The purpose of this page is to suggest standard phrasing for common messages.
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Type | Case | Shown in | Final Text | Examples | Guidelines / Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Error | Missing required field | Field tooltip | [field name] required |  | |
Max characters exceeded | Field tooltip | Maximum [x] characters allowed |  | ||
Invalid characters | Field tooltip | Special characters not allowed |  | ||
Invalid syntax / format | Field tooltip | [Field name] must be in the format: |   | ||
Entity already exists | Field tooltip | [Entity name] already exists |  | ||
Failure to retrieve data | Widget / menu / pop-up / details pane | Header: [Selected item(s)] Title: Cannot retrieve data. Content: Try refreshing the page. |   Additional examples | In case of a widget / menu / details pane, the text will be followed by an illustration | |
Failure to save changes due to system issue | Toast | Title: Cannot save changes to [Entity] Content: Try again. If problem persists, contact your system administrator. |  | ||
Failure to apply changes due to internal logic issue | Pop-up | Header: [Selected item(s)] Title: Cannot apply changes Content: [Exact phrasing depending on the specific case]. |  | Describe the issue and reason (if relevant) and offer means for recovery. | |
Password is incorrect | Login page / field tooltip | Incorrect user name or password |  | Invalid characters validation will not be applied to password fields. Caps lock and Num lock will be identified on typing (see below). | |
Access denied | Widget / details pane / filter pane | To access [entity name], you need permission. To [X], you need [privilege_name] privilege. Contact your administrator. | To access future data, you need permission. To export interactions you need administrator privilege. Contact your system administration. | ||
Entity being used by another user | Pop-up / details pane | Header: [Selected item(s)] Title: Cannot [perform action] Content: The [entity name] is being [action] by another user. Try again later. |  | ||
Errors in form | Form, next to dialog buttons | Form has an error or Form has [X] errors |  | In case there are both errors and warnings, only the error message will appear (see warnings below). | |
Warning | Delete item | Pop-up | Header: [Selected item(s)] Title: Delete [entities]? Content: [the consequence/impact] Buttons: Delete / Cancel |  | Add number of entities, if possible. |
Warnings in form | Form, next to dialog buttons | Form has a warning or Form has [X] warnings |  | In case there are both errors and warnings, only the error message will appear (see errors in form above). | |
Attempt to leave a form (or a page) with unsaved changes (“dirty state”) | Pop-up | Header: [Selected item(s)] Title: Leave[“form”/”page”]? Content: Changes you made will not be saved Buttons: Leave anyway / Keep editing (primary) |  | ||
Attempt to leave a form (or a page) while there are errors | Pop-up | Header: [Selected item(s)] Title: Leave [“form”/”page”]? Content: [“form”/”page”] has errors. Leaving this page will revert all fields to their last valid values. Buttons: Leave anyway / Keep editing (primary) |  | ||
Success | Action completed successfully | Toast | Success! [Entity] [Action (passive)] |    | |
Info | No results found when search criteria and filters are applied | Widget | No results found. Try different search criteria or clear all filters. No results found. Try different search criteria. | | |
Empty state | Widget | No [entity] to display. No [entity] added yet. | No cases to display. No trends added yet. | ||
Action in progress | Toast | [Action] [entity] (Optional:) This may take [amount of time] |   | If the action can be undone, a cancel button may be added | |
Caps lock / Num lock is on (when typing a password) | Tooltip | Caps lock / Num lock is on |  | Applied on password text field, triggered automatically |
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