Check Client Config, tab Notifications:

1. Enable Notifications must be set to Yes — this is the master switch, and it's off by default. If it's off, nothing anywhere in the app creates a bell notification (new orders, failed texts, stock alerts, etc.), and the live-updating feed won't even connect.
2. Enabled Notification Types — a checklist (Orders, SMS, Reviews, Payment Failures, Subscriptions, Stock Alerts, Events; all checked by default) that further filters which categories are actually allowed through. If a category isn't checked here, notifications of that kind are silently skipped — not created at all, not just hidden from view.