Messages and notifications
How students, teachers, Organization admins, and academic admins view teaching messages and notifications, and manage channels and retention in settings.
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Audience: All roles · Applies to: SaaS / private
Goal: Tell apart Messages and Notifications, find each entry, and know that channel toggles and retention live in settings.
Two concepts
| Concept | Meaning | Typical content |
|---|---|---|
| Messages | Teaching / org message inbox | Teaching communication from teachers and the organization |
| Notifications | In-app system reminders | New tasks, due soon, overdue, class/org ops reminders, etc. (follow the UI) |
They are not the same list. Do not look for the task bell inside Messages, and do not look for a full inbox inside Notifications.
Entries by role
| Role | Messages | Notifications (list) |
|---|---|---|
| Student | Messages area inside Me; main nav has no standalone Messages item. Top-bar envelope usually opens Me | Top-bar bell; Me also has a notifications area |
| Teacher | Messages area inside Me; main nav has no standalone Messages item. Top-bar envelope opens Me; unread badge sits on Me | Top-bar bell; after opening, may jump to related class Reports (follow the UI) |
| Organization admin | Main nav Messages (Home / Messages / Settings / Me) | Top-bar bell; Me also has a notifications area |
| Academic admin | Main nav Messages (Home / Messages / Classes / Reports / Me) | Top-bar bell; Me also has a notifications area (mostly authorized classes) |
Settings: channels and retention (all roles)
| What you need | Where |
|---|---|
| Toggle in-app / email reminders | Settings → Notifications (group: Preferences / Workbench preferences) |
| Set notification retention days | Settings → Notification retention (group: Data & privacy / Ops & data) |
Notes:
- Lists (view / mark read / delete) live under Me or the top-bar bell; channels and retention live in Settings.
- Email still depends on the org’s master email switch.
- Details: App settings: preferences.
How students use it
- Open Me.
- In Notifications, check task reminders; mark read as needed (follow the UI).
- In Messages, read teaching messages from teachers and the organization.
How teachers use it
- Open Me, read the inbox in Messages.
- Top-bar envelope also opens Me (Messages area).
- Top-bar bell for overdue and similar notifications; when you need class follow-up, jump from a notification to Reports.
How Organization / academic admins use it
- Open main-nav Messages (or the top-bar envelope) for the dedicated inbox.
- Open main-nav Me for Notifications; the top-bar bell also works.
- Me also has profile and account actions; org-level configuration stays on main-nav Settings (Organization admin only). Personal notification toggles and retention: both academic and Organization admins can adjust them under Me → Settings (or Workbench preferences inside top-level Settings for Organization admins).