# Stay updated

## Alerts

Whether you are waiting for the release of a specific document, or just want to stay up-to-date with a particular area of law, you can use **Alerts**. Once you create an alert, you will be sent an email, daily, weekly or monthly, with any new documents that match the search criteria you've chosen.

For example, if you were waiting for a judgment to be added to vLex, you could use the [Advanced search](/getting-started/quick-start-guide/advanced-search.md) to set up an alert for the party names. If you set a daily alert, anytime a new judgment is added with those party names, you will be notified. 

Additionally, if you are interested in an area of law, and you want to make sure you don't miss any new important documents being uploaded to vLex, you can set up an alert for the key terms for that area of law. You can choose how often you want to be updated and whether you want to receive an email even when no new documents have been added. By asking for an email regardless, you will be certain that there are no newly published documents, saving you the time of going to check.

If you are interested in the developments of a particular document, for example cases, journals, dockets; use notifications.

{% hint style="info" %}
For a step-by-step guide to using this feature, read [Alerts](/features/stay-updated/alerts.md).
{% endhint %}

## Notifications

When you are waiting for a new issue of a [journal](/document-types/books-and-journals.md), monitoring changes to a [docket](/document-types/dockets.md), or want information about your favourite [SmartTopics](/features/stay-updated/smarttopics.md), use the [Follow documents](/features/stay-updated/follow-documents.md) feature to get notifications. The main objective of this feature is to let you know through a web browser or mobile notification when there has been a change to an already existing document.

You can receive a digest of these notifications via email, by going to **Edit your vLex** and choosing a daily or weekly digest on the right. 

![](/files/-Mf-O1M2BH1oniJYn7Ho)

{% hint style="info" %}
For a step-by-step guide to using these features, read [Follow Documents](/features/stay-updated/follow-documents.md) and [SmartTopics](/features/stay-updated/smarttopics.md).
{% endhint %}


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://support.vlex.com/features/stay-updated.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.