Inbox: Introduce a consistent two-pane review layout
Tim Jasper
The current Inbox interaction is inconsistent and unnecessarily confusing.
When a notification is selected, its content may expand inline within the notification list. If the notification relates to a task, the task can also open in a panel on the right. In some cases—such as a Chat mention—the same information is effectively displayed both inline and in the right-hand panel.
This creates two problems:
It is not always clear where the notification’s relevant content will appear.
Displaying the content inline and in the right-hand panel is often redundant and uses valuable screen space.
Suggested improvement
Adopt a consistent two-pane layout:
Left pane: Keep notifications as a stable, compact list.
Right pane: Display the context and details of the selected notification.
The right pane should open directly to the relevant location—for example:
The applicable task comment or task activity thread
The relevant Chat thread
The comment, mention, assignment or status change that triggered the notification
This would make Inbox review faster and more predictable. Users could move through notifications from a stable list on the left while viewing and responding to each item in a consistent location on the right.
Ideally, inline expansion could either be removed or retained as an optional user preference. The key improvement is that selecting a notification should produce one clear, consistent detail view rather than varying between inline expansion, a right-hand panel, or both.
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Nicole Salow
I like the two panel idea, I think it would make managing the notifications much easier.
I'd also like to see a change where the most recent notification is shown for a task, even if I haven't viewed the previous one yet. Right now it shows me the old notification instead of the most recent, which is very confusing to me. The sidebar would allow you to then see the old notification and the updated new notification.
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Amber Jones
Nicole Salow Having the option to group notifications on this basis would help with the confusion. If I can review all the notifications on a single task as a group instead of individually this will both help with clearing notifications and ensuring I'm responding to the most recent and relevant information.
Tim Jasper
Hi Bryan Garcia Nicole Salow Mayank Kandoi Yisroel Falkowitz Dora Derado Giljanović Davin McNeil Mark Khazanovich Mathieu Farine Amber Jones Abby Cloete Abdurrahman Arroisi Addy Koo Chong Tee Adriano de Souza Ak'oggy Gőgh Alan Ng - Could I get please get your opinion and/or vote on this suggested feature. I think it is prudent based on your interest in in-line replying. Thanks!
Felipe Covas
Tim Jasper I do think this feature is interesting, but as a layout option, just like it works in emails (Outlook, Gmail, etc.). It would be nice for the person to be able to choose the format in which they would like to see the notifications.
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Mayank Kandoi
Tim Jasper Agreed on this and with other comments. Its frustrating to do all the back and forth with the notifications screen, especially for someone like me who lives off of the inbox. I like the idea of user being able to choose which option they would like to go for, but i think something like how it works on Outlook would be brilliant.
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Amber Jones
Tim Jasper I just upvoted this feature request. This is one of the things that traditional email has figured out how to do well. No need to reinvent what isn't broken. This will definitely make the notification inbox easier to get through from desktop.
Bryan Garcia
Tim Jasper I do agree that the notification panel does need some more clarity and consistency. Would be nice to have the option to see the open ones and then click on them and work with them on the right as well.
Mark Khazanovich
Tim Jasper so we're working on this! I currently primarily use my inbox with tasks showing in sidebar view, which is basically a worse version of what you're suggesting.
A couple thoughts:
- Currently, there isn't a good way in the inbox to filter by notification types - especially with your proposed layout not including the body of the notification in the main inbox view, I would really like to be able to filter/filter out notifications by notification type.
-- EG. I currently am a watcher on many tasks that I want to stay in the loop on, but I don't need to take action on. I would like to be able to, for example, filter out the notifications that are not assigned to me/that I am not directly tagged in so that I can clear the remaining notifications more quickly. Just this functionality would increase my inbox productivity as much or more than your suggested layout changes (although, both would be even better 😊). I also think this addition could probably also address Ignacio Nieto Carvajal's Inbox volume issue.
- Nicole Salow's suggestion of grouping notifications by task would be super helpful and avoid a lot of confusion
Tim Jasper
What are your thoughts on this suggestion?
Ignacio Nieto Carvajal
Tim Jasper uhm... why me? (sorry I think this is the first time we talk, so you probably wanted to tag somebody else?).
Well, I like that proposal, will prevent me from having to go back and forth between the list of notifications and the notification details screen.
That does not solve the biggest issue with notifications, though, that is the fact that I get hundred of notifications I don't care about. That's because ClickUp adds me by default to people to be notified just because I commented on a task or someone tagged me on a task in the past, or just because... 🤷 who knows. My inbox should only include notifications where I am tagged or assigned directly.
Tim Jasper
Hi Ignacio Nieto Carvajal please upvote. The more support I get here the better chance we can get a better inbox :). Also on your point above you can unfollow tasks so you get notifications. Also take a look at your notifications settings. Thanks
Ignacio Nieto Carvajal
Tim Jasper Yeah, like I can unfollow 99+ tasks every day. I am a busy man you know ;)
LBell
I agree the inconsistencies are rough and break my brain on a daily basis.
In my mind, however, the simplest thing is to allow users to ALWAYS open up the full task window from the inbox.
That way, everything I need to understand the history and conversation of what is being discussed is right there.
But that's just me. I don't use the side-pane view of a task, because then things are hidden behind clicks. I'd rather have one consistent view of my tasks so I can easily see what's need to be seen. But I'm all for giving the users the choice! (Use consistent side panel, or use consistent full task modal view).
Other inconsistency, as long as we're on it: threaded conversations in tasks activity are visually different (and harder to see) than threaded conversations in chat channels.
Tim Jasper
LBell Ideally side panel users should be able to scroll down through the task (or chat thread) to see all info rather than click icons (and be taken by default to the data triggering the notification). Your idea of an option to alternatively launch the full task detail is a great idea! In fact Clickup should be able to achieve that functionality immediately without much trouble.
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