In-App Notifications Sidebar

Overview

The in-app notifications sidebar is your real-time hub for platform activity in Learn Amp. It gives you instant visibility of everything that needs your attention — from new assignments and priority alerts to mentions, shares, and replies — without leaving the page you are on.

Access it by clicking the bell icon in the top navigation bar. A badge on the icon shows your current unread count at a glance. The sidebar is available from any page in the platform, so you never have to interrupt what you are doing to check on your notifications.

Functionality Breakdown

The sidebar slides open from the right side of the screen as a full panel. It loads your most recent notifications immediately and uses infinite scroll to load older notifications as you scroll down, keeping the experience fast regardless of how many notifications you have.

Key capabilities at a glance:

• Time-grouped notifications — organised into Today, Last 7 days, and Older sections so you can understand recency at a glance

• Four filter tabs — switch between All, Assigned, Mentioned, and Priority to focus on what is relevant to you

• Search — find specific notifications by keyword without scrolling through your entire history

• Unread Only toggle — instantly hide notifications you have already read

• Mark as read / unread — manage individual notifications using the three-dot menu, or clear everything at once with Mark All as Read

• Colour-coded icons — visual indicators signal the nature and urgency of each notification at a glance

• Full keyboard navigation — the sidebar is fully accessible via keyboard

For a paginated view of all your notifications, you can also visit the full notifications page at /notifications. The sidebar and the full page share the same notification data but differ in how they present it — see Sidebar vs Full Notifications Page below.

Filter Tabs

At the top of the sidebar, four tabs let you filter your notifications by category. All four tabs are always visible, regardless of how many notifications you have in each category.

Switching tabs instantly filters the notification list. The tab you are on does not affect the Mark All as Read action — clicking that button marks everything as read across all categories.

Searching Notifications

The notifications sidebar includes a search bar that lets you find specific notifications by keyword. This is particularly useful when you have a large volume of notifications and want to locate something specific without scrolling through your full history.

To search your notifications:

1. Open the notifications sidebar by clicking the bell icon in the top navigation bar.

2. Click the search bar at the top of the sidebar panel.

3. Type a keyword related to the notification you are looking for — for example, a course name or a person's name.

4. The notification list updates as you type, showing only notifications that match your search term.

5. Clear the search field to return to the full notification list.

💡 Search works across all notification categories. If you are currently on a filtered tab (such as Assigned or Priority), switching to the All tab before searching will give you the broadest set of results.

Time-Based Grouping

Notifications in the sidebar are grouped into three time bands to help you understand recency without having to read every timestamp:

• Today — notifications received in the current calendar day

• Last 7 days — notifications received in the past seven days, not including today

• Older — notifications received more than seven days ago

Within each group, notifications appear in reverse chronological order, so the most recent always appears at the top of its section.

Unread Only Toggle

A toggle at the top of the sidebar lets you switch between viewing all notifications and viewing only those you have not yet read. When Unread Only is on, read notifications are hidden from view — useful when you want to focus on what still needs your attention.

Turning the toggle off restores the full list including notifications you have already read.

Marking Notifications as Read and Unread

Individual notifications

Hover over any notification to reveal a three-dot menu (⋮). From this menu you can:

• Mark as read — removes the unread indicator from that notification

• Mark as unread — restores the unread indicator if you want to come back to it later

Mark all as read

Click the Mark All as Read button at the top of the sidebar to mark everything as read in one go — this applies across all tabs and filters.

⚠️ Mark as read and mark as unread actions are not available during impersonation sessions. This is intentional — it prevents admins from inadvertently changing a user's notification state when troubleshooting on their behalf.

Unread Visual Indicators

Unread notifications are visually distinguished from read ones:

• A blue background highlights the entire notification row

• A blue dot appears on the left edge of the notification

Once a notification is marked as read — either by clicking it or using the three-dot menu — these indicators are removed.

Colour-Coded Notification Type Icons

Each notification displays a colour-coded icon that indicates the nature of the notification at a glance. This lets you assess urgency and context before you even read the notification text.

Sidebar vs Full Notifications Page

The notifications sidebar and the full notifications page at /notifications both display your notifications, but they behave differently in a few important ways:

Both surfaces show the same notification data. Use the sidebar when you want quick access without leaving your current page. Use the full notifications page when you prefer a more structured, paginated view — for example, when reviewing a large backlog of older notifications.

Keyboard Accessibility

The notifications sidebar is fully keyboard navigable:

• Tab to move between notifications and interactive elements

• Enter to open a notification

• Escape to close the sidebar

This supports Learn Amp's commitment to accessibility across all platform features.

Pre-requisites

No additional setup is required to use the notifications sidebar — it is available to all users with an active Learn Amp account.

Role Requirements

All roles can access and use the notifications sidebar:

• Owner

• Admin

• Learning Designer

• Curator

• Reporter

• Learner

Quick Start Guide

1. Click the bell icon in the top navigation bar to open the notifications sidebar.

2. The sidebar slides open from the right side of the screen, showing your most recent notifications grouped by time — Today, Last 7 days, and Older.

3. Use the All, Assigned, Mentioned, or Priority tabs at the top to filter by notification category.

4. To find a specific notification, click the search bar and type a keyword. The list updates as you type.

5. Toggle Unread Only on to focus on notifications you have not yet read.

6. Click any notification to mark it as read and go directly to the relevant content or action.

7. Hover over a notification and click the three-dot menu to mark an individual notification as read or unread.

8. Click Mark All as Read to mark everything as read in one go.

9. Scroll down to load older notifications — the sidebar uses infinite scroll.

10. Close the sidebar by clicking outside the panel or pressing Escape.

11. To access the full notifications page with pagination, navigate to /notifications directly.

FAQs

Q: What is the difference between the sidebar and the full notifications page?
The sidebar is accessible from any page in Learn Amp by clicking the bell icon — you do not need to leave what you are doing. It uses infinite scroll to load older notifications progressively. The full notifications page at /notifications uses traditional pagination (10 per page) and displays inline read/unread buttons rather than a hover menu. Both show the same notification data, so use whichever suits your workflow.

Q: Why can't I see some notifications when I switch tabs?
Each tab shows only the notifications that belong to that category. If you are on the Assigned tab, for example, you will only see assignment-related notifications. Switch to All to see every notification regardless of type.

Q: The Priority tab is empty — is that normal?
Yes — if you have no overdue, at-risk, or due-soon notifications, the Priority tab will be empty. All four tabs are always visible in the sidebar regardless of whether they contain notifications.

Q: What happens when I click a notification?
Clicking a notification marks it as read and navigates you to the relevant content or action in Learn Amp.

Q: Can I undo marking a notification as read?
Yes — hover over any notification and click the three-dot menu to mark it as unread. This restores the unread indicator so you can return to it later.

Q: Does search work across all tabs?
Search applies to whichever tab you are currently on. To search across all notification types at once, switch to the All tab before searching.

Q: Can I use the notifications sidebar on mobile?
The sidebar is designed for the full Learn Amp web experience. On smaller screens, the full notifications page at /notifications gives you a better browsing experience.

Troubleshooting