This guide helps you solve common problems with notifications in Disciple.Tools. Follow these steps to diagnose and fix notification issues.
Common Notification Problems
I’m Not Receiving Any Notifications
Check Your Notification Preferences
- Go to your profile settings (click your display name on desktop or hamburger menu ☰ → Settings on mobile)
- Scroll to the Notifications section
- Verify that notification types are enabled for your preferred channels
- Make sure at least Web notifications are enabled for testing
- Check that your email address is correct in your profile
- Ensure your phone number is properly formatted (for SMS/WhatsApp)
- Save any changes to your profile
Test with a Simple Mention
- Ask a colleague to mention you in a comment: “@your-username test”
- This should generate a notification within minutes
- Check your notification bell icon and email
I’m Not Receiving Email Notifications
Check Your Email Settings
- Verify your email address is correct in your profile settings
- Confirm email notifications are enabled for the types you want to receive
- Check your email delivery preference (real-time, hourly, or daily digest)
Check Your Email Inbox
- Look in your spam/junk folder - notification emails sometimes get filtered
- Add your Disciple.Tools site email to your contacts to prevent spam filtering
- Check email rules that might be automatically filing or deleting emails
Test Email Delivery
- Change your email preference to real-time temporarily
- Have someone mention you in a comment
- You should receive an email within 5-10 minutes
- If no email arrives, contact your system administrator
I’m Not Receiving SMS or WhatsApp Notifications
Verify Channel Availability
- Check if SMS or WhatsApp options appear in your notification settings
- If these options are missing, your system administrator hasn’t enabled them
- Contact your administrator about enabling SMS/WhatsApp notifications
Check Your Phone Number
- Verify your phone number is correctly entered in your profile
- Use international format: +1234567890 (include country code)
- Remove spaces, dashes, or parentheses from the phone number
- Save your profile changes
Test SMS/WhatsApp Delivery
- Enable SMS or WhatsApp for mentions only
- Have someone mention you in a comment
- You should receive a message within 5-10 minutes
My Notification Count Seems Wrong
Clear Browser Cache
- Refresh your browser (Ctrl+R or Cmd+R)
- Clear your browser cache if the count still seems incorrect
- Log out and log back in to reset your session
Mark Notifications as Read
- Go to your notifications page
- Click Mark All as Read to clear the count
- The count should reset to show only new notifications
I’m Receiving Too Many Notifications
Adjust Notification Preferences
- Disable email for high-volume notification types like comments
- Switch to digest mode for email notifications (hourly or daily)
- Keep only essential notifications enabled for SMS/WhatsApp
Focus on Priority Notifications
- Keep assignments and mentions enabled across all channels
- Disable comments for email if you get too many
- Use web notifications for less urgent updates
I’m Receiving Duplicate Notifications
Understanding Multiple Channels
This is normal behavior - if you enable multiple channels for the same notification type, you’ll receive the notification through each enabled channel. This ensures you don’t miss important communications.
To Reduce Duplicates
- Choose one primary channel per notification type
- Use SMS/WhatsApp only for urgent notifications
- Use email for records and less urgent updates
- Use web notifications for regular workflow
Specific Error Messages
Error: “Notification preferences could not be saved”
Cause: Database or permission issue
Solution:
- Try refreshing the page and saving again
- Check that you’re still logged in
- Contact your system administrator if the problem persists
Error: “Email delivery failed”
Cause: Email server configuration issue
Solution:
- This is a system-level problem
- Contact your system administrator
- Check your email address is correct in your profile
Error: “SMS delivery failed”
Cause: SMS service configuration or phone number issue
Solution:
- Verify your phone number format (+1234567890)
- Check that SMS service is properly configured
- Contact your system administrator
Advanced Troubleshooting
Check Browser Console for Errors
- Open your browser’s developer tools (F12)
- Go to the Console tab
- Look for red error messages when working with notifications
- Share these errors with your system administrator
Test Different Browsers
- Try using notifications in a different browser
- Test in incognito/private mode
- This helps identify browser-specific issues
Check Network Connectivity
- Ensure you have a stable internet connection
- Try accessing notifications from a different network
- Check if your organization’s firewall blocks notification features
Contact your administrator if:
- No notification channels are working despite correct settings
- Email delivery fails consistently
- SMS/WhatsApp options don’t appear in settings
- Error messages appear when saving notification preferences
- Multiple users report the same notification problems
When reporting notification issues, include:
- Your username and email address
- Specific notification types that aren’t working
- Which channels you’re having problems with
- Error messages you’ve seen
- Steps you’ve already tried from this troubleshooting guide
- Browser and device you’re using
Prevention Tips
Regular Maintenance
- Check your notification settings monthly
- Update your contact information when it changes
- Test notifications periodically by having someone mention you
Best Practices
- Start with basic settings and add complexity gradually
- Use web notifications as your primary channel
- Enable email as a backup for important notifications
- Use SMS/WhatsApp sparingly for urgent items only
- Ask your administrator about notification system updates
- Report issues promptly to help maintain system reliability
- Share solutions with team members who have similar problems