Laravel Notifications System: Send Alerts via Mail, Database & More

🔔 Introduction

Have you ever wanted to notify users after an action like a successful order or a password change? Laravel makes this super simple using its built-in Notification system. Whether it’s an email, database alert, or even a Slack message — Laravel’s elegant syntax makes it fun and scalable.

📌 Step 1: Create a Notification

bash
php artisan make:notification OrderShipped

This command creates a class under app/Notifications. It’s where you’ll define how the notification is sent (mail, database, etc.).

📩 Step 2: Sending via Mail

Update your notification like this:

php
public function via($notifiable)
{
    return ['mail'];
}

public function toMail($notifiable)
{
    return (new MailMessage)
                ->subject('Your Order Has Shipped')
                ->line('We’re excited to let you know your order is on the way!')
                ->action('Track Order', url('/orders'))
                ->line('Thank you for shopping with us!');
}

🗃 Step 3: Save to Database

To store the notification in your database:

1. Add 'database' to the via() method:

php
public function via($notifiable)
{
    return ['mail', 'database'];
}

2. Then use toDatabase() method:

php
public function toDatabase($notifiable)
{
    return [
        'message' => 'Your order has been shipped!',
        'order_id' => $this->order->id,
    ];
}

3. Don’t forget to run:

bash
php artisan notifications:table
php artisan migrate

✅ Step 4: Triggering a Notification

From your controller:

php
$user->notify(new OrderShipped($order));

That’s it. Laravel handles the rest!

📥 Optional Channels: SMS, Slack, and Custom

Laravel supports:

• Nexmo (SMS)

• Slack

• Custom channels (e.g., WhatsApp via API)

All of this using the same Notification structure.

🔐 Bonus Tip: Read/Unread Status

Laravel automatically tracks read_at timestamps so you can show unread badges like:

php
auth()->user()->unreadNotifications->count();

And mark them as read:

php
auth()->user()->unreadNotifications->markAsRead();

🧠 Conclusion

Laravel Notifications make it super easy to build user-friendly experiences. Instead of writing separate logic for emails or alerts, you can centralize it with clean code.

Start with a simple use case, and you’ll be amazed how scalable the system is.