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In-Site Notifications

This guide explains how in-site notifications work in Videohub360. These are notifications shown inside the website for logged-in users. This guide does not cover push notifications.

Where In-Site Notifications Appear

Logged-in users can see in-site notifications in two main places:

  • The notification bell in the site header
  • The Notifications tab in the frontend dashboard

The notification bell shows an unread count badge when the user has unread notifications. The dropdown shows the most recent notifications and includes a link to view all notifications in the dashboard.

If the notification bell is not showing in the header, go to:

Appearance → Customize → Header → Main Header Settings

Confirm that Show Notifications Icon is enabled.

What Creates Notifications

Videohub360 creates in-site notifications for supported community actions.

Confirmed notification types include:

  • Follows
  • Likes
  • Comments
  • Replies
  • Mentions
  • Shares
  • Messages

Examples:

  • A user receives a notification when another user follows them.
  • A user receives a notification when someone likes their post.
  • A user receives a notification when someone comments on their post.
  • A user receives a notification when someone replies to their comment.
  • A user receives a notification when someone mentions them using @username.
  • A user receives a notification when another user sends them a direct message.

Notifications are only created when the notification system is enabled and the related notification type is enabled.

Configure Global Notification Settings

To manage the site-wide notification system, go to:

VH360 Theme → Notifications

This screen includes notification statistics and global notification settings.

Notification Statistics

The statistics area shows:

  • Total Notifications
  • Unread Notifications
  • Retention Days

Use this area to quickly review how many notifications exist on the site and how long notifications are being kept.

Enable Notification System

Use Enable Notification System to turn the in-site notification system on or off globally.

When this option is disabled, new in-site notifications are not created.

Polling Interval

Use Polling Interval to control how often the site checks for new notifications.

The setting is measured in seconds. The allowed range is 10 to 300 seconds.

Maximum per User

Use Maximum per User to control how many notifications are kept for each user.

The allowed range is 10 to 1000 notifications per user.

Retention Period

Use Retention Period to control how many days notifications are kept before automatic deletion.

The allowed range is 1 to 365 days.

Enable or Disable Notification Types

In VH360 Theme → Notifications, the Notification Types section lets you enable or disable these notification types globally:

  • Follow Notifications
  • Like Notifications
  • Comment Notifications
  • Reply Notifications
  • Mention Notifications
  • Share Notifications

Disabling a notification type stops that type from being created for users.

Performance and Cleanup Settings

The Notifications settings screen includes performance and cleanup options.

Enable Caching

Use Enable Caching to cache notification counts and queries for better performance.

This is recommended for sites with many users.

Cleanup Schedule

Use Cleanup Schedule to choose how often old notifications are cleaned up automatically.

Available options are:

  • Hourly
  • Twice Daily
  • Daily
  • Weekly

Run Cleanup Now

Use Run Cleanup Now to manually delete notifications older than the configured retention period.

Delete All Notifications

Use Delete All Notifications only when you want to permanently remove all existing in-site notifications from the site.

This action cannot be undone.

User Notification Dashboard

Users can manage their own notifications from the frontend dashboard:

Dashboard → Notifications

The Notifications tab shows:

  • Total notifications
  • Unread notifications
  • Read notifications
  • Notification list
  • Filters
  • Bulk actions
  • Load More button when more notifications are available

Users can filter notifications by:

  • Type
  • Date
  • Status

Available type filters include:

  • Follows
  • Likes
  • Comments
  • Mentions
  • Replies
  • Shares

Available date filters include:

  • All Time
  • Today
  • This Week
  • This Month

Available status filters include:

  • All
  • Unread
  • Read

User Notification Actions

From the Notifications dashboard tab, users can:

  • Mark all notifications as read
  • Delete read notifications
  • Clear all notifications
  • Load more notifications

The notification dropdown in the header also includes a Mark all as read option when notifications are available.

User Notification Preferences

Users can manage their in-site notification preferences from the frontend dashboard settings area.

Go to:

Dashboard → Settings → In-App Notification Preferences

This area lets users control which in-site notifications they receive and how they are displayed.

The confirmed preference types include:

  • Follow
  • Like
  • Comment
  • Reply
  • Mention
  • Share
  • Message

Users can also control the notification frequency. Confirmed frequency options are:

  • All
  • Important only
  • Digest only

Important-only notifications include follows, mentions, and replies.

Mobile Menu Notification Badge

If the Notifications item is added to the mobile bottom navigation, it can show an unread notification badge.

This badge reflects the logged-in user’s unread in-site notification count.

Troubleshooting

The notification bell does not appear in the header

Confirm that the user is logged in. The notification bell is shown only to logged-in users.

Then go to:

Appearance → Customize → Header → Main Header Settings

Make sure Show Notifications Icon is enabled.

New notifications are not being created

Go to:

VH360 Theme → Notifications

Confirm that Enable Notification System is enabled.

Then confirm the specific notification type is enabled in the Notification Types section.

A user is not receiving a certain type of notification

Have the user check:

Dashboard → Settings → In-App Notification Preferences

Confirm that in-site notifications are enabled for that user and that the specific notification type is enabled.

Old notifications are disappearing

Check the Retention Period setting under:

VH360 Theme → Notifications

Notifications older than the configured retention period can be removed during cleanup.

The notification count seems delayed

Check the Polling Interval setting under:

VH360 Theme → Notifications

This controls how often the site checks for new notifications.