Sending different types of notifications with Laravel

Laravel provides a clean and flexible way to send notifications via multiple channels like email, SMS, in-app alerts, and push notifications. You define notification channels in the via() method of a notification class, and implement specific methods like toMail(), toDatabase(), or toVonage() for each channel. 1. Use php artisan make:notification to create a notification class. 2. Specify delivery channels in the via() method. 3. Implement channel-specific methods such as toMail(), toDatabase(), or toVonage(). 4. For database notifications, run php artisan notifications:table and use unreadNotifications to retrieve and mark notifications as read. 5. For SMS, integrate with Vonage or Twilio, validate phone numbers, and format messages accordingly. This system allows customization per user and ensures smooth multi-channel notification handling.

If you're using Laravel and want to send different types of notifications — like email, SMS, in-app alerts, or even push notifications — there's a clean and flexible way to do it. Laravel’s built-in notification system makes this easy by letting you define multiple channels for each notification type.

How Laravel Notifications Work

At the core, Laravel notifications are sent through "channels". Each notification can be delivered via one or more channels like mail, database, broadcast, sms, etc. When you create a notification class using Artisan (php artisan make:notification), Laravel generates a file where you define how that notification should look and behave across different channels.

The key method is via(), which tells Laravel which delivery methods to use:

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

You can customize this per notifiable user or model if needed. For example, some users might prefer SMS while others get email.

Common Notification Channels You Can Use

There are several default channels you can work with right out of the box:

• Mail – Send an email using the toMail() method.
• Database – Store the notification in your database using toDatabase().
• Broadcast – Push real-time notifications using Laravel Echo and WebSockets.
• Slack – Send messages directly to Slack using toSlack().
• SMS (via third-party services) – Usually handled with packages like Laravel Notifynder or Nexmo driver.

Each channel requires its own method in the notification class. For example, to send an email, you'll need a toMail() method returning a MailMessage instance.

If you're adding SMS, you’ll likely integrate with a service like Twilio or Vonage, and use their Laravel SDKs to format and send messages.

Setting Up Database Notifications

Storing notifications in the database is useful when you want users to see a history of what’s been sent. To enable this, first run:

php artisan notifications:table
php artisan migrate

This creates a notifications table linked to your notifiable model (usually User). In your notification class, define the toDatabase() method:

public function toDatabase($notifiable)
{
    return [
        'message' => 'You have a new follower.',
        'link' => url('/profile/'.$notifiable->id),
    ];
}

Then, in your controller or front-end logic, you can fetch unread notifications like this:

$notifications = auth()->user()->unreadNotifications;

And mark them as read when displayed:

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

This is helpful for dashboards or dropdown menus showing recent activity.

Sending SMS Notifications

Laravel doesn’t include SMS support by default, but it’s easy to add using the Vonage (formerly Nexmo) driver or a package like Laravel SMS or Twilio integration.

Once set up, you can use the via() method to include vonage or twilio:

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

Then implement the toVonage() method:

public function toVonage($notifiable)
{
    return (new VonageMessage)
                ->content('Your order has shipped!');
}

Make sure your notifiable model has a routeNotificationForVonage() method returning the phone number.

Some tips:

• Always validate phone numbers before sending.
• Keep message content short and clear.
• Consider rate limits and retry strategies.

That’s basically it. Once you understand how channels work and how to structure each notification, sending different types works smoothly. Just plug in the right drivers, format your messages accordingly, and let Laravel handle the rest.

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