# No green (or red) notification bubbles
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783
**Category:** UX
**Tags:** notifications, sidebar
**Created:** [September 29, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783 "2022-09-29T21:30:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Moin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Moin)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/1 "2022-09-29T21:30:18Z")
Now there is the new notification menu and I tried again. You do not get a high priority notification for messages now.
After reading [Understanding the notifications menu in Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-the-difference-between-the-blue-and-green-notification-counts/3059) I also tried the bookmark notification. Seems there are no high priority notifications anymore.
Being mentioned in a message appears in the @ section and not in the message section. I cannot tell whether I like that.
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### Author:  [@darkpixlz](https://meta.discourse.org/u/darkpixlz)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2022, 12:17am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/2 "2022-09-30T00:17:31Z")
Have to say I’m not a fan of the notification bubbles combining. I like having them separate.
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### Author:  [@hiddenseal](https://meta.discourse.org/u/hiddenseal)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2022, 12:39am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/3 "2022-10-25T00:39:04Z")
> [@Moin](#):
>
> Seems there are no high priority notifications anymore.
I’d say I don’t like this change.
To clarify, I mean this:
> [@Notification Badge for pm @mentioning you](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notification-badge-for-pm-mentioning-you/232950/1):
>
> At the moment, when you get a private message, you see
>
> 
> Instead of 
Can someone from the [@team](https://meta.discourse.org/groups/team) say whether this was an intentional design choice or something you forgot to implement in the new sidebar? Also, it’d be nice to hear the reasoning if it’s intentional.
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2022, 6:45am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/4 "2022-10-25T06:45:18Z")
> [@hiddenseal](#):
>
> Can someone from the [@team](https://meta.discourse.org/groups/team) say whether this was an intentional design choice or something you forgot to implement in the new sidebar? Also, it’d be nice to hear the reasoning if it’s intentional.
It is intentional. 🙂 Though it’s still experimental, so feedback and ideas are very much welcome. 👍 I believe the gist is to allow for more high priority notification types, but have them persistent in the pulldown rather than as an extra count on the avatar.
FWIW, I think this works quite well for the ‘not having got to them yet’ ones (inc. bookmark reminders, etc), but I think I do miss the initial ‘look at me’ coloured ping when they first arrive.
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### Author:  [@Don](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Don)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2022, 7:22am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/6 "2022-10-25T07:22:34Z")
I like the new notification indicator much more. I think there is no more sense to use separated colors because when you open the notifications you can see it separately on notification type tabs.
I mean here:
On the old one is much harder to notice the notification type without other color.
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### Author:  [@Moin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Moin)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2022, 8:17am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/7 "2022-10-25T08:17:21Z")
But because of the different color, I knew it is a message without clicking anything. Now I need to interrupt what I was doing to open the menu.
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### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/8 "2022-10-25T14:01:05Z")
@JammyDodger summed it up well, so I’ll just highlight this bit:
> [@JammyDodger](#):
>
> I think this works quite well for the ‘not having got to them yet’ ones (inc. bookmark reminders, etc), but I think I do miss the initial ‘look at me’ coloured ping when they first arrive.
I think that’s spot on. Perhaps there’s something we can do to make the “initial look at me” signal more distinctive here without resorting to having a separate, persistent bubble like we had before.
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### Author:  [@hiddenseal](https://meta.discourse.org/u/hiddenseal)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2022, 5:59pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/9 "2022-10-25T17:59:36Z")
> [@JammyDodger](#):
>
> but have them persistent in the pulldown rather than as an extra count on the avatar.
Actually, I didn’t pay attention to whether the count was on the left or right, and I agree that having two separate counters is a bit excessive.
> [@mcwumbly](#):
>
> there’s something we can do to make the “initial look at me” signal more distinctive here
That would be very helpful. Why not just color the counter green if there are PMs? Or if you want the solution to be general enough, maybe give a user an option to choose which type of notifications gets an “important” color.
> [@Don](#):
>
> I think there is no more sense to use separated colors because when you open the notifications you can see it separately on notification type tabs.
I’d like to strongly (but respectfully) disagree. My workflow is as follows:
1. Whenever I receive a PM, I want to answer it ASAP. Because I’m a staff member, a PM usually is either about something urgent or a new member unsure how to do something (the longer they wait, the higher the chance they’ll not visit the site again). So now and then, I open the tab with Discourse and quickly check if I have a green mark. This is much faster than opening the menu, finding the PM icon, and seeing whether there’s something new.
2. Whenever someone mentions me or replies to my topic, I’ll want to answer it whenever I have the time (the beauty of asynchronous conversation). So when I dedicate time, I open the notification menu and see what’s up, so there’s no need for separate indicators for those notifications.
One could also argue that “well, if you have a notification, then it probably doesn’t hurt to check it,” and I think any long-time discourse user will know that it’s not true because you constantly get likes on old posts.
P.S. Happy birthday @Don!
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### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/10 "2022-10-25T18:33:13Z")
> [@hiddenseal](#):
>
> Why not just color the counter green if there are PMs?
👍 I think something like this is what we should be considering, but it does lead to few other questions. In that state, should the count refer to the number of PMs? Or the total number of notifications? Wait.. should we even have a count in the top-level indicator at all? Maybe we should let the count go and bring back the color.
> [@hiddenseal](#):
>
> I think any long-time discourse user will know that it’s not true because you constantly get likes on old posts.
Aside: there’s a setting to disable notifications for likes or to reduce how frequently you get them. They may not be what you want, but are worth trying out.
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### Author:  [@hiddenseal](https://meta.discourse.org/u/hiddenseal)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/11 "2022-10-25T18:56:22Z")
> [@mcwumbly](#):
>
> Wait… should we even have a count in the top-level indicator at all? Maybe we should let the count go and bring back the color.
I think it’s a good idea. Having counters within the notification menu on each category icon is useful, but the sum of them – I don’t think it tells much. I think it’s similar to how you’d value individual counters/total counter in an email client with multiple accounts.
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### Author:  [@Don](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Don)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2022, 6:21am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/12 "2022-10-26T06:21:47Z")
I am not against to indicate notifications different colors. Just wrote what I think why it works like this. 🙂
> [@mcwumbly](#):
>
> Wait… should we even have a count in the top-level indicator at all? Maybe we should let the count go and bring back the color.
Actually I like this idea. Chat also works something like this. Only show numbers on high priority notifications. I think if the high priority notifications indicator came back than it would be great to show both type of notifications, kind of layer style? Without number it’ll be fix sized circle no matter how many notifications on it.
Something like this?
High priority goes to first place
* * *
> [@hiddenseal](#):
>
> P.S. Happy birthday @Don!
Thank you @hiddenseal 🙂
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2022, 6:58am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/13 "2022-10-26T06:58:30Z")
I am curious what precedent do other big tools out there have for “low” vs “high” priority notifications? (facebook, google, youtube, instagram etc…)
Does anyone have data / screenshots to share?
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### Author:  [@Jagster](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Jagster)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2022, 7:02am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/14 "2022-10-26T07:02:48Z")
No. They are using very much same structure that new notification. Horizontal, and not as detailed (FB for example is showing markets, videos and social notifications, and PMs are closer avatar).
And all of my connections hate is because it forces to go every notification groups through. And actually you guys have same issue because you did it for small minority: power users.
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### Author:  [@Jonathan5](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Jonathan5)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2022, 1:03pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/15 "2022-10-26T13:03:40Z")
The notification for posts to review etc is still red on the Discourse Hub app, but on the forum itself it’s now blue.
It was better when it was red. Can this be changed back via a site setting?
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### Author:  [@Jonathan5](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Jonathan5)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2022, 2:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/16 "2022-10-26T14:08:44Z")
My post directly above began as an original post of a new topic because I hadn’t seen this topic. Now I’ve read through it… How about getting rid of the number and having a “pie chart” bubble? – so it’d be one colour, or have blue/green/red slices depending on the nature of the notifications.
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### Author:  [@TheEvilPrince](https://meta.discourse.org/u/TheEvilPrince)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/17 "2022-10-27T16:49:14Z")
I was pointed here after asking about this in the channel.
This is not popular with my users, especially for Messages. It’s far more possible now for users to not even know they have a message waiting.
I would request that the notification bubble with the counter be brought back, at least for messages.
Thank you.
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### Author:  [@hiddenseal](https://meta.discourse.org/u/hiddenseal)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/18 "2022-10-27T19:24:20Z")
> [@Jagster](#):
>
> And all of my connections hate is because it forces to go every notification groups through. And actually you guys have same issue because you did it for small minority: power users.
Wait, I don’t get the parallel: facebook puts all notifications in one single feed (and I agree it’s noisy), discourse used to be like that, and now it classifies notifications into groups. Why would anyone be annoyed by this change (i’m focusing on only one aspect) from less order to more order?
> [@sam](#):
>
> I am curious what precedent do other big tools out there have for “low” vs “high” priority notifications? (facebook, google, youtube, instagram etc…)
I’d even claim that it’d be against their business model to do so 🙂 🙂 🙂
I think there’s something similar in Slack which seems to differentiate private messages from messages to the channel by showing a small indicator or an indicator with a number
[](https://imgbb.com/)
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### Author:  [@Jagster](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Jagster)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2022, 7:28pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/19 "2022-10-27T19:28:58Z")
> [@hiddenseal](#):
>
> Wait, I don’t get the parallel: facebook puts all notifications in one single feed
Not it’s not 😉 It does same as Discourse here, kind of.
Sorry, I didn’t bother change language, because it is just too hard operation there. PMs are noticed at top right for some reason.
But when Discourse separates likes, mentions etc. Facebook divides it per few main content type — the principle is still same.
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### Author:  [@orenwolf](https://meta.discourse.org/u/orenwolf)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/20 "2022-10-31T19:58:22Z")
My C$.02,
As a moderator, I get a LOT of notifications. Messages, likes to posts, system notifications, review queue notifications, and my workflow is very much to prioritize certain types of notifications over others. I am the only full-time moderator for our site. That means checking notifications is the last thing I do when I go to bed and the first thing I do when I wake up. Repeatedly over a day, basically, in between every major task I undertake, I am glancing at my notification list, looking for 1) review queue messages and 2) PMs, both of which may indicate urgent issues unfolding.
I understand the idea of using a single notification indicator to indicate you have notifications. If the plan is not to differentiate high- versus low-priority notifications, then I would remove low-priority notifications altogether. That way, if I see a notification indicator, I can still tell, at a glance, that there is something that requires my immediate attention versus a situation that may not.
So I guess my next question is: If there is to be only a single, all-priority notification indicator, can I disable notifications other than PMs and Review queue notifications?
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### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [October 31, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783/21 "2022-10-31T20:16:29Z")
We’re currently tinkering with this idea for a next iteration on this, in case folks have any feedback in advance:
Show some indication about whether any of the new notifications that have arrived since you last looked are flags or personal messages.
 
- Blue w/ count
New notifications have arrived, but none are personal messages or direct messages or flags
- Red w/ flag icon
New notifications have arrived, and at least one is a flag, but none are personal messages or direct messages
- Green w/ envelope icon
New notifications have arrived, and at least one personal message or direct message
[Next page](https://meta.discourse.org/t/no-green-or-red-notification-bubbles/242783.md?page=2)