Why Some Notifications Show “Former Contributor”

If you’ve ever noticed a notification in STAPLE that includes someone’s name followed by “(former contributor)”, you might have wondered why. Especially if that person is still active in the project — or was re-added later.

This post explains what that label means, and why it’s intentional.

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Notifications are a record of what happened, when it happened

In STAPLE, notifications are treated as a historical activity log, not a live view of the current project roster.

That means notifications reflect: • who performed an action • at the time the action occurred

They do not update retroactively when project membership changes.

This is similar to how: • Git commit history works • Issue comments work on GitHub • Activity logs work in project management tools

History stays history.

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What happens when someone leaves a project

When a contributor is removed from a project: • Their name is anonymized elsewhere in the app (for example, in current member lists) • Past notifications remain readable and accurate • To avoid confusion, STAPLE adds a small note to older notifications:

(former contributor)

This simply means:

“This person was part of the project when this action happened, but later left the project.”

Nothing more, nothing less.

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What if the person is re-added later?

Good question — and yes, this happens!

When someone is re-added to a project: • A new notification is created saying they were added again • Any new activity going forward appears under their name normally • Older notifications are not changed

So you might see: • Older notifications marked “former contributor” • Newer notifications showing them as an active contributor

This reflects reality: the person had multiple membership periods in the project.

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Why we don’t “fix” old notifications

It might seem tempting to clean up older notifications when someone rejoins — but doing so would rewrite history.

STAPLE is designed to support: • transparency • accountability • long-running, collaborative research projects

Preserving an accurate timeline matters more than making everything look uniform.

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The short version • Notifications show what happened at the time • “Former contributor” provides context, not judgment • Re-adding someone creates a new event — it doesn’t erase the past • This helps keep project history clear, consistent, and trustworthy

If you ever have questions about how STAPLE handles project history, we’re always happy to explain — clarity is part of good collaboration.