Feature Request: Warning Before Replying to PMs with Mixed User/Staff Participants

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AI-generated summary

The discussion revolves around a feature request for a warning before replying to private messages (PMs) with mixed user and staff participants. Rubi proposed this idea to prevent unintended disclosures, suggesting a visual indicator or confirmation prompt when replying to such PMs. pangbo suggested using Whisper Mode, but Rubi found it was not enabled on their site. However, with the help of mcwumbly, who mentioned a theme component called discourse-whisper-warning, the setting was eventually found and enabled, as confirmed by Rubi.

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Hi,

I am a moderator over on Ubuntu Discourse.

In moderation workflows, it’s common to start a private message (PM) with a user, and then later add the @moderators group to get input from other staff.

The problem is: once moderators are added, all replies in that thread are still sent to the original user as well. This can lead to mistakes — a moderator may reply thinking they’re speaking privately with other staff, but the message is actually sent to the user too.

Feature Request:

A simple warning or visual indicator when replying to a PM that includes both staff and regular users. Something like:

:warning: “Your reply will be visible to all participants, including [@username].”

Or a confirmation prompt when replying to a PM thread with non-staff users included.

This would go a long way toward preventing unintended disclosures or awkward situations.

Has anyone found a workaround, or is something like this already planned?

Thanks in advance,
Rubi

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The image shows a section of a discussion forum interface with options for responding as a linked topic, using a whisper mode visible to staff, and toggling the topic bump. (Captioned by AI)
The image shows a section of a discussion forum interface with options for responding as a linked topic, using a whisper mode visible to staff, and toggling the topic bump. (Captioned by AI)1204×430 51 KB

Have you ever tried selecting Whisper Mode when posting, so that the message is only visible to the staff?

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We’ve got a theme component that help here: GitHub - discourse/discourse-whisper-warning: This component better distinguishes a public reply from a whisper. · GitHub

Certainly something we can consider bringing into core if there are others who would find this valuable.

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That is very useful, but unfortunately it does not seem to be enabled.

I will check with the site admins about this.

Thanks!

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We found and enabled this setting.

Thanks for the speedy and helpful responses.

Rubi

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