# What is the bell symbol? **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913 **Category:** About This Message Board **Created:** [November 14, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913 "2022-11-14T21:40:48Z") **Posts on this page:** 18 **Page:** 1
### Author: ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/1 "2022-11-14T21:40:48Z")
To the right of - New Topic and/or - Open draft is a bell symbol. Would someone tell me its purpose? Thank you! ---
### Author: ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/2 "2022-11-14T21:45:45Z")
I’m not sure which screen you’re looking at, but if you’re in a thread, the bell (and it’s variants) are related to your subscription to the thread. Try clicking on it and you should get some options to choose from. ---
### Author: ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/3 "2022-11-14T21:46:46Z")
It’s what type of notifications you have for a given thread. ---
### Author: ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/4 "2022-11-14T21:47:32Z")
I don’t know if I have subscribed to anything??? ---
### Author: ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/5 "2022-11-14T21:48:05Z")
Do you get the notifications/numbers on the “S” at the upper right hand corner? ---
### Author: ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/6 "2022-11-14T21:48:12Z")
[![](https://i.ibb.co/jL4B4qP/Capture.png) ](https://i.ibb.co/jL4B4qP/Capture.png) ---
### Author: ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/7 "2022-11-14T21:48:49Z")
I’m lost! And not very tech savvy if you haven’t noticed. 😁 ---
### Author: ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/8 "2022-11-14T21:49:17Z")
Thank You!!! ---
### Author: ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/9 "2022-11-14T21:49:55Z")
Every single thread, by default, is set to “normal” notifications, which means you only get a notification if somebody mentions you specifically or replies to one of your posts. When you post to a thread, it gets changed to either watching or tracking - I forget which by default. In your user settings, you can tell it what to do when you post to a thread. You can also change any thread at any time by clicking the bell and selecting a different notification level. ---
### Author: ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/10 "2022-11-14T21:50:57Z")
Thanks again. ---
### Author: ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/11 "2022-11-14T21:53:23Z")
Thank you! Yes, I do. The last time I got on SD there was a yellow “2” on the bottom of my S for two recent replies. ---
### Author: ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/12 "2022-11-14T21:58:48Z")
If you go to those threads, you’ll find that the bell looks different due to the different notification settings. ---
### Author: ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/13 "2022-11-14T22:03:13Z")
Okay, I’ll check it out later. I’m creating a new topic in MPSIMS. No bell here. ---
### Author: ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench) #### Post date: [November 14, 2022, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/14 "2022-11-14T23:46:03Z")
Thanks again everyone! I clicked on the bell in my new thread in MPSIMS and saw the options Johnny\_Bravo posted in post #6. ---
### Author: ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris) #### Post date: [November 15, 2022, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/15 "2022-11-15T00:01:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > It’s what type of notifications you have for a given thread. Correction - It’s what type of notifications you have for a given _forum_. She’s talking about the bell next to New Topic, which is a forum setting, not a thread setting. ---
### Author: ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo) #### Post date: [November 15, 2022, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/16 "2022-11-15T00:26:22Z")
Oh shit, look at that. I never even noticed it before. ---
### Author: ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds) #### Post date: [November 15, 2022, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/17 "2022-11-15T10:42:54Z")
Try this link, > **[saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench/activity)** ---
### Author: ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench) #### Post date: [November 15, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-bell-symbol/974913/18 "2022-11-15T18:19:06Z")
Thank you!