Real-time notification system tracking user mentions, replies, and forum interactions.

Notification Bell

Header Display

Notification bell icon appears in site header for logged-in users via extrachill_header_top_right action hook.

Unread Count Badge

Red badge displays unread notification count when notifications exist.

Notification Page

Click bell icon to navigate to /notifications page with full notification list.

Notification Types

Reply Notifications

Receive notifications when other users reply to your forum topics.

Mention Notifications

Receive notifications when users mention you with @username in forum content.

Future Types

Notification system extensible for additional event types via extrachill_notify action hook.

Notification Components

Actor Information

Each notification includes:

• Actor display name (user who triggered notification)
• Actor profile link
• Actor avatar

Event Context

• Notification type identifier
• Topic title or subject
• Direct link to relevant content
• Timestamp of notification creation

Read Status

Unread count is derived from extrachill_notifications entries where read is false.

Notification Management

Automatic Capture

Reply Capture

Topic authors automatically notified when new replies are posted to their topics.

Mention Capture

Mentioned users automatically notified when content containing @mentions is published.

Notification Cleanup

Old notifications automatically pruned via scheduled cleanup process.

Read State

Notifications are marked as read when the user loads the /notifications page.

Data Storage

User Meta

All notifications stored in extrachill_notifications user meta as serialized array.

Notification Structure

[
    'actor_id' => 123,
    'actor_display_name' => 'Username',
    'actor_profile_link' => 'https://community.extrachill.com/users/username',
    'type' => 'reply',
    'link' => 'https://community.extrachill.com/forums/topic/...',
    'topic_title' => 'Topic Title',
    'time' => '2025-10-06 12:00:00',
    'read' => false
]

Notification Cache

Global cache variable $extrachill_notifications_cache prevents duplicate database queries during single page load.

Action Hooks

Notification Trigger

do_action('extrachill_notify', $user_ids, $notification_data);

Parameters:

• $user_ids (int|array): Single user ID or array of user IDs to notify
• $notification_data (array): Notification data with required fields:
  • actor_id (int): User ID who triggered notification
  • type (string): Notification type identifier
  • link (string): URL to notification target
  • topic_title (string): Title/subject of notification

Handler Registration

Notification handler registered on extrachill_notify action hook with automatic actor enrichment.

Performance Optimization

Single Query Per Page

Notifications cached in global variable after first database query.

Unread Count Calculation

Unread count calculated from cached array without additional queries.

Scheduled Cleanup

Old notifications removed via cron to prevent meta table bloat.

Usage Patterns

Users receive notifications when:

• Someone replies to their forum topics (encourages return visits)
• Someone mentions them in forum content (facilitates conversations)
• Community interactions require their attention

Notification bell provides immediate feedback on community engagement without requiring email notifications.