Notification System

We'd like to start alerting users to events that are likely to be of interest given their current context.

For example:

• A new PR is submitted to the repository they're currently working on
  • This can include a link to open the new PR without loading a new solution
• A new inline commit is submitted to the PR the user has checked out
  • This can include a link to open the inline comment
• The user commits to a branch on a GitHub repository that doesn't have a remote
  • This could include a link to fork the repository if it isn't owned by the user
  • This could include a link to create a WIP PR if the repository is owned by the user

The Team Explorer extension does something similar the first time a user commits to repository that hasn't yet been uploaded to a hosting provider.

The alert looks like this:

Backup and share your changes is a hyperlink that navigates to the Team Explorer - Synchronization page:

Some Questions

• Should we see if it's possible to use the existing Team Explorer bubble alerts?
• Should be create a similar looking alert if re-use isn't possible?
• Should we design out own distinctive alerts?
• Should be investigate using the Windows 10 alert system?

Related

• Notifications and Progress for Visual Studio
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/extensibility/ux-guidelines/notifications-and-progress-for-visual-studio
• Notification bubbles
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/extensibility/ux-guidelines/notifications-and-progress-for-visual-studio?view=vs-2017#BKMK_NotificationBubbles

Notification bubbles can appear as informational within an editor/designer or as part of the Windows Notification area. The user perceives these bubbles as issues that they can resolve later, which is a benefit for noncritical notifications. Bubbles are inappropriate for critical information that the user must solve right away. If you do use notification bubbles in Visual Studio, follow the Windows Desktop guidance for notification bubbles.

• Windows Desktop guidance for notification bubbles
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/uxguide/mess-notif