Set default push notification for the General chat group

Contribute Feature
,

AI-generated summary

GeoffSchultz is seeking a way to set the default push notification for the General chat group to ‘All Activity’ instead of ‘Only for mentions’ to improve user engagement and reduce the reliance on WhatsApp. GeoffSchultz notes that many users prefer WhatsApp for immediate responses, and he hopes that by making Discourse notifications more accessible, they will transition to the platform. nathank suggests using @all for broadcasts and emphasizes the importance of change management, while also acknowledging the Discourse team’s design choices in limiting default notifications.

1

Last year I created a discourse forum at knysnayachtowners.org and it was welcomed by some, but many users continued to use the WhatsApp group that has been around for years. I can understand that, as they get immediate responses from other owners. I am trying to see if an alternative would be to use the Discourse app on their phones and utilize the chat feature.

I want to use the General chat group, but the default push setting is “Only for mentions”. I would like a way to set the default to be “All Activity”, so that I don’t have to tell all of the existing users, and any new users, how to configure this.

I know that I could create my own chat channel and set the default notification to All Activity, but that runs into a similar notification issue for users.

1 Like
2

If you can teach them to use @all when they need to broadcast, I think you’ll get better functionality that what WhatsApp provides.

That twinned with actively closing the WhatsApp group (and some creative & encouraging change management) should hopefully land you there.

I asked for this feature a long time ago, but as time goes by I understand and appreciate the design decision the Discourse team has taken.