Here we see two icons.
On the left, the arrow has a mousover explanation.
But on the right the mysterious bell with the “!” in it doesn’t.
The HTML is
<svg class="fa d-icon d-icon-d-watching svg-icon svg-string" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><use href="#discourse-bell-exclamation"></use></svg>
I recommend there be a regular automatic check to see that all icons have mouseover explanations.
Seen on https://community.bitwarden.com/ and many sites including meta.
Yes, bell has something to do with notification. And “!” probably means urgent or something. Or from the SVG name we see it has something to do with watching.
Wait!
I clicked it because I wanted to unwatch the thread and maybe this is what to click, I thought.
Now I see
which makes it super clear.
However, you still 100% need a mouseover.
The mousover can say “Watching - click for details”.
No, no mouseover doesn’t mean “click me to see what happens.”
It means “the developers forgot the mouseover.”
Yes, even if clicking it gives the user the grand prize.
But s/he doesn’t know that before they click it.