Notifications

The bell in the top right is your personal message center. It collects everything that affects you directly: someone likes your photo, comments on it, mentions you with @, you unlock an achievement, a reward becomes redeemable, or a moderator changes your role. New notifications appear in real time – no page reload needed.

Bell ≠ Gallery updates

The bell shows personal notifications. It is not the same as the live Gallery updates banner that appears at the top of the gallery when new photos arrive in general. We explain the difference further below.

Finding the bell

The bell sits in the top right, right next to your profile menu – in the same place on computer and on phone.

On the computer: the bell in the top right, just before the avatar.

The bell also acts as a status indicator:

• No unread notifications: a grey outline bell.
• Unread notifications present: a filled bell in the event/brand color that briefly wiggles every few seconds to catch your eye.
• Red counter badge: the small red number on the bell shows how many unread notifications there are. From 100 onwards it shows 99+.

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Computer

The bell shows you all your personal updates.

No bell visible?

The bell only appears once you have received at least one notification. A brand-new guest who has never triggered an event sees no bell at all. That is normal – it appears automatically as soon as the first event arrives.

Opening and reading the bell

1. Tap or click the bell. The Notifications dialog opens.

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   After tapping the bell: the Notifications dialog — the highlighted line summarises what is still unread.

2. Below the title a summary reads “{count} unread messages”.

3. The list shows the newest notifications first. Unread items are highlighted: a brand-colored bar on the left and a small dot on the top right of the icon.

4. Scroll down to load older notifications – the list loads more automatically (10 per page). At the very end you see “No more notifications”.

5. If there is nothing right now, the dialog shows “No new notifications” with a bouncing bell.

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Computer

1 the header with the number of unread messages, 2 the filter chips — they only appear for types you have actually received, 3 an unread item with a bar in the event colour on the left, 4 deletes exactly that item.

Opening is enough – everything is marked read

Simply opening the dialog automatically marks all notifications as read. The red counter badge disappears afterwards. There is no separate “Mark all as read” button – you do not need one. The items stay in the list; they just lose their highlight the next time you open it.

To close, tap Close at the bottom right or the X at the top of the dialog.

Tapping a notification – where it takes you

Every item is clickable and jumps straight to the right place:

• Like on your photo, comment on your photo, mention or reply → opens the slideshow with exactly that photo. For comment and mention notifications the comments are already open and the relevant comment is in focus.
• Achievement → opens the achievement dialog with the details.
• Role change → jumps to the gallery.
• Moderation notification → opens the slideshow with the affected photo – as long as it still exists. If the photo was removed, the item is not clickable.

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Computer

A like or comment item opens the relevant photo in the slideshow. ① the icon bar in the top right – on a computer with Like, Comments, Slideshow, the three-dot menu, Fullscreen and Close, on a phone only Slideshow, the menu and Close, ② Details reveals title, album and capture data, ③ the arrow to the next photo – on a phone you can swipe instead. Like and Comments sit next to Details at the bottom on a phone.

Tip

More about the destinations: Slideshow, Likes & comments and Redeeming real rewards.

What you’re notified about

These notifications appear with their own text in the list – here with the wording shown and the trigger:

Event	Displayed text	When
Photo like	“<Name> liked your photo” · multiple: “… and {count} others liked your photo” · without name: “Someone liked your photo”	Someone likes one of your photos (multiple are grouped)
Comment like	“… liked your comment” · “… and {count} others …”	Someone likes your comment
Comment on photo	“… commented on your photo” · “… and {count} others …”	New comment on your photo
Mention (@)	“<Name> mentioned you” · “Someone mentioned you”	Someone names you with @
Reply	“… replied to your comment”	Reply to your comment
Achievement	“Achievement Unlocked!” (+ Redeemable chip when a real reward is pending)	You unlock an achievement
Role change	“You are now <Role> for this event!” (+ “Updated by <Name>”)	A host changes your role
Moderation: rejected	“Your photo was rejected” (+ “Reason: …”)	Your upload was rejected
Moderation: unpublished	“Your photo was unpublished” (+ “Moderated by …”)	A photo was unpublished
Processing failed	“Photo processing failed” (+ filename/error)	Technical upload error
Report reviewed	“Your report was reviewed” / “Report dismissed”	Your content report was handled

One more type: photos added to albums

Besides the eleven rows above, Photogala knows a twelfth notification type: Photos added to albums – triggered “when your photo is added to an album”. It has no row of its own in the table, but it does appear as a separate switch in your notification settings (see Switching notifications on and off). More about albums: Albums.

For moderators and admins

Moderation notifications and some role notifications mainly concern contributors, moderators and admins. As a pure viewer you may never see them. You reach the moderation or admin area via the profile menu in the top right (the Management section – only visible with the matching role).

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Computer

Moderators and admins reach their areas via the profile menu. ① your points and solved tasks, ② Profile options with My Profile, Language, Theme and Help, ③ Management with Account Settings, Moderation and Admin Portal – this section is missing until you hold a role for it, ④ Account with Sign out.

Filtering by type

With many notifications you can quickly find, say, only mentions or only likes.

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Computer

The highlighted filter row shows and hides entries by type – Achievements, Mentions, Replies, Comments, Likes. Only types you have actually received appear here.

1. Open the bell. Above the list you see the filter bar. On the computer it starts with “Filter:”, on the phone with just a funnel icon.

2. Tap one of the color-coded chips. Available – depending on what you have received: Achievements, Mentions, Replies, Comments, Likes, Role Changes and Moderation.

3. You can combine several chips. The Likes chip toggles both photo and comment likes; Moderation toggles all moderation types together.

4. To reset, tap Clear all (on the computer) or the trash icon (on the phone). This option only appears once at least one filter is active.

Note

Only the chips whose notification type you have actually already received show up. If you have never received a mention, for example, the Mentions chip is missing. If there are no notifications at all, the whole filter bar is missing.

Deleting a single notification

You can remove items from the list without the underlying photo or comment disappearing.

1. Via the X icon: at the right edge of every item there is an X (tooltip “Delete notification”). Tapping it swipes the item off to the left and removes it immediately.

2. Via the context menu: right-click (on the computer) or long-press (on the phone) on an item opens a small menu with Open and Delete notification.

3. While deleting, the footer briefly shows “Deleting…”.

Note

Deleting only removes the notification. The photo, comment or achievement behind it stays exactly as it was.

Switching notifications on and off

You are not at the mercy of these notifications: as a signed-in user you get a whole tab where every single type can be switched off – plus one switch for emails.

Requirement: a registered account

The tab lives in Account Settings, and those exist only with a registered account. As a plain guest you see a Guest Account banner with a Register Account button there and cannot change anything. How to create an account: Guest or account.

1. Open the settings. Tap the avatar at the top right and pick Account Settings in the Management section. Switch to the Notifications tab there.

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   The route to the notification settings runs through Account Settings in the profile menu.

2. Emails on or off. At the very top sits the Email Notifications block with a single switch: “Receive important updates and notifications via email”. Off means: no more notification emails.

3. Fine-tune in-app notifications. Below it comes In-App Notifications: “Choose which notifications you want to see while using the app. Click a category to expand or collapse it.” The types sit in three collapsible categories; each category name is followed by how many of them are currently enabled.

4. Flip individual switches. Every type has its own switch with an icon, a name and a short explanation. Off means: that notification no longer shows up in your bell at all.

5. Save. Tap Save Changes at the bottom right – only then are your changes applied.

The three categories and their switches

Category	Switch	Trigger
Achievements	Achievement unlocked	When you unlock a new achievement
Achievements	Role changes	When your role in an event changes
Interactions	@mentions in comments	When someone @mentions you in a comment
Interactions	Replies to your comments	When someone replies to your comment
Interactions	Comments on your photos	When someone comments on your photo
Interactions	Media rejected	When your media is rejected by a moderator
Interactions	Media unpublished	When your media is unpublished by a moderator
Interactions	Processing failures	When your media fails to process
Activity	Likes on your comments	When someone likes your comment
Activity	Likes on your photos	When someone likes your photo
Activity	Photos added to albums	When your photo is added to an album
Activity	Report resolved	When action is taken on your report

Tip

The setting belongs to your account, not to a single event: switch off Likes on your photos, for example, and it applies to every event you take part in – and on every device.

Example

You uploaded your dance-floor photo in the evening. The next morning the bell is filled in and carries a red 14. You tap it: the summary reads “14 unread messages”, and the first entry says “Lisa and 11 others liked your photo” — the likes were grouped into one notification. Below it, “Tom commented on your photo”; tapping that opens the slideshow with exactly that photo and the comments already open. Simply opening the dialog marked everything as read, so the red counter is gone. Since the like notifications are too much for you, you go to avatar → Account Settings → Notifications, expand the Activity category, switch off Likes on your photos and tap Save — comments and mentions still arrive, likes no longer do. Last night’s “Achievement Unlocked!” entry stays in the list until you remove it with the X; the achievement behind it is unaffected.

In the app or by email?

There are exactly two channels – and they are switched separately:

• In the app: the bell in the top right. It updates in real time while the gallery is open and collects whatever you missed. Which types land there is what the individual switches above control.
• By email: selected messages also arrive in your inbox. The single Email Notifications switch turns that channel entirely on or off.

There are no push notifications

Photogala sends no push messages to your phone’s lock screen – there is neither an app nor a permission prompt for it. So don’t go looking: you see news when you open the gallery (the bell) or check your inbox (email).

Some messages always get through

Two things cannot be switched off:

• Security and account emails count as transactional and are delivered even when you have turned email notifications off: password reset, verification of your email address, confirmation of an email change, and the notice that your password was changed. That is deliberate – otherwise you could lock yourself out of your account.
• Achievements and role changes carry the highest internal priority: they are never grouped and never throttled. Where many likes get merged into one summary notification, every unlocked achievement and every role change comes through individually and immediately – as long as you do not switch that particular type off yourself.

Everything live – but two separate mechanisms

Photogala updates in real time, but through two different channels that are easy to mix up:

• The bell shows new personal notifications (likes, comments, mentions, achievements …). They appear without a reload: the badge counts up and the bell wiggles.
• The live Gallery updates banner appears at the top of the gallery when new, updated or restored photos arrive in general. It has its own Refresh button and an X to close it, and it expands to show the list of changes. It may also point out that the sort order might have changed.

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Computer

New photos for everyone appear via the live banner in the gallery – not via the bell. ① the progress card – it only shows when photo tasks are switched on and tasks exist, ② the toolbar with Filter, Upload, Select, Photowall, Map, Deleted and the column picker – on a phone only Filter and the upload button stay, the rest moves into the three-dot menu next to them, ③ the Sort by bar with Upload, Capture, Likes and Comments; the control on the far right reverses the direction.

Tip

More about the live banner and the gallery: open the gallery from the bottom or top navigation bar. The bell stays responsible for your personal events.

Availability

• The bell only appears once you have received at least one notification.
• Which types can occur at all depends on the active event features: without comments enabled there are no comment, mention or reply notifications; without achievements/rewards no achievement notifications; moderation notifications only with moderation active.
• The bell itself is not an on/off switch – clicking it always just opens the list. What ends up in that list is what you configure in the Notifications tab of Account Settings (see above) – which requires a registered account.

Note

Missing certain notifications? Then either the host hasn’t enabled the triggering feature for this event (Settings → Features) – or you switched that type off yourself.

Troubleshooting

When something is off

• I don’t see a bell. You haven’t received a notification yet – it appears automatically with the first event. Or the triggering feature (e.g. comments) is not active in the event.
• The red counter is gone even though I didn’t tap anything. Simply opening the dialog automatically marks everything as read.
• I tap a notification but nothing happens. The related photo was probably removed (moderated or deleted media are not clickable).
• The badge shows 99+. You have more than 99 unread notifications; opening resets the counter.
• New notifications don’t appear. In rare cases a connection problem – reload the page.
• There are no filter chips. There are no notifications of those types yet.
• One particular type stopped arriving. Check the Notifications tab in Account Settings to see whether its switch is off.
• I can’t find the “Notifications” tab. You are browsing as a guest – without a registered account there are no account settings.
• I still get mail although emails are off. Security and account mails (e.g. password reset) are always delivered.
• Nothing reaches my phone while the gallery is closed. That is by design – there are no push notifications.

Related topics

• Guest or account – this is where the notification settings live.
• Likes & comments
• Slideshow
• Redeeming real rewards
• Points & rewards
• Switching language – notification texts and numbers are language-dependent.