Question

What are notifications on Socratic and how do they work?

Answer 1

Notifications deliver the activity on Socratic that's relevant to you, such as thanks or @mentions, to you when it matters most.

Explanation:

There's a lot going on around Socratic! It's important that you can easily read and respond to the happenings that involve you.

What will I get notified about?

There are two types of events you'll get notified about: events that you should reply to (because you're a helpful person!) and events that are nice to read, but probably don't require a reply. Here are the specifics:

Stuff to reply to:

• An @mention
• A comment beneath an answer you wrote or contributed to (maybe someone needs help)
• A comment on a specific paragraph in an answer you wrote or contributed to (it's very likely someone needs help!)

Stuff to read:

• Thanks on answers you've contributed to (aka hearts)
• Thank-you notes on answers you've contributed to
• Edits to an answer you contributed to
• Likes on a comment you made

Where will I be notified about stuff?

Two places:

• The bell next to your profile pic when you're logged in
• Your email inbox

We've added smart rules so that, whenever possible, you don't get notified in both places about the same event. That is, when you're on the site, you'll only be notified via your bell; when you're away, you'll get an email instead.

What do notifications look like?

When you have on-site notifications, your bell will light up (ring ring!). You'll see your priority notifications at the top and everything else at the bottom:

If the bell lights up with a number, that tells you how many "important" notifications are waiting for you, otherwise you can expect normal updates.

As you can see, an @mention and a comment made it into my "important" category, whereas a simple update lives beneath "other."

Hopefully, this organization will help you find & respond to what matters most as you make learning easier on Socratic.

Let us know what you think in the comments!