Every error message consists of two pieces of information:
- Explanation of what happened
- Solution to the situation
When writing an error message:
- Keep it short
- Avoid blaming the user or implying user error. Passive voice can be helpful here
- Clarity is a must, inform about what happened and how to resolve it
- No technical language, no APIs, servers, backends and so on
- An error message is not a place to be funny
- We don’t say “Oops!”
Avoid sorry and please unless it's really necessary
- Don’t apologize effusively
- Use "Please", only when it requires a lot of effort:
Examples:
If something has gone wrong, try publishing the post again.
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