Template.notification_item.helpers({ nice_time: function(){ return moment(this.timestamp).fromNow(); }, properties: function(){ return this.properties; }, notificationHTML: function(){ return getNotification(this.event, this.properties).html; } }); Template.notification_item.events({ 'click .action-link': function(event, instance){ var notificationId=instance.data._id; Notifications.update( {_id: notificationId}, { $set:{ read: true } }, function(error, result){ if(error){ console.log(error); } } ); } });