Notifications

Notification Types

Steward sends notifications to keep you informed about incidents relevant to your role:

For Reporters

• Information Request: A reviewer needs more details from you
• Status Change: Your incident has moved to a new status
• Comment Added: Someone commented on your incident

For Reviewers

• New Incident: An incident was submitted that may need your attention
• Assignment: An incident was assigned to you
• Reporter Response: A reporter responded to your information request
• Follow-up Added: New activity on an incident you're involved with
• Overdue: An incident you're assigned to is past its due date

For Administrators

• All reviewer notifications
• New Intake: A public intake submission was received
• Legal Hold: A legal hold was applied or removed
• User Activity: Team members joined or roles changed

In-App Notifications

The notification bell in the sidebar shows your unread notifications:

• Click the bell to see recent notifications
• The badge shows how many unread notifications you have
• Click a notification to go directly to the relevant incident
• Notifications are automatically marked as read when you view them

Notification Center

Click View All in the notification dropdown to see your full notification history. From here you can:

• Filter by type
• Mark all as read
• See older notifications

Email Notifications

In addition to in-app notifications, Steward can send email alerts for important events. Email notifications are sent for:

• Urgent incidents: Immediately when an incident is marked urgent
• Assignments: When you're assigned to an incident
• Information requests: When a reviewer needs more details from you
• Daily digest: A summary of activity if you have unread notifications

Email Preferences

You can customize your email notification preferences:

1. Go to Settings → Profile
2. Find the Email Notifications section
3. Toggle which notifications you want to receive via email

In-app notifications are always delivered regardless of email settings.

Notification Behavior

Real-Time Updates

Notifications appear in real-time—you don't need to refresh the page. When something happens on an incident you're involved with, you'll see the notification bell update immediately.

Smart Filtering

Steward only notifies you about incidents you have permission to see. If an incident is private and you're not a Privileged Reviewer, you won't receive notifications about it.

Deduplication

If multiple similar events happen in quick succession (like several comments added), Steward may combine them into a single notification to avoid overwhelming you.

Managing Notification Volume

If you're receiving too many notifications:

For Reviewers

• Check your assignments: You may be assigned to incidents that should go to someone else
• Use filters: Focus on your assigned incidents rather than all incidents
• Adjust email settings: Get fewer emails, rely on in-app notifications

For Administrators

• Delegate: Assign incidents to specific reviewers rather than having everyone see everything
• Set up notification rules: Configure who gets notified about what types of incidents
• Review team size: If everyone is getting every notification, consider restructuring

Troubleshooting

Not receiving notifications?

• Check that you have permission to view the incident
• Verify your email address is correct in your profile
• Check your email spam folder
• Ensure email notifications are enabled in your settings

Too many notifications?

• Review your notification preferences
• Switch to daily digest instead of immediate emails
• Talk to your administrator about reassigning incidents

Notifications not clearing?

Notifications are marked as read when you click on them. If you're viewing an incident but the notification persists, try:

• Clicking directly on the notification
• Using the "Mark all as read" option
• Refreshing the page