# Mention people and ask them something

An @mention to point someone at an item, or a request that needs an answer.

Two ways to get someone's attention on an item. An @mention says "look here". A request asks for something specific, and tracks the answer.

## 1. Mention someone

1. Open the item and click in the comment box.
2. Type **@**. A list of the people on the board opens.
3. Pick a name with the arrow keys and Enter, or click it, and post the comment.

The person gets a **Mention** row in For you, an email and, when turned on, a notification. You can mention the board's owner and its guests, up to 20 people in one comment. Mentions work in comments and replies, not in the description.

## 2. Ask someone

1. Open the item and click **Ask someone** at the bottom of the item window. It shows once someone else is on the board. In a narrow window it is in the **...** menu.
2. Pick **Who** and **What**: **Do this**, **Look at this**, **Question** or **Approve**.
3. Add a due date under **By** (a Do this needs one) and write the request in a sentence or two.
4. Click **Send**. The person gets it in For you and by email.

You can also turn a comment into a request: in the comment's **⋯** menu, choose **Turn into a request**. Or tell your AI, for example `Ask Sara to check the brief before Friday`; its request waits in the board's Inbox until you accept it.

![The Ask someone form in the item window](https://listspace.app/help-images/guide-ask-someone-light.webp "Ask someone: who, what kind, by when, and the request")

## 3. Answer, and follow up

1. Requests for you are rows in **For you**, with buttons for their kind: **Accept** and **Done**, **Reply**, **Comment**, **Approve** or **Reject**, **Decline**, or **Pass on** to someone else on the board.
2. Every answer becomes a comment on the item, and the sender gets an email.
3. What you sent and wait for is under **Waiting on others** in For you.

An **Approve** request can also be answered from the email, without signing in. The link works once, for 7 days.

![For you, with the Needs you and Waiting on others tabs and a request waiting](https://listspace.app/help-images/guide-for-you-light.webp "For you: what needs you, and what you wait for")

## Who can send what

The board's owner and guests with Edit access can send all four kinds; guests with Comment access a question or a "look at this". Guests with View access answer requests, and send none.

## Help articles this guide uses

- [Ask someone on your board](https://listspace.app/help/ask-someone-on-your-board)
- [For you: what needs you](https://listspace.app/help/for-you)
- [Guests on a board](https://listspace.app/help/guests-on-a-board)

This guide as a web page: https://listspace.app/guides/mention-people-and-ask-them-something. All guides: https://listspace.app/guides.