Alert Module

Best Practices

Overview

The alert module is designed to call attention to breaking news or critical information.  Based on the type of alert, the alert icon and module box color are standardized so that alerts are easy to recognize by intranet and internet visitors.

The example above is a warning alert, one of four types of alert modules:

  • Critical (red) for highest-level, urgent messages
  • Warning (yellow) for urgent messages with less critical impact
  • Information (blue) for important messages with no risk or urgency
  • Success (green) for important messages with no risk or urgency, positive information

For comparison, examples of all four types are presented at the bottom of this page.

Guidance

  • Place the alert as high on the page as possible.
  • Be brief.
    • Keep titles within five to seven words.
    • Limit descriptions to one or two sentences.
    • Link to details when necessary. (You can place a link on the module title or specify an action link/button.)
  • Don’t leave an alert up too long.  (You can set start and expiration dates.)
Go to Examples
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    Go to Examples
    See examples on this page that illustrate key options.

Examples

The examples below illustrate the four standard alert box styles.  For linking to more information, you can place a link on the module title or on an action button/link text.  You can control the label of the action button and its placement (left, center, right).

Page last reviewed: May 10, 2018
Content source: WCMS / Template Team