Notification settings: choosing what interrupts you
Three channels, one setting per kind of event, and the full matrix of what Sentinel can send you.
A trail crew that switches its notifications off misses the emergencies. A crew that leaves everything on ends up ignoring all of it. The right setting is in between, and it isn't the same for a coordinator as for a Saturday volunteer.
This page describes every switch, what it actually triggers, and the handful of rules that explain why you didn't get what you expected.
Where: on the web, the bell or the user menu at the top right → Notification settings. On mobile, Notifications → the ⋯ menu → Notification settings.
The three channels
Everything starts with three channels, set at the top of the screen.
| Channel | Where it lands | Set from |
|---|---|---|
| In your inbox | Web and mobile | |
| Push | On your phone's lock screen | Mobile only |
| Notification | The bell in the app, with the notification list | Web and mobile |
These are master switches. Turn "Email" off and no email goes out at all, whatever is set below. That's the move when you're away for two weeks.
Push only exists on the phone, for a simple reason: it's your device that has to allow Sentinel to notify you. Turning the Push channel on triggers the system's permission prompt. If you refused it once, the app can't ask again: you have to go through the phone's settings.
A consequence worth knowing: until some device has enabled push, no push notification goes out at all, even with the "Push" boxes ticked. The server needs a registered device to know where to send.
The detailed settings
Below the three channels sits a list of events. Each has one box per channel.
The panel, on the web.
- 1Only two channels here: push is set from the phone.
- 2One box per channel and per event.
- 3The report reminder is email-only, with its frequency.
The rule is an and: you get something on a channel if the master channel is on and that event's box is ticked. Turning a master channel off greys out the whole column — the boxes keep their state, but they no longer do anything.
The same screen on mobile.
- 1Three channels on mobile, push included.
- 2The greyed-out column is a master channel that's off.
On mobile, the screen opens from Notifications → the ⋯ menu → Notification settings. On the web, from the bell or the user menu.
Either way, nothing is stored until you confirm: Apply on mobile, Save on the web. The button stays inactive until you've changed something, and the app catches you if you leave with unsaved changes.
What each line triggers
Invitation
| Setting | You're told when |
|---|---|
| Invitation received | Someone invites you to join a place |
| Invitation accepted | Someone you invited accepts |
| Invitation rejected | Someone you invited declines |
The last two only matter to whoever does the inviting — an administrator. A volunteer can turn them off and lose nothing.
Tasks and projects
This is the section that decides whether your inbox is useful or saturated.
| Setting | You're told when |
|---|---|
| New task | Anyone creates a task in the place |
| Task assigned | A task is assigned to you, or to one of your groups |
| Update on my tasks | The status changes on a task you created or are assigned to |
| Update on all tasks | The status changes on any task in the place |
The first two are targeted; the last two look alike but are worlds apart in volume:
- "Update on my tasks" follows you. That's what most people want.
- "Update on all tasks" sends you every status change on the network. On an active place that's dozens a day. Save it for someone genuinely driving everything, and preferably on the Notification channel rather than by email.
Same warning for "New task": on a place where volunteers report a lot, it's noisy. It's also the only way to see reports arrive in real time — a coordinator's call.
Structures
| Setting | You're told when |
|---|---|
| New report | Someone files an inspection report on a structure |
| Upcoming reports reminder | Periodically, by email, with upcoming and overdue inspections |
The reminder is different: it only exists by email, and it has a frequency.
| Frequency | Sent | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | Every day | Reports due today, those in the next 5 days, and overdue ones |
| Weekly | Every Monday | All of the week's reports, and overdue ones |
| Monthly | The 1st of the month | All of the month's reports, and overdue ones |
All three always include overdue reports. It's the only mechanism in Sentinel that chases you about work that hasn't been done — every other notification reacts to an event.
Weekly suits most networks. Daily is for an intensive inspection season; monthly for a network with few structures.
Checklists
Assignment tells you when you're set as responsible for a checklist, or assigned to one.
Careful: this section only exists on the web. The setting applies to both apps, but the mobile screen doesn't show it. To change it, go through the web app.
Conversations aren't here
The absence is what surprises people most: there is no setting for conversations, even though they generate the most notifications.
That's deliberate. Conversations work by subscribing to a thread, not by a global setting: you're notified about the threads you take part in, and you mute them thread by thread — inside the conversation, with Mute notifications.
One useful detail: the in-app notification is capped at one per conversation per hour while you haven't read the previous one. Ten messages in ten minutes don't make ten badges. Push isn't capped — muting the thread is what stops it.
Mentions also escape these settings: being named with an @ always notifies you, even in a thread you don't follow.
Why am I not getting anything?
In order, the real causes:
- The master channel is off. That's cause number one. Look at the three cards at the top first.
- You didn't confirm. Ticking a box isn't enough: you have to Apply or Save.
- Push was never enabled on a device. No registered device, no push.
- The phone refused permission. The app can't ask again; go through the system settings.
- You're the author. Sentinel never notifies you about your own action.
- It's a conversation. Check the thread's mute setting rather than this screen.
Three pieces of advice
Set by role, not by person. A coordinator wants "all tasks"; a volunteer wants "my tasks" and nothing else. Two settings, not ten.
Put the volume on the Notification channel and the important things on email. The bell absorbs noise without guilt; an email you ignore eventually becomes a file you ignore.
Keep the report reminder on. It's the only net that catches a forgotten inspection, and it costs one email a week.