# ניתן לנצל בקלות את תכונת ההודעות
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [27 בפברואר, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497 "2022-02-27T15:11:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 6:45am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/25 "2022-02-28T06:45:48Z")
Thank you. 🙂 But I think the kudos goes to @Noah for discovering this one.
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### Author:  [@Noah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Noah)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/27 "2022-02-28T17:07:21Z")
Isn’t the “Flag” feature meant for this purpose?
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### Author:  [@Moin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Moin)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/28 "2022-02-28T17:22:11Z")
The idea is not that it should not be possible to notify users, who aren’t logged in. But someobe, who is not logged in should not see the notify button, since you are only allowed to notify, if you are logged in.
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### Author:  [@Decorbuz](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Decorbuz)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/29 "2022-02-28T17:52:24Z")
I agree with @Noah that the “Flag” feature is much better for that purpose. If you want to include a response, just use the “Something Else” option.
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### Author:  [@tobiaseigen](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tobiaseigen)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/31 "2022-02-28T19:44:11Z")
@dan worked on rate limiting invites, so maybe he has suggestions also on rate limiting the notify feature.
I also am on the fence about whether it is a worthwhile feature to have at all - as far as I know, it is rarely used and the emails it sends are a bit confusing and technical looking. I tried it recently to get a response from someone who was in a rush and just emailed back without reading the instructions in the email carefully, resulting in a bounced email which she then ignored because she was busy.
In this day and age I think it’s just as easy and more effective to just grab the link and paste it into an email or text or tweet or whatever. I feel this way about invites too.
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### Author:  [@Noah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Noah)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/32 "2022-02-28T19:49:12Z")
I see were your coming from, personally I still like the invite feature as it can come in handy when working with a large community for tracking invites.
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### Author:  [@tobiaseigen](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tobiaseigen)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/33 "2022-02-28T19:59:57Z")
Sorry, to be clear I am not talking about getting rid of the invite system at all. I love the invite system! I just mean it is more effective to get the invite link and send it yourself rather than depending on Discourse to send an email.
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### Author:  [@Noah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Noah)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/34 "2022-02-28T20:07:23Z")
My apologies, got the complete wrong end of the stick there.
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/36 "2022-02-28T20:16:20Z")
Another simpler option would be to piggy back on the @mention limits . Conceptually it is the same thing and @mentions also trigger an email by default when you are away
Also supportive of getting rid of the feature, it is odd and often causes confusing notifications cause you can never bundle a “why?” with it.
Thoughts @codinghorror
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### Author:  [@Noah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Noah)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/37 "2022-02-28T20:58:57Z")
I’m new to editing the site, are there any resources that will inform me on how to edit the css of the site.
Somebody within my community just found out about how this feature can be easily abused.
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 9:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/38 "2022-02-28T21:13:33Z")
I would add it as a theme component like this:
- Go to `/admin/customize/themes`
- Click on **install** and then **create new**
- Give it a name, and select ‘component’.
- **Create**
- Add it to your theme
- Click on the **Edit CSS/HTML** button and paste the code into the **Common tab**
And save. 👍
Though it only hides the button superficially. It doesn’t disable it.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/39 "2022-02-28T22:00:29Z")
Ah well then, thank you @Noah ! PM me and I’ll mail you a little something in appreciation as well! 🤗
(this applies to you too Jammy)
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### Author:  [@Decorbuz](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Decorbuz)
#### Post date: [28 בפברואר, 2022, 11:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/40 "2022-02-28T23:13:13Z")
> [@tobiaseigen](#):
>
> I also am on the fence about whether it is a worthwhile feature to have at all
I think it might be more useful if it allows you to attach a response.
Also, it’s a way more subtle method of directing somebody’s attention to a specific topic/reply.
> [@tobiaseigen](#):
>
> as far as I know, it is rarely used
Yeah, but I have a feeling that’s about to change now that Discourse is unifying the share dialogs into one.
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### Author:  [@tobiaseigen](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tobiaseigen)
#### Post date: [1 במרץ, 2022, 2:52am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/41 "2022-03-01T02:52:38Z")
Looks like we have two approaches here:
1. remove the notify button entirely from the share popup. From now on users copy/paste links to share topics with other people.
2. make the notify button work the same way as an @ mention. Limits are the same as @ mentions, and the email the notified person receives is the same as an @ mentioned person gets so if they decide to reply by email, the reply will reach the topic.
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### Author:  [@Noah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Noah)
#### Post date: [1 במרץ, 2022, 7:06am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/42 "2022-03-01T07:06:32Z")
I personally like the 2nd option, but I’m sure others will want to disagree with me.
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [1 במרץ, 2022, 7:21am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/43 "2022-03-01T07:21:57Z")
> [@tobiaseigen](#):
>
> remove the notify button entirely from the share popup. From now on users copy/paste links to share topics with other people.
I prefer option (1) @codinghorror , your call? (1) is a lot easier to do (simply removing code) and the feature as it stands is already problematic cause the “ping” gives you absolutely no context of why you are being pinged.
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### Author:  [@Decorbuz](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Decorbuz)
#### Post date: [1 במרץ, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/44 "2022-03-01T16:34:54Z")
> [@Noah](#):
>
> I personally like the 2nd option
Yeah, I also prefer option two. I feel like we should give the “Notify” feature a chance and try to fix it instead of removing it altogether.
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### Author:  [@Noah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Noah)
#### Post date: [1 במרץ, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/45 "2022-03-01T18:03:29Z")
But at the end of the day, I don’t really care, as long as we can remove the danger, I am happy.
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### Author:  [@Decorbuz](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Decorbuz)
#### Post date: [1 במרץ, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/46 "2022-03-01T18:23:19Z")
> [@Noah](#):
>
> I don’t really care, as long as we can remove the danger, I am happy.
Of course, but I think we could easily turn this situation around.
* * *
> [@sam](#):
>
> the feature as it stands is already problematic cause the “ping” gives you absolutely no context of why you are being pinged
Hence, my proposal. 🙂
> [@Decorbuz](#):
>
> I think it might be more useful if it allows you to attach a response.
We could go with this approach.
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [1 במרץ, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notify-feature-can-be-easily-abused/219497/47 "2022-03-01T18:45:19Z")
Could that approach be open to abuse? Would there be a record of what is written there for moderation? (ie. How easily could it be used to send ‘secret’ messages)
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