Workflows and approvals

Why can't I tag some assignees in item comments?

By default you can mention only the current step's assignees and earlier approvers; a Process Admin can turn on mentions for non-participants.

How-to

Short answer: By default, you can @mention only people who have taken part in the item so far: the initiator, earlier approvers and the current step's assignees. Assignees of later steps are non-participants, so a Process Admin has to allow mentioning them.

Why it happens

  • A participant is the initiator or anyone who has acted on the item up to the current step.
  • Future assignees and users outside the process are non-participants.
  • Mentions of non-participants are off unless the process allows them.

How to fix it

To mention someone in a comment:

  1. Open the item and click the Comments tab in the right strip.
  2. Type @ and the person's name. They get a notification. See Process comments.

To let assignees mention non-participants (Process Admin):

  1. Go to Manage > Security > Access controls > Comment permissions.

  2. Turn on Allow assignees to mention non-participants.

    Comment permissions settings with the non-participant mention toggle and scope options

  3. Choose whether assignees can mention any user in this process, or any user in the account. See Comment permissions.

A mentioned non-participant can read all the item's comments and the item data as shown at the step where they were mentioned, and reply only in that thread. They aren't added to the workflow.

To get a quick answer from someone, check Assign to when you mention them. They see it under Assigned comments on the process home page.

Important

To bring a non-participant into a reply thread, mention them in the parent comment first. Comments can't be deleted by anyone. If the comment box won't open in one process only, contact Kissflow support.

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