The Notification Bell
The bell is your in-app inbox. It stays at the top of the screen as you move around Arketic, so you never have to go looking for what changed while you were working.
Where to Find It
| Device | Where the bell is |
|---|---|
| Computer | A bell button fixed at the top right of the screen. It stays there as you move between pages — Chat, Tasks, Documents, Settings and so on |
| Phone | In the top bar, on the right. The menu button is on the left of the same bar |
On a computer the bell is hidden while the workflow editor is open, so it does not cover the editor's own buttons in that corner. Leave the editor to see it again. Notifications that arrive in the meantime are waiting for you in the panel.
The Unread Badge
A small red badge on the bell tells you how many notifications you haven't read yet.
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| No badge | You have no unread notifications |
A number (for example 3) | That many notifications are waiting for you |
99+ | You have more than 99 unread notifications |
The badge counts unread notifications, not all notifications. Once you read them, the badge goes down — and disappears completely when nothing is left unread.
When a new notification arrives, the bell swings once, so you notice it without having to keep an eye on the corner of the screen. If you have reduced motion turned on in your device settings, the animation is skipped.
Opening and Closing the Panel
- Click the bell icon.
- The notification panel opens just below it, headed Notifications.
- Click the bell again, or anywhere outside the panel, to close it.
What Each Notification Shows
Every row in the panel is one notification, and it gives you enough to decide whether to act now or later.
| Part of the row | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Colored icon | A quick visual cue for the kind of event — an assignment, a comment, an approval, an SLA alert, and so on |
| Title | The main line — what happened and which item it concerns |
| Detail line | An optional short line under the title. For comments and @mentions, this is the beginning of the comment text |
| Timestamp | How long ago it happened, shown on the right |
| Highlight | Unread notifications sit on a light blue background; ones you have already read look plain |
Titles and detail lines follow your interface language. The exceptions are the parts people wrote themselves — a task name, the text of a comment, or a message a workflow was set up to send. Notifications created before the interface was translated may still appear in English.
Reading the Timestamps
Times are shown as how long ago the event happened, not as a full date:
| Timestamp | Meaning |
|---|---|
now | Less than a minute ago |
5m | 5 minutes ago |
3h | 3 hours ago |
2d | 2 days ago |
Opening a Notification
Click a notification row to go to what it is about.
| The notification is about | What happens when you click it |
|---|---|
| A task — an assignment, a comment or @mention, an approval, a completed or cancelled task, a new subtask | In most cases that task opens directly, so you can act on it right away |
| An SLA alert, a deadline or reminder, a blueprint step, a process or a service request — and some task approval requests | You are taken to the Tasks area to continue from there |
| A workflow approval — "Your approval is needed: …" or its reminder | The approval page opens, where you give your answer. See Approvals in Workflows |
| A cross-department request, or anything else with no link | Nothing opens. For a cross-department request, go to the Approvals tab under Tasks |
Clicking a notification also marks that single notification as read and closes the panel, whether or not it opens something.
Task and request notifications open Tasks only when Tasks is part of your organization's package and you have access to it. If it is not, the notification stays in your list and is marked as read, but nothing opens. Workflow approvals are not affected — they always open the approval page.
Marking Everything as Read
When you have at least one unread notification, a Mark all as read link appears in the top-right corner of the panel header.
Click it to mark every unread notification as read — not just the ones currently visible in the list. The badge on the bell disappears.
The Mark all as read link is only shown when something is actually unread. If you don't see it, you are already fully caught up.
Loading Older Notifications
The panel loads your 20 most recent notifications first and brings in older ones as you ask for them.
- Scroll down inside the panel to reach the end of the current list.
- If there are older notifications, a Load more button appears at the bottom. It also tells you how many are still waiting — for example Load more (42 remaining).
- While the next batch is being fetched, the button reads Loading….
- When the button no longer appears, you have reached the end of your notification list.
When There's Nothing to Show
If you have no notifications at all, the panel simply says No notifications.
This is normal for a brand new account, or after a quiet period. As soon as something happens that concerns you, it will appear here.
What You Can Do With a Notification
The bell panel is deliberately simple. These are the actions available:
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Open the related item | Click the notification row |
| Mark one as read | Happens automatically when you click the row |
| Mark everything as read | Click Mark all as read in the panel header |
There is no delete, snooze, or archive option for individual notifications, and no separate notifications page — the bell panel is the full picture.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to try |
|---|---|
| I can't see the bell | On a computer it is hidden while the workflow editor is open. Go back to the workflow list or any other page |
| The badge won't clear | Open the panel and click Mark all as read — this clears everything at once, including notifications further down the list |
| I can't find Mark all as read | It only appears when you have at least one unread notification |
| Clicking a notification didn't open a specific item | Only task notifications open a single item. Others take you to the Tasks area, and a few — such as a cross-department request — open nothing. The task may also have been deleted |
| Clicking a task notification opened nothing | Tasks may not be part of your organization's package, or you may not have access to it. Ask your administrator |
| The panel is empty but I expected notifications | Check that the notification groups you care about are still switched on in Notification Preferences — and note that an administrator can turn a group off for the whole organization |
| I want fewer notifications in the bell | Turn off the groups you don't need in Notification Preferences; this stops both the in-app and the email notifications in that group |
Related Pages
- Notifications Overview — what triggers a notification and how email fits in
- Notification Preferences — choose which notification groups you receive
- Task Details — comments and @mentions, the source of many of your notifications
- Approvals in Workflows — answering a workflow's approval request