Teamwins notification system
Stay in the loop with real-time alerts and digests. Notifications keep you informed about approvals, points, and team activity.
Where you'll see notifications
1. In-app alerts (Bell icon)
- Header: Bell icon with red badge count
- Click to see alerts and inbox
- Real-time updates (no page refresh needed)
2. Email notifications
- Instant emails for urgent actions
- Daily/weekly digests for non-urgent updates
- Unsubscribe options in email footer
Future channels:
- Slack integration (beta)
- Mobile push notifications (planned)
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Notification types
For Members:
Approval Granted (Inbox only)
- When: Reviewer approves your outcome
- Contains: Outcome label, points awarded, congrats message
- Action: None—just FYI
Points Awarded (Inbox only)
- When: Any points added to your balance
- Contains: Point amount, source (contribution/approval), running total
- Action: None—just FYI
Need More Info (Alert)
- When: Reviewer requests additional details on your approval
- Contains: Reviewer feedback, what's missing
- Action: Click to resubmit with more context
Perk Approved (Inbox only)
- When: Admin approves your perk claim
- Contains: Perk name, next steps for redemption
- Action: Proceed with receipt upload, link click, or custom fields
Perk Rejected (Inbox only)
- When: Admin declines your perk claim
- Contains: Reason for rejection
- Action: Points may be refunded (future feature)
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For Reviewers:
Approval Request (Alert)
- When: Member requests outcome approval
- Contains: Contribution details, outcome step, context
- Action: Approve or Request More Info
Daily Digest - Pending Approvals (Email)
- When: Every morning at 9am if you have pending approvals
- Contains: List of pending approvals (only if ≥3 pending)
- Action: Click to review in batch
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For Admins:
Perk Approval Needed (Alert)
- When: Member claims perk requiring manual approval
- Contains: Perk name, member, points cost
- Action: Approve or Decline
Join Request (Alert)
- When: Someone requests to join workspace (manual approval mode)
- Contains: Requester name, email, timestamp
- Action: Welcome or Decline
Weekly Digest - Join Requests (Email)
- When: Monday morning at 9am if pending join requests
- Contains: List of all pending requests
- Action: Review and approve/decline
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Instant vs Digest notifications
Instant (within 1 minute):
- Approval requests
- Need more info
- Perk approval needed
- Join requests
- Points awarded
Daily Digest (9am your timezone):
- Pending approvals summary (if ≥3 pending)
- Recent activity recap
Weekly Digest (Monday 9am):
- Pending join requests
- Weekly team stats
You control: Email preferences in Settings → Notifications (future feature)
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In-app notification sections
Alerts (Action needed):
- Approval requests
- Need more info
- Perk approvals
- Join requests
- Shows red badge count
- Sorted by urgency (oldest first)
Inbox (FYI):
- Approval granted
- Points awarded
- Perk approved/rejected
- Team activity
- Shows all notifications (read and unread)
- Sorted by date (newest first)
Marking as read:
- Click notification → Auto-marks as read
- Or click "Mark all as read"
- Read notifications move to bottom
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Real-time updates
How it works:
- WebSocket connection to server (Supabase Realtime)
- New notifications appear instantly (no page refresh)
- Badge count updates in real-time
- Works across all open tabs
If notifications don't appear:
- Check internet connection
- Hard refresh page (Ctrl+Shift+R)
- Sign out and back in
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Email notification details
From address: noreply@teamwins.com
Subject lines:
- "New approval request from Alice"
- "Your outcome was approved! You earned 80 points"
- "More info needed on your approval request"
- "3 pending approvals await your review"
- "New join request from Bob"
Email content:
- Brief summary of action
- Action buttons (Approve, View Details, etc.) with one-click links
- Link to view in Teamwins
- Unsubscribe footer
Action links (JWT tokens):
- Approve/Decline buttons in emails are secure one-time-use links
- No need to log in—click and action happens
- Expire after 7 days for security
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Notification preferences (future)
Coming soon: Settings → Notifications
Control:
- Email frequency (instant, daily, weekly, off)
- Which notification types you want
- Quiet hours (e.g., no emails 6pm-9am)
- Slack vs Email preference
Current state: All notifications enabled by default, no opt-out except email unsubscribe.
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Troubleshooting
Not receiving email notifications: 1. Check spam/junk folder for noreply@teamwins.com 2. Add noreply@teamwins.com to contacts 3. Check corporate email filters (ask IT to allowlist teamwins.com domain) 4. Verify your email in Settings → Profile
In-app notifications not appearing: 1. Hard refresh page 2. Check bell icon—may be hidden behind other UI 3. Sign out and back in 4. Clear browser cache
Getting too many notifications:
- Wait for notification preferences feature
- Or use email filters/rules to auto-file Teamwins emails
- Digests are limited to 1/day and 1/week max
Notification for old/resolved item:
- Notifications don't auto-delete when item is resolved
- Manually mark as read
- Future: Auto-dismiss when action completed
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Tips
For members:
- Check bell icon daily for approval updates
- Enable email notifications for urgent alerts
- Mark old notifications as read to keep inbox clean
For reviewers:
- Review approvals daily to avoid backlog
- Use daily digest to batch-process approvals
- Click "Approve" directly from email for speed
For admins:
- Check join requests weekly
- Enable auto-approve to reduce notification volume
- Use weekly digest for non-urgent items
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FAQs
Can I turn off notifications? Not currently—coming in future update. Use email unsubscribe for now.
Why did I get notified twice? Email + in-app notification for same event. Both are intentional.
How long do notifications stay? Forever—no auto-deletion. Mark as read to hide from alerts.
Can I see notifications for other users? No—notifications are private per user.
Do notifications work on mobile? Yes—in-app notifications work on mobile browser. Mobile app with push notifications planned.
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Next steps
- Approval workflows explained - When approval notifications are sent
- Notification architecture (Advanced) - Technical deep dive
