# Help me understand (and maybe control) notifications **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [August 7, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-and-maybe-control-notifications/988196 "2023-08-07T16:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-and-maybe-control-notifications/988196/1 "2023-08-07T16:19:38Z")
I haven’t bothered about this since the transition to Discourse, but the situation with notifications is kind of annoying, and I would like to find out more about how it works, and maybe change my settings (if possible). Currently, I have deleted all the old “unread” notifications, which I assumed were from before Discourse. All of the “read” notifications are still there, and they show up when I click on my avatar. I don’t know if there’s a way to tell whether the top notification(s) are read or unread, except by relying on my memory. I wish the “read” notifications would not appear under my avatar. Is there a way to do that? Lacking that, is there a way to tell whether the top notification is read or unread? p.s. I’m not talking about email notifications, I have those turned off. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-and-maybe-control-notifications/988196/2 "2023-08-07T16:37:49Z")
Hopefully these 2 older posts help somewhat. > Some related FAQ stuff: > You can turn off the alerts with ease. Go down to where is says Tracking or Watching and change it to normal. > > _How do I unsubscribe from a thread?_ > Both for a Computer & Mobile should be the same. > > There is a Watching or Tracking button on the page to the left side below the last post. Click that and choose Normal _ **Might be more here:** _ [Opinions about forums on the SDMB - #29 by What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-about-forums-on-the-sdmb/982341/29) & here: > [@How do I (successfully) Mute an Entire SDMB Category](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-successfully-mute-an-entire-sdmb-category/983778/2): > > Click on the Forum name in question so you’re only seeing it. Like Site ID as an example. Then in the upper right hand corner is the Bell Icon, click that and the last option should be Muted. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-and-maybe-control-notifications/988196/3 "2023-08-07T21:58:12Z")
Those aren’t really what I’m asking. The process of generating notifications is fine, and I think I understand it. But notifications stick around after I have read them, and that’s what I would like to change. When I have some notifications, there is a number of unread responses by my avatar at the upper right, say it’s 5. So I click on the avatar and start going through the notifications, but those that I have already clicked on are still there, and after two or three, I may get confused as to how many and which notifications are left. So I would prefer if, once I have clicked on a notification, it would disappear from that list under my avatar. I’m not asking for a software change, I would just like to know if there is a setting that would make those “read” notifications go away. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-and-maybe-control-notifications/988196/4 "2023-08-08T01:28:17Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The process of generating notifications is fine, and I think I understand it. But notifications stick around after I have read them, and that’s what I would like to change. I think I had a whole long conversation about this not long after the changeover; and the answer appeared to be no, there was no way to clear out old notifications and make them disappear. I eventually stopped being annoyed by it. Any of them I haven’t clicked on show up in a somewhat different color; at least, in Straight Dope Light on a desktop. It’s not different enough to jump out at you, but I can see it once I figured out what to look for. [ETA: it’s not the notifications themselves that are in a different color, it’s the background color behind them. There’s a sort of slightly darker box containing anything I haven’t clicked on.] ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-and-maybe-control-notifications/988196/5 "2023-08-08T03:13:22Z")
Yes, I hadn’t really paid attention, but now I see that the background is blue when they are un-read, and then changes to white when they are read. I think that counts as issue resolved. Thanks all.