

Since March 2023, the new topic tool includes support for preloading the talk page message, similar to native MediaWiki preloading . Support of this feature was introduced as part of T269310.

To enable the preloading, it is necessary to provide the dtpreload=1 parameter (or usedt=1 in InputBox ). If the enabling parameter is provided, the following preloading URL parameters are recognized:

• preloadtitle - if provided, the value is used as the talk page message's subject
• preload - if provided, the page specified in the value is used to preload the talk page message content
• preloadparams[] - if provided, the value is used to replace parameters in the preloading template; each parameter is specified as $1, $2, $3. This parameter can be provided multiple times.
• editintro - if provided, a templated message to display at the top of the new topic tool.

Topic subscriptions

Click the subscribe button at the top of the section.

The topic subscriptions feature adds a link to Subscribe at the end of the discussion section headings. Click the Subscribe link to receive notifications if and when new comments are added to that section in the future.

Notifications for new comments posted in a talk page section someone has subscribed to.

You can enable automatic topic subscriptions in Preferences → Discussion pages. Only edits made with the reply and new topic tools will cause you to be automatically subscribed.

After you have subscribed to this section, there will be an Unsubscribe link. Click that to stop receiving notifications about new comments in that section.

You can see a list of your subscriptions at Special:TopicSubscriptions. You can unsubscribe from topics on that page, too.

Notes

• Notifications are based on the first comment and its timestamp. Changes to the section heading do not affect the subscription.
• You can only subscribe to a ==Level 2 section==.
• You will receive notifications about new comments regardless of the editing interface used to post them.
• Subscriptions will remain intact even when conversations are moved to other pages or the section heading changes.
• You can read technical information at Extension:DiscussionTools/How it works#Notifications.
• Subscribing to a thread that was initiated by a Massmessage distribution will subscribe you to all threads created at the same time.

Page subscriptions

Location of page subscription link in Skin:Vector 2022 , when the "Tools" menu is pinned.

You can subscribe to a whole talk page and be notified of new topics.

This "Subscribe" link is present in the "Tools" menu. Depending on your configuration, this menu can be either collapsed under the "Tools" menu or visible.

When you click on it, the Subscribe link becomes an Unsubscribe link.

This is different from watching the page. Watching the page will highlight all edits made on the talk page: new topics, comments, edits... If you subscribe to the talk page, you will only be notified about new discussion topics.

Information and appearance

The changes to the top of each discussion topic

Discussion pages will show additional information about each section. Discussion pages will not look the same as article pages, to help newcomers recognize them as places for talking to other users.

This feature adds new information about:

• the number of users and the number of comments in each topic and how old the most recent comment is – at the top of each ==section heading==
• the most recent comment on the page – at the top of the page
• the number of comments in each thread – in the Table of Contents (Vector 2022 skin only)

This feature also changes the appearance of the talk pages, particularly for ==Level 2== section headings.

You can turn off this feature in Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing-discussion. Look for "Show discussion activity".

Talk pages permalinking

Each comment receives a permalink. This link keeps track of the comment, even if moved elsewhere. This feature was enabled on most Wikimedia wikis on January 29, 2024, and on English Wikipedia on June 27.

The link to a comment is available from its timestamp, in the signature. Clicking (or tapping on mobile) on the link copies the permalink to your clipboard.

If a comment has been moved from the linked-to page, a message is shown to the user, with a link to the new location.

The comment accessed using this link will be highlighted by a colored background.

Permalinks formats

The URL fragment is now a unique identifier, stored in a database. The page the comment is currently on doesn’t matter anymore. It applies to either new topics or any responses.

Each new comment is identified using the author of the new message and its timestamp, and also the user and timestamp of the comment being replied to. The most common format is: #c-<username1>-<timestamp1>-<username2>-<timestamp2>

New topics are identified by their author, timestamp, and the new topic title: #c-<username>-<timestamp>-<topic title>

In addition, most recent existing section links to topics in the format #<topic title> will also trigger this message if the topic was moved and can be found elsewhere.

Troubleshooting

Each comment with a proper signature is taken into account. A proper signature is a signature with a link to a user page, or user talk page, or user contributions, and a timestamp formatted according to the wiki's language. Custom timestamps might not be detected.

All comments matching the signature requirements are taken into account for a permalink, no matter their age; this change is retroactive on older comments.

Changing the username in the signature, or the timestamp of an already posted message, will corrupt the permalink.

If a comment is deleted, it can be traced back. The last old revision where the comment appeared will be shown. This is available on Special:FindComment.

Talk pages permalinks won't work in any page that transcludes sections under <h1> headings.

Mobile

All of the above features are also available on the mobile web site. Their design is adapted to fit in with the design of the mobile skin and the mobile editor.

The reply tool's comment box shows vertical placement of your comment. It does not show horizontal placement ("indentation"), to provide more space for editing on narrow mobile screens.