Help:Notifications/Thanks

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The Thanks notification offers a way to give positive feedback on a wiki. The purpose of this feature is to give quick positive feedback to recognize productive contributions. This feature allows editors to send a 'Thank you' notification to users who make useful edits – by using a small 'thank' link on the history page or diff page.

Why this feature?

To make it as easy to show appreciation for each other's work as it is to express disagreement or disapproval. Sometimes you don't have time to write a personal note, yet still want to show your appreciation. Thanks is that quick way to say "thanks" for an edit.

It's easy to react to bad edits. All you do is hit "undo" (or "rollback" etc. if you can) on an article history page. This is a good thing, because it keeps the wiki from being overrun.

However, if you thought an edit was good, there was not much you could do about it quickly, before Thanks was implemented. The only way we could tell others they did a good job was to go to their user talk page and post a message. This takes some effort, and doesn't really work for 'small' contributions – a set of typo fixes is most welcome, but maybe not worth a barnstar. With Thanks, there is a quicker way.

What the feature is

An example of the "Thanks" notification

This feature, which we're just calling "Thanks ", makes it easy for you to express your gratitude, using the notifications tool . It's a simple way to thank another editor for a revision, when viewing it in history or diff view, as shown below:

To thank other users or see the thanks you have received, you must be a registered user and be logged in.

How the feature works

Sending "thanks"

To thank another user, go to the "View history " tab of any page. Next to each revision will be a "thank" link (next to "undo"). This link has a title that reads "Send a thank you notification to this user". This link is also available in the diff view, and below comments on Structured Discussions (formerly known as “Flow”) boards if StructuredDiscussions is installed. Click the link to send thanks to that user.

Confirmation

When the thank link is clicked, you will be asked to confirm Yes or no. The page will return to its previous state if no is clicked.

If yes is clicked, the recipient will receive a notification.

Thanks Notification

Notices —

The recipient will receive a notification.

The notification will include the following information.

Primary information: Who thanked the recipient, where, and about what. Linked to the diff or to the message on Structured Discussions that the recipient is thanked for.
Details: a link to your user page , a text snippet from the edit (or its summary) and if it was on a Structured discussion board to the page.

A record of the action is also recorded as a log entry at Special:Log/thanks.

Thanks notification for an edit on a page.

Receiving "thanks"

This is part of the notification system . You'll be notified of anyone thanking you, unless you have turned off Thanks notification.

Thanks Notification

You will receive a notification if someone thanks you.

Notices —

The notification will include the following information.

Primary information: Who thanked you, where, and about what. Linked to the diff or to the message on Structured Discussions that you are thanked for.
Details: link to the user who thanked you, a text snippet from your edit (or its summary) and if it was on a Structured discussion board to the page.

Limitations

To prevent abuse, you can't thank more than ten people in a minute.
You can only thank other registered users; edits by IP users or automated bots cannot be thanked.
You cannot thank yourself.

What the feature is not

The Thanks feature should be used as a simple, personal message of gratitude, rather than a public endorsement of edits. Thanks messages are noted in Special:Log/thanks, so it's possible to monitor the volume of Thanks being given out. It's not possible to use this feature directly from user's Watchlist or Recent changes page. They are only in page histories and edit-diff pages.

The Thanks feature is best used to encourage good work rather than bad work. You do not (and should not) Thank someone for thanking you as these messages should be reserved as small acknowledgments, especially towards new editors to encourage more participation.

How do I see the thanks I've got

To see every thanks you have received, visit the Thanks log. Type in "User:" followed by your user name in the "Target" field, then hit enter. Now the log shows only the thanks that were given to your edits. You will only be able to see who thanked you, and when. The log does not record what edit of yours that triggered each thank you. To find that out, you're better off browsing your Notification archive: Special:Notifications. The notification for each thanks (as opposed to the thanks log itself) does preserve the edit for which you were thanked; clicking a notification for a thanks takes you directly to the diff of the edit you made that somebody thanked you for.

How do I see the thanks I've given out

You need to visit the Thanks log, and filter it on your own user name. (Visit the log and type in your own user name under "Performer", then hit enter. Now the log shows only the thanks you have given out).

You will only be able to see who you thanked, and when. The log does not record the specific edits, and you cannot access other editors' notifications.

Avoiding thanks

How to enable or disable the thank feature in the user preferences

To stop getting Thanks notifications, you can opt out from them in your preferences.

Click on "Preferences" in the top right.
In the Preferences menu, click on "Notifications".
Uncheck "Thanks" from "Notify me about these events" in both "Web" and "Email".

For tips on how to use the Notifications tool, see Notifications .