UI tool or plugin for notifying users of a related topic

There are a couple built-in features you can take advantage of.

To add a banner at the top of a topic, you could use the “staff notice” option (click the :wrench: below a post to see these options):

The message appears above a post like this

You can also close the topic so new replies can’t be posted. After you close a topic, you can use the :pencil2: button on the right to add a custom message: