Managing notifications

Notifications live behind the bell in the top navigation. The number on the bell is your unread count; open the bell to read them, and select “View all notifications” for the full history.

You have three levels of control: snooze everything for a while, turn off one type, or set each type in Preferences.

Snooze the badge

Open the bell and select Snooze. This quiets the unread count so you stop being nudged. Your notifications are still created and still listed when you open the bell, so you do not lose anything. Select Unsnooze to bring the count back.

Snooze is the right choice when you want a quiet stretch without changing what you receive.

Turn off one type from the notification

Many notifications carry a “Turn these off” link, right on the notification in the bell menu and on the full notifications page. Select it to stop receiving that whole category. For example, turning it off on a feedback request stops feedback-request notifications.

This is the fastest way to silence a category you do not want. You can switch it back on any time in Preferences.

Set each type in Preferences

For full control, open Preferences and go to Notifications. There you can turn individual types on or off and choose whether each arrives in-site, by email, or as a browser push:

• Feedback exchange. This is the reciprocal queue: being in it lets you request reads and makes you available to review others. Turning it off removes you from both. See Peer feedback.
• Comments and replies on your work
• Reactions
• Direct feedback requests from people who follow you
• Competition announcements
• Direct messages
• Exquisite Corpse invitations, on the Games tab

Results and placements for competitions you entered always send, so you never miss the outcome of something you are part of.

You first set most of these when you create your account, so your starting choices already match what you asked for. Preferences is where you adjust them later.

Email

Email settings live in Preferences, under Notifications, on the Email tab. You decide what reaches your inbox: the digest, site updates and announcements, feedback requests, and writing reminders. Turn any of them on or off on its own. The digest can arrive weekly or monthly, whichever cadence you set, and if your account goes quiet for a while a gentle re-engagement note folds in to catch you up.

Writing reminders are off until you turn them on. Switch them on and pick how often you want a nudge back to the page: daily, a few times a week, weekly, or occasionally. A reminder arrives only when you have gone quiet for that long, never on a day you already wrote, so it stays a nudge and never a pester. Change the cadence or turn it off any time, right here on the Email tab.

To stop email altogether, switch on “Unsubscribe from all non-essential emails.” That one toggle turns off every non-essential email at once: digests, announcements, feedback requests, invites, and nudges.

You can also unsubscribe straight from any email, without signing in. Every non-essential email carries an Unsubscribe link in its footer, and most mail apps show their own Unsubscribe button at the top. Either one stops all non-essential email in a single click, and you can resubscribe from the same page whenever you want.

A few emails always send, because your account depends on them: password resets, email verification, billing and subscription notices, and legal updates. Unsubscribing never touches those.

See also: Peer feedback, Your profile.