> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://portaldocs.peartelco.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What's New

> How to see the latest Pear Portal features, improvements and fixes

## Overview

The Pear Portal is updated regularly. **What's New** is how you find out what changed, without anyone having to send you an email about it.

Announcements appear on the bell icon in the top right of every page. Each one describes a release: a group of related changes that went live together. You can read them, mark them as read, and go back through everything that came before.

## Where to find it

There are two ways in:

* The **bell icon** in the top right of the page, next to the clock. This shows announcements you have not read yet
* **What's New** in the left menu. This shows every announcement, including ones you have already read

A red number on the bell tells you how many unread announcements are waiting. If there are more than nine, it shows **9+**.

## Reading an announcement

1. Click the **bell icon** in the top right
2. The three most recent announcements open automatically. Click any other title to open it
3. Read through the changes listed inside
4. Some changes include a **Learn more** link that takes you to a page explaining it in more detail

Every change is labelled so you can see at a glance what kind of update it is:

| Label           | What it means                                        |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **New**         | Something that did not exist before                  |
| **Improved**    | Something that already existed and now works better  |
| **Fixed**       | Something that was not working correctly and now is  |
| **Coming Soon** | A change that is on its way but is not available yet |

## Marking an announcement as read

Click **Got it** on any announcement to mark it as read.

It disappears from the bell straight away and the unread count goes down. When you have read everything, the bell shows **You're all caught up.**

<Note>
  Marking an announcement as read only clears it from the bell. It stays on the **What's New** page in the left menu, so you can always go back and read it again.
</Note>

## Looking back through older announcements

1. Click **What's New** in the left menu
2. Announcements are listed newest first, five to a page
3. The three most recent are open. Click any other title to open it
4. Use **Previous** and **Next** at the bottom to move between pages

## Frequently asked questions

**A colleague mentioned an announcement I never saw. Why?**

Some announcements only go to the people they are relevant to. A change to an administrator-only screen, for example, is only sent to administrators. If a change does not affect what you can see or do in the portal, you will not be told about it.

**I clicked Got it by mistake. Can I get it back?**

Yes. Click **What's New** in the left menu. Nothing is ever deleted, and marking something as read only hides it from the bell.

**Does the bell update while I have the portal open?**

It checks for new announcements when you come back to the tab after being away. If you have had the portal open in the background for a while, click onto the tab and the bell will refresh itself.

**Can I get these by email instead?**

Not at the moment. Announcements only appear in the portal.

**I am helping a customer and cannot see the Got it button.**

That is deliberate. While you are signed in as another user, you can read their announcements but you cannot mark them as read on their behalf.