The bell in the console’s top bar tells you what has happened in your store since you last looked: a new order, a return request, a review waiting for approval, a customer’s message, and news about your campaigns, your domain, your subscription and your support tickets. This article explains the count on the bell, every kind of notification and where each one takes you.
The bell and its count
The bell sits at the end of the top bar on every page, beside Help. A red number on it counts the notifications nobody at your store has read yet. Above 99 it shows 99+.
- In the top bar, press the bell. The Notifications panel opens.
- Read down the list. The newest are at the top.
- Press a notification to open what it is about.
Each line has an icon for its kind, a short sentence, how long ago it happened (2h ago, 10h ago) and, while unread, a green dot. The panel holds your 30 most recent notifications, read and unread together; the count on the bell includes every unread one, even beyond those 30.
The panel opens over whatever page you are on. Close it by pressing the bell again, clicking anywhere else or pressing Esc.
- The count is checked when the console loads and each time you open the bell. If the console has been open all afternoon, open the bell to see what has arrived since.
- Notifications belong to the store, not to one person. Everyone who works in your console sees the same list. When anyone reads a notification, it is read for everyone, so two colleagues never both deal with the same order alert.
- They follow the console’s language. Switch the console to Arabic and the whole list reads in Arabic, including notifications that arrived earlier.
- Most of these events are also emailed, so you hear about a new order even when the console is closed. New orders and returns go to the Contact email in Settings; trial, payment and plan notices go to your billing email.
What each notification means, and where it opens
Pressing a notification marks it read and opens the page it is about. It stays in the list afterwards, in normal type, so you can find it again.
Your orders, customers, campaigns, domain and support
| Notification | What happened | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| New order ORD-… | A customer placed an order. | That order. See Work through your orders list. |
| Return requested on order ORD-… | A customer asked to return items, from their order page on your storefront: signed in to their account, or as a guest from the link in their order email. Returns are on Starter and up. A return you create yourself in the console adds no notification. | That order. See Handle a return. |
| New 4-star review awaiting approval | A customer left a review, with its star rating. It is not on your storefront until you approve it. | Reviews. See Approve, unpublish or delete reviews. |
| New message from (name) | A customer wrote to you through your storefront’s contact form. | Messages. See Read and answer customer messages. |
| Campaign sent to (number) subscribers | A newsletter campaign finished sending. | Campaigns. See See how your campaigns did and reuse them. |
| Could not send your campaign to (number) of your subscribers | A campaign finished without reaching any of its subscribers. | Campaigns. |
| A campaign was not sent: your plan does not include newsletters and campaigns. Move up to send it. | A campaign was due to go out, but your plan no longer includes campaigns, so it went back to your drafts. Campaigns are on Growth and up. | Subscription, where you can move up and send it. |
| A campaign stopped part-way: your plan no longer includes newsletters and campaigns. Sent: (number) · Not sent: (number). | Your plan changed while a campaign was sending, so the rest of it was not sent. | Subscription. |
| Your domain (domain) is verified — one step left | Your own domain passed its check and is being made ready. | Your domain. See Connect your own domain. |
| Your storefront is now live on (domain) | Your storefront is open on your own domain. | Your domain. |
| We replied about (subject) | Our support team answered one of your tickets. | That ticket. See Follow a ticket and reply to us. |
Your plan and payments
Every notice about your plan or a payment opens Subscription. In the bell they read like this, with your plan’s name, the amount and the dates filled in:
| Notification | What happened |
|---|---|
| Your free trial ends in (days) — we then charge (amount) for (plan) | Three days before your trial ends and the first payment is taken. See How the free trial works. |
| Your free trial of (plan) ends in (days). Nothing is charged, and your store moves to Free. | The same reminder, for a trial you cancelled. |
| Your free trial of (plan) did not start: a free trial is one per store, email and card. Nothing was charged. | Your store, email or card had already had its free trial. You can still pay for the plan. |
| Your (plan) payment did not go through. Your store keeps every feature until (date). | A renewal payment failed. Your store stays fully open for 7 days while you fix it. See A payment failed. |
| Your bank asks you to confirm the (plan) payment. Your store keeps every feature until (date). | The payment needs you to confirm it with your bank, not a new card. |
| Your (plan) payment is still unpaid — your store moves to Free in (days) unless it goes through | Two days before the 7 days run out. |
| Your (plan) payment went through. Nothing changes. | A failed payment went through after all. |
| (plan) stays until (date), then your store moves to Free. Nothing more is charged. | You cancelled your subscription. See Cancel your subscription. |
| (plan) ends in (days), on (date). Your store then moves to Free. | A week before a cancelled plan ends. |
| You kept (plan). It renews as before. | You took back a cancellation. |
| Your store moves to (plan), billed (cycle), on (date). You keep what you have now until then. | You booked a move down for the end of the period you have paid for. See Upgrade or change your plan. |
| Your store is now on (plan), billed (cycle). Open Subscription for the details. | Your plan or billing cycle changed. |
| Your (plan) plan ended, so your store moved to Free. Open Subscription to see what was switched off. | A paid plan ended — cancelled, or still unpaid after the 7 days. See After 7 days: your store moves to Free. |
| We cancelled a second subscription for your store. Your plan is unchanged. | Stripe held a second subscription for your store. We cancelled it, and refunded it if it had taken money. |
| Your (plan) plan, arranged with our team, ends in (days), on (date). Talk to us to extend it. | A week before a plan agreed with our team reaches its end date. |
Most of these are also emailed to your billing email, which is the address you signed up with until you change it on the Subscription page. A booked move down, a kept subscription and a payment that went through after all are in the bell only. See See your plan, usage and billing.
A notification about something your role cannot open still appears in the list, and pressing it opens the page, which then says it could not load. See Staff roles: what each one can see and do.
Note
Each reply from us adds one notification to the bell. The number beside Support in the sidebar works differently: it stays until you open the ticket. So a reply you have marked read in the bell can still show as waiting in Support.
The bell is for things that happened. Things your store is still missing, such as an unpublished policy page, are on your dashboard’s setup list instead: see The setup list before your first publish.
Mark all read
When you have caught up, press Mark all read at the top of the panel. Every unread notification becomes read, for everyone at your store, and the count leaves the bell.
The list stays as it was, so you can still open any of them. Mark all read shows only while something is unread. There is no way to mark a notification unread again, so if you want to come back to an order later, open it first or note its number.
When nothing has happened yet
A new store has an empty bell. The panel says No notifications yet. New orders, reviews and messages appear here.
Your first notification usually arrives with your first order, once your storefront is published and customers can find it.
What to do next
Open your orders list (opens in a new tab) to work through new orders: see Work through your orders list. For everything else in the top bar, see Find your way around the console.