# Notifications and your preferences

The bell in the header holds your notifications; Notifications lists them all. Settings → Notifications lets each person choose which channels they are told on — in the app, by email, or by push to the mobile app — for each kind of notification, and whether to get them straight away, in batches or as a digest, with optional quiet hours. Everyone has these settings, organisation and agency staff alike. SMS is shown but cannot be switched on.

## Where do notifications appear?

**The bell** in the header shows your latest notifications and how many are unread. **View all** opens the full list; **Preferences** opens your settings. If your browser has not yet been asked, the bell offers **Enable**, which lets this browser pop up an alert when a notification arrives while ShiftTracker is open.

**Notifications** — *Stay updated with important activity* — lists them all:

- **Total**, **Unread** and, when there are any, **Urgent** counts.
- **All**, **Unread** and **Urgent** tabs, and **Search by title, message, or type…**.
- Click a notification to open what it is about. Each can be marked read or deleted.
- **Mark all read** clears the unread count; **Refresh** reloads the list.

With nothing to show, it reads *No notifications yet*.

## How do I choose what I'm told about?

Go to **Settings → Notifications**, or **Notification Preferences** in your account menu. Every role has it. Change what you like, then press **Save Changes**.

![Settings → Notifications for an Admin on the defaults — Customize how and when you receive notifications — with Save Changes. Notification Channels: In-App Notifications (Notifications in the bell icon), Email Notifications and Push Notifications switched on, and SMS Notifications — Text messages for urgent alerts — marked Not Configured and switched off. Notification Types has a switch per channel for each type: Request Created, Request Shared, Proposal Submitted, Assignment Confirmed, Assignment Cancelled and Missed Check Calls on for in-app, email and push; Information and Success Messages on for in-app only; Warnings and Errors on for in-app, email and push; the SMS column greyed out. Frequency & Timing shows Notification Frequency set to Instant — Receive notifications immediately — and Quiet Hours switched off.](/docs/img/settings-notifications.png)

### Channels

| Channel | Goes to |
|---|---|
| **In-App Notifications** | The bell and the **Notifications** page |
| **Email Notifications** | Your account's email address |
| **Push Notifications** | The ShiftTracker mobile app, on each device you have signed in to. The screen calls it browser push, but nothing is sent to a browser on this channel |
| **SMS Notifications** | Nothing. It is marked **Not Configured** and cannot be switched on |

Switching a channel off stops everything on it, whatever the types below say.

### Types

**Notification Types** has a switch per channel for each kind of notification. Which types are listed depends on your role:

| Type | Listed for |
|---|---|
| **Request Created**, **Proposal Submitted** | Admin, Manager, Control |
| **Request Shared** | Admin, Manager, Control, Agency Admin |
| **Missed Check Calls** | Admin, Manager, Control, Employee |
| **Shift Broadcasts** | Employee, Agency Coordinator |
| **Check Call Reminders** | Employee |
| **Assignment Confirmed**, **Assignment Cancelled**, **Information**, **Success Messages**, **Warnings**, **Errors** | Everyone |

A type that is not listed for you is still sent, on the channels' defaults — you just cannot change it here.

If your organisation publishes its roster as drafts, staff are told about a shift when it is published, not when it is written. Each person gets one message per publish. See [Publish the roster](/docs/organisation/publish-the-roster).

### Frequency and quiet hours

**Notification Frequency**:

| Choice | Means |
|---|---|
| **Instant** — the default | Each notification as it happens |
| **Hourly Batch**, **Daily Batch** | Grouped, and sent together every hour or once a day |
| **Daily Digest**, **Weekly Digest** | A summary email once a day, at the **Digest Time** you set, or once a week on the **Digest Day** |

Urgent notifications are always sent straight away, whatever you choose.

**Quiet Hours** sets a **Start Time** and **End Time** in the **Timezone** you give. **Allow high priority during quiet hours** lets urgent ones through.

Quiet hours do not hold notifications until morning. A non-urgent notification raised during them is not delivered at all — not by email or push, and not to the bell either. Keep that in mind before switching them on for a role that has to act on what it is told.

## Related

- [Monitor check calls](/docs/organisation/monitor-check-calls) — what raises a missed check-call alert
- [Broadcast open shifts and approve applications](/docs/organisation/broadcast-open-shifts)
- [Publish the roster](/docs/organisation/publish-the-roster)
- [Document expiry alerts](/docs/organisation/document-expiry-alerts)