Notification Types

Control which notification types are available to each member type and which ones are forced regardless of user preferences.

fellos has a notification system that alerts members about activity relevant to them — new posts in their groups, event reminders, workflow updates, and security alerts. As a site admin, you control which notification types exist, which member types receive them, and which notifications are mandatory.

The Notification Types admin page shows a matrix of notification types versus member types, letting you enable or disable each combination with a single click.

The Notification Types matrix — notification types listed on the left, member types across the top, with checkboxes to enable each combination. "Forced" badges indicate mandatory notifications.

How Notification Configuration Works

The notification types admin page shows a table (matrix) with:

Rows — Each row is a notification type, grouped by area (Security, Community, System, etc.)
Columns — Each column is a member type from your Member Types configuration
Checkboxes — Each cell has a checkbox. When checked, that member type can receive that notification type. When unchecked, that notification type is completely unavailable to that member type.

This gives you granular control. For example, you might enable "New Post in Group" notifications for Full Members and Prospects but disable them for Seedlings, who may not yet have group access.

Notification Areas

Notification types are organized into areas:

Security

Notifications related to account security — password changes, login from a new device, account status changes. Most security notifications are forced (see below) because members need to know about security events regardless of their preferences.

Community

Notifications about social activity — new posts in groups, comments on your posts, reactions, mentions, and direct messages. These are typically the most commonly received notifications and the ones members most often customize in their preferences.

System

Notifications about administrative and workflow events — onboarding status updates, transition approvals, event reminders, and system announcements. Some of these may be forced (like account status changes), while others are optional.

Forced Notifications

Some notification types are marked as Forced, indicated by a badge on the row. Forced notifications are always delivered to members regardless of their personal notification preferences. Members cannot turn off forced notifications in their settings.

Typical forced notifications include:

Password Changed — Members must know if their password was changed, in case it wasn't them
Account Status Changed — Members must be informed when their account status changes (activated, deactivated, type change)
New Member Welcome — The initial welcome notification when a member's account is created

Good to know

You cannot change whether a notification type is forced or not — this is determined by the system based on the notification's importance. You can, however, control whether a forced notification is enabled for a given member type. If you uncheck a forced notification for a member type, that member type won't receive it at all — the "forced" flag only means members of enabled types can't opt out.

Member Preferences

The notification types you enable here determine what appears in each member's Notification Preferences page. When a notification type is enabled for a member's type, they'll see it in their settings and can choose:

Whether to receive it as an in-app notification (the bell icon in the navigation bar)
Whether to receive it as an email notification (requires email to be configured)
Whether to receive it as a push notification (requires push notifications to be configured)

If a notification type is disabled for their member type, it simply doesn't appear in their preferences — they won't know it exists.

Best Practices

Start with everything enabled — It's better to enable all notification types for all member types and let members customize their preferences, rather than pre-restricting what's available.
Disable sparingly — Only disable a notification type for a member type if that type genuinely should never receive it. For example, if Seedlings don't have group access, disable group-related notifications for them.
Review after adding member types — When you create a new member type, remember to come back here and enable the appropriate notification types for it. New member types start with no notifications enabled.
Consider the member journey — A Prospect might not need all the notifications a Full Member gets. Match notification availability to what each member type can actually do on the platform.