How Do the Different Upload/Download Notifications Settings Work?

There are three levels of notification settings:

• User Settings – This is set under the permissions area when creating or editing a user.
• Workspace Settings – This is set under the "Override Upload/Download Notifications for all workspace users for files in this workspace?" section when editing a workspace.
• Custom Settings per User, per Workspace – This is set by clicking the "N" icon to the right of the workspace/user when editing either the user or workspace.

And the hierarchy is: Custom Settings override Workspace Settings override User Settings.

So, when a user is created or edited and their Notifications are set, these are the settings that will apply to all workspaces they belong to (assuming no other permissions have been set elsewhere). If a workspace is created or edited and "Override Upload/Download Notifications for all workspace users for files in this workspace?" is checked and one of the radio buttons selected, those permissions will apply to all non-Admin users belonging to that workspace, overriding whatever their settings are at the user level. Then, if a user is edited and the "N" icon is clicked to the right of a workspace name, "Send Custom Upload/Download Notifications to this user for files in this workspace?" is checked, and radio buttons selected, this setting will then override both the Workspace Settings and the User Settings. This can also be set by editing the workspace and clicking "N" to the right of the user in question.

As an example, say John and Susan belong to the Project A workspace. John has Upload Notifications turned on and Susan has Upload Notifications turned off. When a file is uploaded to Project A, only John will receive a notification. If you then edit the workspace, check "Override Upload Notifications for all workspace users for files in this workspace?", check the "Send Upload Notifications" radio button, and click Save Workspace, now everyone who belongs to the workspace will receive a notification when a file is uploaded, regardless of their user settings. Likewise, if it was set to "Do Not Send Upload Notifications", nobody would. 

Now let's say you have a third user, David, that should always receive notifications, regardless of how the Workspace Settings are set. You would edit that user, click the "N" icon to the right of the workspace name, check "Send Custom Upload Notifications to this user for files in this workspace?" and select the "Send Upload Notifications" radio button. Click "Save" and "Save User". Now, that user will always receive an upload notification regardless of what his User Settings or the Workspace Settings are.

NOTE: The above only applies to regular users – Admins set their own notifications in the "My Notification Settings" found by clicking your name in the blue bar in the upper-left, and are not affected by any other notification settings.