.. _Notifications & Preferences:

###########################
Notifications & Preferences
###########################

Notifications help you stay informed about activity in your courses. You can
view notifications on the platform or receive them by email, depending on your
preferences.

.. contents::
   :local:
   :depth: 1

.. _Where Notifications Appear:

Where Notifications Appear
===========================

Notification Tray
------------------

.. figure:: /_images/learners/Notifications_tray_screenshot.png
  :alt: Notification tray opened from the bell icon on the right side of the page header.
  :width: 600
  :align: center

  The bell icon in the top-right corner opens the notifications tray. A count
  next to the bell icon shows the number of unseen notifications.

The notification tray keeps you updated while you are browsing the site.

- Select the bell icon in the top-right corner to open the notifications tray
  with tabs such as Discussions, Updates, and Grading.
- Each notification shows the associated course, the time since it was created,
  and a red dot that indicates that it has not been clicked.
- A gear icon in the tray takes you directly to your notification preferences on
  the *Account Settings* page.

If you have more notifications than can fit in the tray, a **Load more** button
appears at the bottom. Select it to load more notifications.

Email Notifications
-------------------

.. figure:: /_images/learners/Notification_daily_email_screenshot.png
  :alt: Screenshot of a daily email digest showing a list of notifications from the past 24 hours
  :width: 400
  :align: center

  Screenshot of an email containing a daily summary of notifications from the
  past 24 hours.

Notification emails keep you informed when you are away from the platform.
Depending on your preferences, you can receive email notifications immediately
or as a daily or weekly summary.

- **Immediately:** Receive the email notification as soon as the activity happens.
- **Daily:** Receive a summary of notifications from the past 24 hours.
- **Weekly:** Receive a summary of notifications from the past 7 days.

Email summaries contain up to 5 notifications for each platform area
(Discussions, Updates, Grading). Select **View more** to see the rest in the
notification tray on the platform.

Emails include a one-click unsubscribe option to turn off email notifications
for all activity types.

.. _Activity Types:

Activity Types
================

The following table lists activities that can generate notifications, depending
on your preferences.


.. list-table::
   :header-rows: 1
   :widths: 5 15 45 20 10 10

   * - #
     - Area
     - Activity
     - Preference name
     - Tray default
     - Email default

   * - 1
     - Discussions
     - All activity on posts and responses that you have authored or follow
     - Activity notifications
     - ON
     - Daily

   * - 2
     - Discussions
     - Someone reported a post, response or comment
     - Reported content
     - ON
     - Daily

   * - 3
     - Discussions
     - Any new discussion post
     - New discussion posts
     - OFF
     - OFF

   * - 4
     - Discussions
     - Any new question post
     - New question posts
     - OFF
     - OFF

   * - 5
     - Discussions
     - Your instructor created a post and chose to notify everyone
     - New posts from instructors
     - ON
     - Daily

   * - 6
     - Updates
     - Instructor created a course update
     - Course updates
     - ON
     - Daily

   * - 7
     - Grading
     - You received a grade on your essay (ORA) submission
     - Essay assignment grade received
     - ON
     - Daily

   * - 8
     - Grading
     - A submission made for an essay (ORA) that requires staff grading
     - New ORA submission for staff grading
     - ON
     - Daily

   * - 9
     - Grading
     - You have a peer or self review step to complete for an essay assignment
     - Essay assignment reminders
     - ON
     - Daily


.. _Managing Preferences:

Managing Preferences
====================

.. figure:: /_images/learners/Notifications_preferences.png
  :alt: Preferences center on Account Settings page showing activity types and preference toggles and dropdowns.
  :width: 700
  :align: center

  You can manage notification preferences on the *Account Settings* page.

Notification preferences allow you to control which notifications you receive,
how often you receive them, and which channels they use. You can open the
preferences page from:

- The Notifications section on the *Account Settings* page.
- The gear icon in the top-right corner of the notification tray.
- The *Notification Settings* link at the bottom of notifications in email.

For each preference, you can:

- Turn tray notifications on or off.
- Turn email notifications on or off.
- Choose an email cadence: Immediately, Daily, or Weekly.


.. _Notifications Expiry:

Notifications Expiry
====================

Your site administrator may set a time limit for how long notifications remain available.
Once they reach that age, they are automatically removed from your notification tray.


.. seealso::

 :ref:`Discussions Notifications <Staying Updated with Notifications>`


**Maintenance chart**

+--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| Review Date  | Working Group Reviewer        | Release        | Test situation                 |
+--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| Jul 09, 2026 | Aamir Ayub                    | Verawood       | Pass                           |
+--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| Dec 15, 2025 | Aamir Ayub                    | Ulmo           |                                |
+--------------+-------------------------------+----------------+--------------------------------+