Notifications

Notifications tell you when something on Underground Aquarium involves you: a reply, a like, a trophy, a shop update and so on. They live behind the bell in the top bar and on the Notifications page. You need to be signed in to get them.

Where is the bell?

The bell is in the top bar whenever you're signed in.

• On a computer, click it to open a panel with your latest notifications.
• On a phone, tapping the bell takes you straight to the Notifications page.

Signed-out visitors don't see a bell.

What does the number on the bell mean?

The red badge counts notifications that arrived since you last opened the bell or the Notifications page. It shows up to 9, then "9+".

Opening the bell (or visiting the Notifications page) clears the badge, but it doesn't mark anything as read. Unread notifications stay bold with a blue dot until you open them or mark them read. So the badge is "new since you last looked", and bold is "not opened yet".

Does the bell update by itself?

Yes. New notifications appear in the bell as they arrive, without refreshing the page. The bell also checks again every minute and whenever you come back to the tab.

When a new one arrives while you have the site open, you'll hear a soft water "bloop". Browsers only allow the sound after you've clicked or typed on the page at least once.

What's in the bell panel?

The panel (computers) shows your 20 most recent notifications:

• All and Unread tabs. Unread shows a count, like "Unread (3)".
• New (unread) at the top, then Earlier (already read).
• Mark all as read, when you have unread ones.
• A gear icon that opens your notification settings.
• See all notifications at the bottom, which opens the full page.

Click a notification to open the page it's about. That also marks it read. If you have none, it says "You're all caught up." (or "No unread notifications." on the Unread tab).

What's on the Notifications page?

The Notifications page shows your 30 most recent notifications, grouped under Today, Yesterday, This week and Earlier. From here you can:

• switch between All and Unread
• filter by kind with chips like Everything, Feed, Forums, Trophies, Society and Shops (chips only appear when you have more than one kind)
• Mark all as read
• Clear read, which asks "Remove every notification you've already read?" and then deletes them
• click Show older notifications at the bottom to load 30 more at a time
• open Choose what you get notified about to turn kinds on or off

Empty states: "You're all caught up.", "No unread notifications." or, with a filter on, "Nothing here yet."

How do I mark one notification read or unread, or remove it?

Every notification has a … button (on computers it appears when you hover; on phones it's always visible). It opens a menu with:

• Mark as read or Mark as unread
• Remove this notification, which deletes just that one
• Turn off [kind], for kinds you're allowed to turn off (for example "Turn off forum replies"). If it's already off, it says Turn [kind] back on.

Removed notifications can't be brought back.

How do I choose which notifications I get?

1. Go to Notifications, or click the gear icon in the bell panel.
2. Open Choose what you get notified about.
3. Flip the switch next to any group. Blue is on, dark is off.

Changes save immediately. If one doesn't save you'll see "Couldn't save that. Try again."

The four Your shop switches matter only if you manage a claimed shop. Turning off a Your shop switch also stops that alert's email. See Shop notifications and emails.

What notifications can't I turn off?

Some notices always come through because they're about your account or something you asked for:

• the outcome of a report you sent
• moderation notices, like a post of yours being hidden
• account notices
• notices about species photos, species requests and breeding videos you submitted
• event notices and site news

New messages don't use the bell at all. They show as a badge on the Messages icon and in your inbox. See Message notifications.

Every kind of notification, and where it takes you

Does turning off a notification stop the email too?

Only for the four Your shop switches, which control both the in-app notice and its email. Other switches control the bell only.

For example, turning off Bubbles stops bubble notices in the bell, but you may still get a "You reached [tier]" email when you move up a tier. See Emails we send.

Turning off one kind from a notification vs. the settings switch

The Turn off … option in a notification's … menu turns off that one kind only. The switches in settings sometimes cover two kinds together. For example, Feed likes covers likes on your posts and likes on your comments.

So if you use Turn off likes from a notification, likes on your comments can still come through, and the Feed likes switch still looks on. To turn off the whole group, use the switch in Choose what you get notified about.

Common problems

The badge is gone but notifications are still bold. That's normal. Opening the bell clears the badge; bold means you haven't opened that notification yet. Use Mark all as read to clear them all.

I'm not getting any notifications. Check you're signed in and that the switch for that kind is on under Choose what you get notified about. Some things never notify: replying to your own forum thread doesn't notify you, small bubble earns (under 10) don't notify, and messages use the Messages icon instead of the bell.

I turned something off but still get it. You may have turned off only one kind from a notification's menu. Use the group switch in settings instead (see the section above). Notices that were already sent stay in your list until you remove them.

I don't hear the sound. The "bloop" only plays after you've interacted with the page, and only while the site is open in a tab. Check your device isn't muted.

Tapping a notification goes to a page that's gone. The item may have been deleted or hidden since the notification was sent. Remove the notification with … then Remove this notification.

I cleared notifications by accident. Clear read and Remove this notification are permanent. There's no undo.

The bell doesn't open on my phone. On phones the bell is a link to the full Notifications page rather than a pop-up panel.

I don't see a "Turn off" option on some notifications. Only kinds you're allowed to turn off have it. Report outcomes, moderation and account notices always come through.