Notifications

Scoutworks keeps you informed about activity across your group through a notification system. New badge awards, event RSVP changes, expense submissions, equipment reminders, and group updates all appear as notifications so you never miss something important.

Notification bell#

The notification bell icon appears in the top navigation bar on every page. When you have unread notifications, a red badge displays the count (up to 9+).

Click the bell to open the Notifications panel, which slides in from the right-hand side of the screen.

Viewing notifications#

The notification panel shows your most recent notifications, grouped by time period:

Each notification displays an icon, a title, a short message, and a relative timestamp (e.g. "2 hours ago"). The icon and colour indicate the notification category -- for example, amber for events, green for badges, and purple for finance.

Unread notifications are highlighted with a blue background and a small blue dot on the left.

Notification categories#

Notifications are organised into the following categories:

Filtering notifications#

At the top of the notification panel, two filter buttons let you toggle between:

• All -- shows every notification, read and unread.
• Unread -- shows only notifications you have not yet read.

When viewing Unread and there are none, the panel displays "No unread notifications" with a prompt to switch to All to see older items.

Managing notifications#

Marking as read#

• Single notification -- click on a notification to mark it as read. If the notification has an associated action (such as a link to an event or expense claim), clicking will also navigate you there.
• Mark all read -- click the Mark all read button in the panel header to mark every unread notification as read in one go. This button only appears when you have unread notifications.

Inline actions#

Some notification types include quick-action buttons directly on the notification card:

These buttons take you straight to the relevant page without needing to find it in the menu.

Dismissing notifications#

Hover over any notification to reveal a dismiss button (an X icon) on the right-hand side. Click it to remove the notification from your list entirely.

Empty state#

When you have no notifications at all, the panel shows an "All caught up!" message, confirming there is nothing new to review.

Push notifications#

Push notifications let Scoutworks send you an OS-level notification -- on your phone's lock screen, your laptop's notification centre, or your tablet -- even when Scoutworks isn't open. The toggle is per-device, so you can choose to be notified on your phone but not your laptop, or vice versa.

Turning push notifications on#

1. Open your Profile from the top navigation.
2. Find the Push Notifications section in your settings and expand it.
3. Flip the switch on.
4. Your browser will ask permission -- choose Allow.

You only need to do this once per device. Each phone, tablet, or computer you use subscribes independently, so you can pick exactly where you want to be reachable.

What you'll be notified about#

Push notifications fire for the same events as the in-app notification bell. The notification shows the same title and message you'd see in the bell, and tapping it takes you straight to the relevant page in Scoutworks.

iPhone and iPad#

Apple only delivers push notifications to apps that have been installed on the home screen, so on iOS you need to install Scoutworks as an app first:

1. Open Scoutworks in Safari (it must be Safari, not another browser).
2. Tap the Share icon (the square with an arrow pointing up).
3. Choose Add to Home Screen.
4. Open Scoutworks from the new home-screen icon, then turn on push notifications from your Profile.

This needs iOS 16.4 or later. If your device or browser doesn't support push notifications, you'll see an amber notice in place of the toggle telling you what to do.

If notifications are blocked#

If you tapped Block when the browser asked for permission, the toggle stays disabled and an amber notice appears. To re-enable them:

1. Click the lock or info icon next to the address bar.
2. Find the Notifications setting and change it to Allow.
3. Refresh the page.

The toggle should then unlock so you can subscribe.

Turning push notifications off#

Open your Profile on the device you want to unsubscribe and flip the switch off. That device will stop receiving push notifications -- the in-app bell, emails, and other notification surfaces are unaffected. You can turn push back on at any time.

Email preferences#

Alongside the bell and push, Scoutworks emails you when things happen. If your inbox is getting busy, you can choose exactly which of those emails you receive -- and switch off the ones you don't need.

Open your Profile from the top navigation and find the Email preferences section. Each category has its own switch:

Turn a category off and you'll stop getting those emails -- but you won't miss anything. The in-app bell (and push, if you've turned it on) keeps working, so everything is still waiting for you in Scoutworks.

The Weekly digest is worth a special mention — for leaders it rolls badges waiting to be awarded, this week's events with their RSVP tallies, pending evidence, and upcoming birthdays into one Monday-morning email:

Emails you can't turn off#

A few emails are too important to miss, so they're always sent and don't appear in the list above: account security (such as password resets and sign-in links), safeguarding messages, and anything about a payment that's failed or needs your attention.

What's next#

• Managing Your Profile -- update your personal details and preferences.
• Navigating Scoutworks -- find your way around the app.