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The notification center is an inbox inside your published app. Logged-in users open it from the navigation menu to catch up on what needs their attention: comments and mentions on records they follow, and custom notifications that you send from a workflow. Notifications wait in the inbox until the user reads them, so nothing is lost if they weren’t online when it was sent. Unlike push notifications, the inbox needs no browser permission from the user.
In-app notifications are available on paid plans, starting with the Professional plan. On a plan that doesn’t include them, the toggle shows a plan badge and can’t be turned on.

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What appears in the inbox

The inbox collects two kinds of notifications:
  • Comments and mentions. When someone comments on a thread a user follows, or mentions them in a Comments block, the user gets a notification in the inbox.
  • Custom notifications from workflows. Any workflow can send a notification to one or more users with the Send Notification action — for example, when a task is assigned to them, an invoice is due or a request needs approval.
Notifications only go to logged-in users of your app. Visitors who aren’t signed in never see the inbox.

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Turn on the notification center

1

Open the Notifications settings

In Softr Studio, open your app and go to Users in the top bar, then select the Notifications tab.
2

Switch on In-app notifications

Under Other channels, turn on the In-app notifications toggle (1). This adds a Notifications link to your app’s navigation menu. Use Notification inbox (2) to customize the inbox — see Customize the inbox below.
Users > Notifications tab in Softr Studio with the In-app notifications toggle switched on, and the Notification inbox link below it

The In-app notifications toggle and the Notification inbox settings link, under Other channels.

3

Publish your app

Changes to notification settings take effect once you publish your app. Notifications are only delivered from a published app.
Push notifications sit right below the in-app toggle. They reach users in their browser or device even when your app isn’t open, but users must allow them first. You can use both channels together — the Send Notification action lets you pick Push, In-app or both for every message.

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Customize the inbox

Click Notification inbox next to the toggle to open Notification inbox settings. Every text your users see in the inbox can be changed here, so you can rename it or translate it into your app’s language.

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General

  • Link label and icon — the name and icon of the link in your navigation menu. It’s Notifications with a bell icon by default.
  • All notifications tab — the Tab name of the tab that lists every notification (All by default) and the Empty state message shown when there are none.
  • Unread notifications tab — the Tab name of the tab that lists only unread notifications (Unread by default) and its Empty state message.
Notification inbox settings dialog, General tab, with fields for the link label and icon, the All notifications tab and the Unread notifications tab

The General tab of Notification inbox settings, where you set the navigation link and the tab names.

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Actions

  • Filters — the labels of the two filter options: All notifications and Comments only.
  • Mark as read — the labels (and icons) of the Mark as read and Mark as unread actions on a single notification, and the label of Mark all as read.
Notification inbox settings dialog, Actions tab, with label fields for the All notifications and Comments only filters, Mark as read, Mark as unread and Mark all as read

The Actions tab of Notification inbox settings, where you rename the filters and the read/unread actions.

Click Save to keep your changes, then publish your app so users see them.

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Send notifications from a workflow

To send your own notifications to the inbox, add the Send Notification action to a workflow.
1

Add the action

In a workflow, add a step, choose Softr Apps, then Send Notification.
2

Choose the In-app channel

Under Channels (1), keep In-app selected. Remove Push if you only want the notification to go to the inbox.
3

Pick the recipient

In User email (2), enter the email of the user to notify, or map it from an earlier step with @ — for example, the email of the user who triggered the workflow. The recipient must be a user of the selected app.
4

Write the message

Fill in the Notification title and, optionally, the Notification body (3). Both accept values from earlier steps, so you can include a record name, a due date or a status.Optionally, set Open URL on click to the page the user should land on when they click the notification. It must start with your app’s domain. If you leave it empty, clicking the notification opens your app’s home page.
Send Notification step settings in a Softr workflow, with Channels set to In-app, a user email, a notification title and a notification body

The Send Notification action set to the In-app channel, with a recipient, title and body.

For every setting of the action, see Send Notification.
The action only delivers from a published app with In-app notifications turned on. If your app isn’t published yet, a real test of the step fails with an “Application is not published” error.

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What your users see

Once the notification center is on, logged-in users see a Notifications link at the top of your app’s navigation menu (1). Clicking it opens the inbox as a panel next to the menu.
A Softr app with the Notifications link at the top of the navigation menu and the inbox panel open, showing the All and Unread tabs and the filter menu with All notifications and Comments only

The notification inbox, opened from the Notifications link in the navigation menu, with the filter menu open.

In the inbox, users can:
  • Switch between All notifications and Unread ones.
  • Use the filter icon (2) to show All notifications or Comments only.
  • Mark a single notification as read or unread, or use the ⋯ menu to Mark all as read.
  • Click a notification to open the page it links to.
To check how a notification looks, log in to your published app as the recipient and open the inbox after the workflow runs.

Send Notification

Every setting of the workflow action that sends push and in-app notifications.

Comments block

Let users comment on records and mention each other.

User email notifications

Edit the email templates and sender details for your app.

Workflows

Automate tasks and processes in your Softr apps.