diff --git a/include/dbstructure.php b/include/dbstructure.php
index 1b414c70fb..4b2cdb251c 100644
--- a/include/dbstructure.php
+++ b/include/dbstructure.php
@@ -672,6 +672,8 @@ function db_definition() {
 					"nsfw" => array("type" => "tinyint(1)", "not null" => "1", "default" => "0"),
 					"network" => array("type" => "varchar(255)", "not null" => "1", "default" => ""),
 					"addr" => array("type" => "varchar(255)", "not null" => "1", "default" => ""),
+					"notify" => array("type" => "text", "not null" => "1"),
+					"alias" => array("type" => "varchar(255)", "not null" => "1", "default" => ""),
 					"generation" => array("type" => "tinyint(3)", "not null" => "1", "default" => "0"),
 					"server_url" => array("type" => "varchar(255)", "not null" => "1", "default" => ""),
 					),
diff --git a/include/socgraph.php b/include/socgraph.php
index a9cbedd667..0082cb43b2 100644
--- a/include/socgraph.php
+++ b/include/socgraph.php
@@ -227,6 +227,8 @@ function poco_check($profile_url, $name, $network, $profile_photo, $about, $loca
 		$server_url = $x[0]["server_url"];
 		$nick = $x[0]["nick"];
 		$addr = $x[0]["addr"];
+		$alias =  $x[0]["alias"];
+		$notify =  $x[0]["notify"];
 	} else {
 		$created = "0000-00-00 00:00:00";
 		$server_url = "";
@@ -234,6 +236,8 @@ function poco_check($profile_url, $name, $network, $profile_photo, $about, $loca
 		$urlparts = parse_url($profile_url);
 		$nick = end(explode("/", $urlparts["path"]));
 		$addr = "";
+		$alias = "";
+		$notify = "";
 	}
 
 	if ((($network == "") OR ($name == "") OR ($addr == "") OR ($profile_photo == "") OR ($server_url == "") OR $alternate)
@@ -246,6 +250,8 @@ function poco_check($profile_url, $name, $network, $profile_photo, $about, $loca
 		$name = $data["name"];
 		$nick = $data["nick"];
 		$addr = $data["addr"];
+		$alias = $data["alias"];
+		$notify = $data["notify"];
 		$profile_url = $data["url"];
 		$profile_photo = $data["photo"];
 		$server_url = $data["baseurl"];
@@ -301,12 +307,19 @@ function poco_check($profile_url, $name, $network, $profile_photo, $about, $loca
 		if (($addr == "") AND ($x[0]['addr'] != ""))
 			$addr = $x[0]['addr'];
 
+		if (($alias == "") AND ($x[0]['alias'] != ""))
+			$alias = $x[0]['alias'];
+
+		if (($notify == "") AND ($x[0]['notify'] != ""))
+			$notify = $x[0]['notify'];
+
 		if (($generation == 0) AND ($x[0]['generation'] > 0))
 			$generation = $x[0]['generation'];
 
 		if($x[0]['name'] != $name || $x[0]['photo'] != $profile_photo || $x[0]['updated'] < $updated) {
 			q("UPDATE `gcontact` SET `name` = '%s', `addr` = '%s', `network` = '%s', `photo` = '%s', `connect` = '%s', `url` = '%s', `server_url` = '%s',
-				`updated` = '%s', `location` = '%s', `about` = '%s', `keywords` = '%s', `gender` = '%s', `generation` = %d
+				`updated` = '%s', `location` = '%s', `about` = '%s', `keywords` = '%s', `gender` = '%s', `generation` = %d,
+				`alias` = '$s', `notify` = '%s'
 				WHERE (`generation` >= %d OR `generation` = 0) AND `nurl` = '%s'",
 				dbesc($name),
 				dbesc($addr),
@@ -320,6 +333,8 @@ function poco_check($profile_url, $name, $network, $profile_photo, $about, $loca
 				dbesc($about),
 				dbesc($keywords),
 				dbesc($gender),
+				dbesc($alias),
+				dbesc($notify),
 				intval($generation),
 				intval($generation),
 				dbesc(normalise_link($profile_url))
@@ -331,8 +346,8 @@ function poco_check($profile_url, $name, $network, $profile_photo, $about, $loca
 			dbesc(normalise_link($profile_url))
 		);
 		if(!$x) {
-			q("INSERT INTO `gcontact` (`name`, `nick`, `addr`, `network`, `url`, `nurl`, `photo`, `connect`, `server_url`, `created`, `updated`, `location`, `about`, `keywords`, `gender`, `generation`)
-				VALUES ('%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', %d)",
+			q("INSERT INTO `gcontact` (`name`, `nick`, `addr`, `network`, `url`, `nurl`, `photo`, `connect`, `server_url`, `created`, `updated`, `location`, `about`, `keywords`, `gender`, `alias`, `notify`, `generation`)
+				VALUES ('%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', %d)",
 				dbesc($name),
 				dbesc($nick),
 				dbesc($addr),
@@ -348,6 +363,8 @@ function poco_check($profile_url, $name, $network, $profile_photo, $about, $loca
 				dbesc($about),
 				dbesc($keywords),
 				dbesc($gender),
+				dbesc($alias),
+				dbesc($notify),
 				intval($generation)
 			);
 			$x = q("SELECT `id` FROM `gcontact` WHERE `nurl` = '%s' LIMIT 1",
@@ -1536,7 +1553,7 @@ function update_gcontact($contact) {
 	if (!$gcontact_id)
 		return false;
 
-	$r = q("SELECT `name`, `nick`, `photo`, `location`, `about`, `addr`, `generation`, `birthday`, `gender`, `keywords`, `hide`, `nsfw`, `network`
+	$r = q("SELECT `name`, `nick`, `photo`, `location`, `about`, `addr`, `generation`, `birthday`, `gender`, `keywords`, `hide`, `nsfw`, `network`, `alias`, `notify`
 		FROM `gcontact` WHERE `id` = %d LIMIT 1",
 		intval($gcontact_id));
 
@@ -1579,22 +1596,30 @@ function update_gcontact($contact) {
 	if ($contact["network"] =="")
 		$contact["network"] = $r[0]["network"];
 
+	if ($contact["alias"] =="")
+		$contact["alias"] = $r[0]["alias"];
+
+	if ($contact["notify"] =="")
+		$contact["notify"] = $r[0]["notify"];
+
 	if ($contact["network"] == NETWORK_STATUSNET)
 		$contact["network"] = NETWORK_OSTATUS;
 
 	if (($contact["photo"] != $r[0]["photo"]) OR ($contact["name"] != $r[0]["name"]) OR ($contact["nick"] != $r[0]["nick"]) OR ($contact["addr"] != $r[0]["addr"]) OR
 		($contact["birthday"] != $r[0]["birthday"]) OR ($contact["gender"] != $r[0]["gender"]) OR ($contact["keywords"] != $r[0]["keywords"]) OR
 		($contact["hide"] != $r[0]["hide"]) OR ($contact["nsfw"] != $r[0]["nsfw"]) OR ($contact["network"] != $r[0]["network"]) OR
+		($contact["alias"] != $r[0]["alias"]) OR ($contact["notify"] != $r[0]["notify"]) OR
 		($contact["location"] != $r[0]["location"]) OR ($contact["about"] != $r[0]["about"]) OR ($contact["generation"] < $r[0]["generation"])) {
 
 		q("UPDATE `gcontact` SET `photo` = '%s', `name` = '%s', `nick` = '%s', `addr` = '%s', `network` = '%s',
 					`birthday` = '%s', `gender` = '%s', `keywords` = %d, `hide` = %d, `nsfw` = %d,
+					`alias` = '%s', `notify` = '%s',
 					`location` = '%s', `about` = '%s', `generation` = %d, `updated` = '%s'
 				WHERE `nurl` = '%s' AND (`generation` = 0 OR `generation` >= %d)",
 			dbesc($contact["photo"]), dbesc($contact["name"]), dbesc($contact["nick"]),
 			dbesc($contact["addr"]), dbesc($contact["network"]),
 			dbesc($contact["birthday"]), dbesc($contact["gender"]), dbesc($contact["keywords"]),
-			intval($contact["hide"]), intval($contact["nsfw"]),
+			intval($contact["hide"]), intval($contact["nsfw"]), dbesc($contact["alias"]), dbesc($contact["notify"]),
 			dbesc($contact["location"]), dbesc($contact["about"]), intval($contact["generation"]), dbesc(datetime_convert()),
 			dbesc(normalise_link($contact["url"])), intval($contact["generation"]));
 	}
diff --git a/mod/display.php b/mod/display.php
index c173c5a912..6ff599e2c7 100644
--- a/mod/display.php
+++ b/mod/display.php
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ function display_fetchauthor($a, $item) {
 	}
 
 	// Fetching profile data from global contacts
+	// @todo: should override everything else (but not Feeds)
 	$r = q("SELECT `photo`, `nick`, `addr`, `location`, `about`, `gender` FROM `gcontact` WHERE `nurl` = '%s'", dbesc(normalise_link($profiledata["url"])));
 	if (count($r)) {
 		if ($profiledata["photo"] == "")
diff --git a/mod/item.php b/mod/item.php
index 2d2a5710fe..56c5ccad95 100644
--- a/mod/item.php
+++ b/mod/item.php
@@ -137,15 +137,25 @@ function item_post(&$a) {
 				AND (normalise_link($parent_contact["url"]) != normalise_link($thrparent[0]["author-link"]))) {
 				$parent_contact = null;
 
-				// @todo: Use gcontact
-				require_once("include/Scrape.php");
-				$probed_contact = probe_url($thrparent[0]["author-link"]);
-				if ($probed_contact["network"] != NETWORK_FEED) {
-					$parent_contact = $probed_contact;
-					$parent_contact["nurl"] = normalise_link($probed_contact["url"]);
-					$parent_contact["thumb"] = $probed_contact["photo"];
-					$parent_contact["micro"] = $probed_contact["photo"];
-					$parent_contact["addr"] = $probed_contact["addr"];
+				$r = q("SELECT * FROM `gcontact` WHERE `nurl` = '%s' LIMIT 1",
+					dbesc(normalise_link($thrparent[0]["author-link"])));
+				if (count($r)) {
+					$parent_contact = $r[0];
+					$parent_contact["thumb"] = $parent_contact["photo"];
+					$parent_contact["micro"] = $parent_contact["photo"];
+					unset($parent_contact["id"]);
+				}
+
+				if (!isset($parent_contact["nick"])) {
+					require_once("include/Scrape.php");
+					$probed_contact = probe_url($thrparent[0]["author-link"]);
+					if ($probed_contact["network"] != NETWORK_FEED) {
+						$parent_contact = $probed_contact;
+						$parent_contact["nurl"] = normalise_link($probed_contact["url"]);
+						$parent_contact["thumb"] = $probed_contact["photo"];
+						$parent_contact["micro"] = $probed_contact["photo"];
+						$parent_contact["addr"] = $probed_contact["addr"];
+					}
 				}
 				logger('no contact found: '.print_r($thrparent, true), LOGGER_DEBUG);
 			} else
@@ -1062,6 +1072,8 @@ function item_content(&$a) {
  * @return boolean true if replaced, false if not replaced
  */
 function handle_tag($a, &$body, &$inform, &$str_tags, $profile_uid, $tag, $network = "") {
+	require_once("include/Scrape.php");
+	require_once("include/socgraph.php");
 
 	$replaced = false;
 	$r = null;
@@ -1096,10 +1108,112 @@ function handle_tag($a, &$body, &$inform, &$str_tags, $profile_uid, $tag, $netwo
 		$stat = false;
 		//get the person's name
 		$name = substr($tag,1);
+
+		// Try to detect the contact in various ways
+		if ((strpos($name,'@')) || (strpos($name,'http://'))) {
+			// Is it in format @user@domain.tld or @http://domain.tld/...?
+
+			// First check the contact table for the address
+			$r = q("SELECT `id`, `url`, `nick`, `name`, `alias`, `network`, `notify` FROM `contact` WHERE `addr` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
+					dbesc($name),
+					intval($profile_uid)
+			);
+
+			// Then check in the contact table for the url
+			if (!$r)
+				$r = q("SELECT `id`, `url`, `nick`, `name`, `alias`, `notify`, `network` FROM `contact` WHERE `nurl` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
+						dbesc(normalise_link($name)),
+						intval($profile_uid)
+				);
+
+			// Then check in the global contacts for the address
+			if (!$r)
+				$r = q("SELECT `url`, `name`, `nick`, `network`, `alias`, `notify` FROM `gcontact` WHERE `addr` = '%s' LIMIT 1", dbesc($name));
+
+			// Then check in the global contacts for the url
+			if (!$r)
+				$r = q("SELECT `url`, `name`, `nick`, `network`, `alias`, `notify` FROM `gcontact` WHERE `nurl` = '%s' LIMIT 1", dbesc(normalise_link($name)));
+
+			// If the data isn't complete then refetch the data
+			if ($r AND ($r[0]["network"] == NETWORK_OSTATUS) AND (($r[0]["notify"] == "") OR ($r[0]["alias"] == "")))
+				$r = false;
+
+			if (!$r) {
+				$probed = probe_url($name);
+				if (isset($probed["url"])) {
+					update_gcontact($probed);
+					$r = q("SELECT `url`, `name`, `nick`, `network`, `alias`, `notify` FROM `gcontact` WHERE `nurl` = '%s' LIMIT 1",
+						dbesc(normalise_link($probed["url"])));
+				}
+			}
+		} elseif (!$r) {
+			$newname = str_replace('_',' ',$name);
+			$r = false;
+			if (strrpos($name,'+')) {
+				// Is it in format @nick+number?
+				$tagcid = intval(substr($name,strrpos($name,'+') + 1));
+
+				$r = q("SELECT `id`, `url`, `nick`, `name`, `alias`, `network` FROM `contact` WHERE `id` = %d AND `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
+						intval($tagcid),
+						intval($profile_uid)
+				);
+			}
+
+			//select someone by attag or nick and the name passed in the current network
+			if(!$r AND ($network != ""))
+				$r = q("SELECT `id`, `url`, `nick`, `name`, `alias`, `network` FROM `contact` WHERE `attag` = '%s' OR `nick` = '%s' AND `network` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d ORDER BY `attag` DESC LIMIT 1",
+						dbesc($name),
+						dbesc($name),
+						dbesc($network),
+						intval($profile_uid)
+				);
+
+			//select someone from this user's contacts by name in the current network
+			if (!$r AND ($network != ""))
+				$r = q("SELECT `id`, `url`, `nick`, `name`, `alias`, `network` FROM `contact` WHERE `name` = '%s' AND `network` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
+						dbesc($newname),
+						dbesc($network),
+						intval($profile_uid)
+				);
+
+			//select someone by attag or nick and the name passed in
+			if(!$r)
+				$r = q("SELECT `id`, `url`, `nick`, `name`, `alias`, `network` FROM `contact` WHERE `attag` = '%s' OR `nick` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d ORDER BY `attag` DESC LIMIT 1",
+						dbesc($name),
+						dbesc($name),
+						intval($profile_uid)
+				);
+
+
+			//select someone from this user's contacts by name
+			if(!$r)
+				$r = q("SELECT `id`, `url`, `nick`, `name`, `alias`, `network` FROM `contact` WHERE `name` = '%s' AND `uid` = %d LIMIT 1",
+						dbesc($newname),
+						intval($profile_uid)
+				);
+		}
+
+		if ($r) {
+			if(strlen($inform) AND (isset($r[0]["notify"]) OR isset($r[0]["id"])))
+				$inform .= ',';
+
+			if (isset($r[0]["id"]))
+				$inform .= 'cid:' . $r[0]["id"];
+			elseif (isset($r[0]["notify"]))
+				$inform  .= $r[0]["notify"];
+
+			$profile = $r[0]["url"];
+			$alias   = $r[0]["alias"];
+			$newname = $r[0]["nick"];
+			if (($newname == "") OR (($r[0]["network"] != NETWORK_OSTATUS) AND ($r[0]["network"] != NETWORK_TWITTER)
+				AND ($r[0]["network"] != NETWORK_STATUSNET) AND ($r[0]["network"] != NETWORK_APPNET)))
+				$newname = $r[0]["name"];
+		}
+
+/*
 		//is it a link or a full dfrn address?
 		if((strpos($name,'@')) || (strpos($name,'http://'))) {
 			$newname = $name;
-
 			//get the profile links
 			$links = @lrdd($name);
 			if(count($links)) {
@@ -1176,6 +1290,8 @@ function handle_tag($a, &$body, &$inform, &$str_tags, $profile_uid, $tag, $netwo
 					);
 				}
 			}
+*/
+
 /*			} elseif(strstr($name,'_') || strstr($name,' ')) { //no id
 				//get the real name
 				$newname = str_replace('_',' ',$name);
@@ -1192,6 +1308,8 @@ function handle_tag($a, &$body, &$inform, &$str_tags, $profile_uid, $tag, $netwo
 						intval($profile_uid)
 				);
 			}*/
+
+/*
 			//$r is set, if someone could be selected
 			if(count($r)) {
 				$profile = $r[0]['url'];
@@ -1211,29 +1329,10 @@ function handle_tag($a, &$body, &$inform, &$str_tags, $profile_uid, $tag, $netwo
 				$inform .= 'cid:' . $r[0]['id'];
 			}
 		}
-
-		if(!isset($profile)) {
-			$r = q("SELECT `url` FROM `gcontact` WHERE `addr` = '%s' LIMIT 1",
-				dbesc($name));
-			if ($r)
-				$profile = $r[0]["url"];
-		}
-
+*/
 		//if there is an url for this persons profile
 		if(isset($profile)) {
 
-			$r = q("SELECT `nick`, `name`, `network` FROM `gcontact` WHERE `nurl` = '%s' LIMIT 1",
-				dbesc(normalise_link($profile)));
-			if ($r) {
-				$newname = $r[0]["name"];
-
-				//set newname to nick
-				if(($r[0]['network'] === NETWORK_OSTATUS) OR ($r[0]['network'] === NETWORK_TWITTER)
-					OR ($r[0]['network'] === NETWORK_STATUSNET) OR ($r[0]['network'] === NETWORK_APPNET)) {
-					$newname = $r[0]['nick'];
-				}
-			}
-
 			$replaced = true;
 			//create profile link
 			$profile = str_replace(',','%2c',$profile);