Inbox and Notifications
Stay on top of workspace invitations, deadlines, and messages — all in one place.
How Notifications Work
Inkwren sends you notifications when things need your attention: workspace invitations, approaching deadlines, and messages from collaborators. Notifications appear in two places:
- Notification bell: The bell icon in the header shows your unread count and recent notifications
- Inbox page: The envelope icon in the header opens the full inbox — your conversations and notification history
The Notification Bell
The bell icon in the header shows a badge when you have unread notifications (capped at "9+"). Click it to see a dropdown with your most recent notifications (up to 20).
From the dropdown you can:
- Read notifications: Click a notification to mark it as read and navigate to the relevant page
- Accept or decline invitations: Workspace and publication invitations show action buttons directly in the dropdown
- Dismiss: Click the X icon on a notification to remove it
- Mark all read: Clear all unread indicators at once
The unread count updates automatically every minute.
The Inbox Page
Click the envelope icon in the header to open the full inbox. The envelope has its own unread badge showing unread conversation messages.
Publisher-track workspaces also see New Message and Broadcast buttons in the inbox header for sending messages to authors and contacts.
Personal Tab
The Personal tab shows all your notifications and personal conversations in one list, sorted by date:
- Workspace invitations: Invitations to join a workspace as a member or admin, with accept/decline buttons
- Publication invitations: Invitations to view a publication in another workspace
- Deadline reminders: Alerts when a story deadline or task due date is today
- Conversations: Personal messages from workspace collaborators
Outreach Tab
If your workspace handles publisher-to-author communication, the Outreach tab shows conversations initiated by your workspace. The tab label includes your workspace name (e.g., "Borogrove Press Outreach"). This tab appears when the Publication Submissions feature is enabled.
Notification Types
| Type | When You Receive It |
|---|---|
| Workspace invitation | Someone invites you to join their workspace |
| Publication invitation | A publisher grants you access to view a publication |
| Story deadline | A story's deadline is today |
| Task deadline | A task's due date is today |
| Message | Someone sends you a message in a conversation |
Deadline Notifications
Inkwren checks for approaching deadlines daily. If a story deadline or task due date falls on the current day, you'll receive a notification. These are timezone-aware — the check uses your workspace's timezone setting.
Invitation Notifications
When someone invites you to a workspace or publication:
- A notification appears in your bell and inbox
- Click Accept to join or Decline to dismiss
- The notification is automatically removed after you respond
If you were invited before you had an Inkwren account, the invitation notification appears when you sign up.
Managing Notifications
Marking as Read
- Click a notification to mark it as read automatically
- Click Mark all read (bell dropdown) or Mark all as read (inbox page) to clear all unread indicators
Dismissing Notifications
In the bell dropdown, click the X icon on a notification to remove it. This is permanent — dismissed notifications cannot be recovered. The dismiss action is only available in the bell dropdown, not on the inbox page.
Tips
- Check the bell regularly: The unread badge gives you a quick sense of whether anything needs attention without opening the full inbox
- Respond to invitations promptly: Workspace invitations expire, so accept or decline them when you see them
- Use the inbox for deadline awareness: If you see deadline notifications piling up, it may be time to review your timeline
- Keep your inbox tidy: Dismiss notifications you've already acted on to keep the list focused on what still needs attention