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I'm trying to figure out what the best solution to a project requirement is. The basic premise is that a site needs to have a notify user feature - similar to how Facebook works.

A listing in the site will appear showing the number of notifications (similar to this site actually, on the top left). A sample notification would be: another user commented on your node.

Another possible notification would be "a node was created in a subscribed taxonomy term".

I've been looking at the Notifications module, but I'm not convinced it can do what I need it to do.

Has anyone ever built a solution to this problem? Or am I looking at a lot of custom work?

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    Message is probably the leading contender for Drupal 7, but yes, you're looking at a lot of custom work. drupal.org/project/message – Patrick Kenny Apr 30 '13 at 23:16
  • Message module looks like a good start - I'll get it a try. Thanks! – PrairieHippo May 2 '13 at 3:13
  • I think the question title is a bit misleading, as it makes me think of email notifications. I don't think these things are called notifications in facebook, are they? Isn't it like "activity stream" or similar? – donquixote Oct 7 '13 at 11:55
  • @donquixote referencing facebook might be confusing. What I was looking for is more in line with how StackOverflow handles it's notifications in the top left. – PrairieHippo Oct 11 '13 at 15:27
  • ok you were the one to mention facebook :) but yes, stackoverflow is a nice example too. and yes, here it is called notifications. that disproves my previous point. – donquixote Oct 14 '13 at 17:02
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For the record: The Notifications module will not do what you want. But worse, the D7 port is in alpha and hasn't progressed since 2011-Dec-04, there are 217 bugs in the issue queue and no maintainer in sight. Its maintenance status is listed as "Seeking new maintainer". In other words, this yet another abandoned Drupal module. Unless you're prepared to adapt and maintain this yourself - stay away.

There is a survey page for notifications modules, but it only confirms that what is called a "Notification" module by Drupal developers provides email notification, which is not what you want. The type of notofication you want tend to be referred to as "flags" by Drupal developers, so you want to search for "flags" in addition to "notifications".

To get on-screen Javascript notifications (similar to Facebook and Stack Exchange), my suggestion for a starting point is to see whether you can combine the Flag module, the Message module and the Rules module to do what you want. But to get these three modules combined to produce the desired effect will not be trivial.

An alternative solution (first mentioned in a comment by Nigel Waters), you could use the Message module to create the activity stream. Then use Views to generate the stream applicable to the currenly logged in user. And finally use the Menu Badges module to display the number of notifications.

You may also want to read: How to create a basic message - notifications system displaying a real time message counter badge?

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    No custom coding needed. I would use the message module to create the activity stream, then use views to generate the stream applicable to the currenly logged in user. Then use the Menu badges module to display the number of notifications. drupal.org/project/menu_badges – Nigel Waters May 1 '13 at 5:37
  • @Nigel Waters, +1. Thanks for adding this. I wasn't aware of this module. You'll get an upvote from me if you add this as an answer. – Free Radical May 1 '13 at 6:36
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    I'm looking into the message module that everyone has suggested. I think that combined with some custom behaviours will achieve what I need. – PrairieHippo May 2 '13 at 13:04
  • This stackexchange discussion is having more info on how to create realtime notifications on the menu / taskbar: drupal.stackexchange.com/questions/68867/… – Druvision Dec 9 '13 at 21:51

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