Error Messages On Web Pages
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6, 2009 in Tech blog Sometimes when you try to visit web page, you’re met with an HTTP error message. It’s a message from the web server that something visualforce page error messages went wrong. In some cases it could be a mistake you made, but web error messages best practice often it’s the site’s fault. Each type of error has an HTTP error code dedicated to it. For example, standard error messages for web application if you try to access a non-existing page on a website, you will be met by the familiar 404 error. Now, you might wonder, which are the most common HTTP errors that people web design error messages encounter when they surf the Web? That is the question we’ll answer in this article. Google to the rescue Why not let millions of Web users tell us themselves what errors they encounter the most? In an indirect way we can do that via Google. The basic idea here is that some of the people who encounter errors when they visit websites will want to
Web Page Error Codes
know more about that error, and will go to the nearest search engine to do so. In short, Google’s search statistics should in this case be able to give us a pretty good idea of which HTTP errors are most common. Using Google Insights for Search (a great tool for estimating the “popularity” of search terms) we went through all of the different HTTP error codes that exist, comparing them against each other. When the dust settled from this little shootout, we had the top list you can see here below. The top 5 errors, according to Google Here they are, listed and explained in reverse order, the five most common HTTP errors. Drumroll, please… 5. HTTP error 401 (unauthorized) This error happens when a website visitor tries to access a restricted web page but isn’t authorized to do so, usually because of a failed login attempt. 4. HTTP error 400 (bad request) This is basically an error message from the web server telling you that the application you are using (e.g. your web browser) accessed it incorrectly or that the request was somehow corrupted on the way. 3. HTTP error 403 (forbidd
server soft error fatal exception error ECC Constraint Length FEC stop error hard error fatal error overflow error error correction Ever encounter an error on your way to a Web site? Of course you have. Don't worry; you'll be glad to know most of
Website Error Messages
them have nothing to do with your PC. It's usually the other guy's fault -- the scripts error message on internet explorer Web server, that is. Here are some of the more common errors you'll see while surfing the Internet. Errors on the Internet, and those web pages color codes annoying error messages, occur quite frequently — and can be quite frustrating — especially if you do not know the difference between a 404 error and a 502 error. Many times they have more to do with the Web http://royal.pingdom.com/2009/05/06/the-5-most-common-http-errors-according-to-google/ servers you're trying to access rather than something being wrong with your computer. Here is a list of error messages (also called HTTP status codes) that you might encounter while surfing the Web and their respective meanings to help you figure out just what the problem is. List of HTTP Response Codes: 400 Bad File Request Usually means the syntax used in the URL is incorrect (e.g., uppercase letter should be lowercase letter; wrong punctuation marks). 401 Unauthorized Server is http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/error.asp looking for some encryption key from the client and is not getting it. Also, wrong password may have been entered. Try it again, paying close attention to case sensitivity. 403 Forbidden/Access Denied Similar to 401; special permission needed to access the site -- a password and/or username if it is a registration issue. Other times you may not have the proper permissions set up on the server or the site's administrator just doesn't want you to be able to access the site. 404 File Not Found Server cannot find the file you requested. File has either been moved or deleted, or you entered the wrong URL or document name. Look at the URL. If a word looks misspelled, then correct it and try it again. If that doesn't work backtrack by deleting information between each backslash, until you come to a page on that site that isn't a 404. From there you may be able to find the page you're looking for. 408 Request Timeout Client stopped the request before the server finished retrieving it. A user will either hit the stop button, close the browser, or click on a link before the page loads. Usually occurs when servers are slow or file sizes are large. 500 Internal Error Couldn't retrieve the HTML document because of server-configuration problems. Contact site administrator. 501 Not Implemented Web server doesn't support a requested feature. 502 Service Temporarily Overloaded Se
on our websites. And they happen in real life. Sometimes it’s because we http://uxmas.com/2012/the-4-hs-of-writing-error-messages made a mistake. Or maybe a system failed. Maybe it really was the user’s fault. Whatever the cause, these errors—and how they are communicated—can have a huge impact on the way someone experiences your website or app. Often overlooked, an ill-constructed error message can fill users with frustration, and send them packing. A well-crafted error message, error message on the other hand, can work wonders. It can turn a moment of frustration (abandonment) into a moment of delight (and ideally, conversion). Every error, regardless of who is to blame, becomes a point of friction for your users. Well-written error messages can help reduce that friction. As UX designers, we like to reduce friction. So let’s error messages on get on with it. Introducing the 4 H’s So how do we write, or rewrite, our error messages to keep our users on track? It’s not that difficult, really. We just need to consider the 4 H’s of writing error messages. Error messages need to be: Human Helpful Humorous Humble Let’s look at these more closely. 1. Human The number one rule is to make sure your error messages sound like they’ve been written for humans. There’s nothing more frustrating than an error like this one. It sounds like it has been written by a robot. For a robot. Put your customer service hat on—think of your error message as a conversation with your user. Make sure it’s polite, understandable, friendly and jargon-free. The Firefox error message is a better example. Think about your audience. How would you explain the error to them, in human speak? Write those words down. That’s your error message, right there. 2. Helpful OK, so your error message is readable. But is