Two routes reach you: the bell in the site header, and email. They carry different things on purpose — the bell is for what happened, email is for what you asked to be told about. This article is what arrives by which route and how to turn any of it off.
The bell
In the site header, with an unread count. It carries things that happened on your account:
- A tutor set you homework — With a link straight to the content.
- Someone messaged you — From a circle you are in.
- Circle activity — A join, a comment, something on the shared timeline.
- Today’s Dragon Daily is up — A link to the new edition.
- A next step in your study guide — What the plan suggests you do next.
Opening the bell marks things read. Nothing expires from it on a timer — an unread notification from last week is still there.
A narrower set, and every category is individually switchable in your notification settings:
- Account and security — Password resets, email-change confirmations, invitations. These always send — an account you cannot recover is worse than an unwanted email.
- Dragon Daily — The day’s edition, at 08:00 in your timezone. Opt in and out freely.
- A new message — Only when you have not already opened that thread. An active conversation does not fill your inbox.
- Assignments and circle activity — When a tutor sets something, or a circle you are in does something worth knowing.
- A weekly family summary — On a parent account, if you want the digest without opening the dashboard.
Turning things off
Notification settings in your account, per category. Turning an email off does not turn off the in-app notification — you still see it on the bell, you just stop being mailed about it.
Every non-security email also carries an unsubscribe link, which does the same thing from the message itself.
When email does not arrive
- Check spam — A first email from an unfamiliar domain lands there routinely. Marking one as not-spam usually fixes the rest.
- Check the address — In your profile. If you changed it recently and never confirmed, mail is still going to the old one.
- Check the category is on — In notification settings. It is easy to turn off Dragon Daily and forget.
- Check the timing — Dragon Daily sends at 08:00 in your own timezone, so a wrong timezone on your account moves it.
No push notifications
The site does not send push notifications, even installed as an app. Nothing will interrupt you on your phone — the bell and email are the whole of it, and both are things you go and look at.
Common questions
All except account and security messages — password resets, email-change confirmations and invitations. Those always send, because being unable to recover an account is worse than an unwanted email.