What do error messages mean

This error message occurs when the server fails to process a script that is being run. The error message will typically contain information relating to the script failure. The resolution to this type of error will be based around the additional information provided in the error message. If you do not see additional information, please ensure that Show friendly HTTP error messages is unchecked.

Access denied. IIS defines a number of different errors that indicate a more specific cause of the error. These specific error codes are displayed in the browser but are not displayed in the IIS log:. Access denied by URL authorization policy on the Web server. This error code is specific to IIS 6. A Bad Request error can show up in a web browser if you type a URL incorrectly or try accessing a web page that isn't open to the general public.

The number one fix is to double-check the URL to make sure it's been entered correctly. If that doesn't help, use a search engine like Google to find the page, which will more often than not lead you to the correct URL. A Forbidden error message can be seen if you try to access a web page that needs a username and password. The page isn't allowing access to the general public. This error doesn't mean that the page isn't available at all, but just that it's not available to you.

It's inaccessible because you're not on the "approved" list of visitors. You might also see a message about permission access, or it might mention that you're unable to list files in the directory because you're not an authorized user. For example, a university might not want non-university students accessing its library reference desk, so it requires credentials to limit access.

If you don't authenticate with the page, you'll see a Forbidden error. The Not Found error is seen when the web page you requested can't be found by the web server that it resides on. This could happen for a variety of reasons, like if the page has been moved without a forwarding address, if the page has been deleted from the server, if an incorrect URL has been entered into the browser address bar, or if the page is temporarily unavailable due to high web traffic or lack of server space.

To fix a error, first check that the page address is valid, and then work your way to the site's home page to see if you can find the page from there or through a search tool on the site. It's possible the page is completely gone, in which case you might have luck digging it up with a site archival service like Wayback Machine.

The network connection refused error appears when a website is experiencing lots of unexpected traffic, is under maintenance, or is only accessible by registered users i.

There's usually no need to try fixing this error because it's more often than not a temporary problem. Wait a few minutes or longer , or try refreshing the page. It also wouldn't hurt to make sure the URL has been entered accurately. Although possibly a stretch, you could also try reaching the page with a VPN if the connection is refused because of your location.

You might also see this error as network connection refused by the server or network connection timed out. It's usually better to prevent an error than to report one. The most obvious error messages to avoid are those that aren't actionable. If users are likely to dismiss the message without doing or changing anything, omit the error message.

Some error messages can be eliminated because they aren't problems from the user's point of view. For example, suppose the user tried to delete a file that is already in the process of being deleted. While this might be an unexpected case from the code's point of view, users don't consider this an error because their desired outcome is achieved. This error message should be eliminated because the action was successful from the user's point of view.

For another example, suppose the user explicitly cancels a task. For the user's point of view, the following condition isn't an error. This error message should also be eliminated because the action was successful from the user's point of view.

Sometimes error messages can be eliminated by focusing on users' goals instead of the technology. In doing so, reconsider what an error really is. Is the problem with the user's goals, or with your program's ability to satisfy them? If the user's action makes sense in the real world, it should make sense in software too. For example, suppose within an e-commerce program a user tries to find a product using search, but the literal search query has no matches and the desired product is out of stock.

Technically, this is an error, but instead of giving an error message, the program could:. As long as the user's request is reasonable, a well designed e-commerce program should return reasonable results not errors. Another great way to avoid error messages is by preventing problems in the first place. You can prevent errors by:.

Sometimes you really do need to provide an error message. Users make mistakes, networks and devices stop working, objects can't be found or modified, tasks can't be completed, and programs have bugs.

Ideally, these problems would happen less often for example, we can design our software to prevent many types of user mistakes but it isn't realistic to prevent all of these problems. And when one of these problems does happen, a helpful error message gets users back on their feet quickly. A common belief is that error messages are the worst user experience and should be avoided at all costs, but it is more accurate to say that user confusion is the worst experience and should be avoided at all costs.

Sometimes that cost is a helpful error message. Consider disabled controls. Most of the time, it is obvious why a control is disabled, so disabling the control is a great way to avoid an error message. However, what if the reason a control is disabled isn't obvious? The user can't proceed and there is no feedback to determine the problem.

Now the user is stuck and either has to deduce the problem or get technical support. In such cases, it's much better to leave the control enabled and give a helpful error message instead. Why is the Next button disabled here? Better to leave it enabled and avoid user confusion by giving a helpful error message. If you aren't sure whether you should give an error message, start by composing the error message that you might give.

If users are likely either to perform an action or to change their behavior as a result, provide the error message. By contrast, if users are likely to dismiss the message without doing or changing anything, omit the error message.

While crafting good error message text can be challenging, sometimes it is impossible without good error handling support from the program. Consider this error message:. Chances are, the problem really is unknown because the program's error handling support is lacking. While it's possible that this is a very poorly written error message, it more likely reflects the lack of good error handling by the underlying code there is no specific information known about the problem.

In order to create specific, actionable, user-centered error messages, your program's error handling code must provide specific, high-level error information:.

Good error messages aren't just a UI problem, they are a software design problem. A good error message experience isn't something that can be tacked on later. Troubleshooting results when a problem with several different causes is reported with a single error message. In the following example, an item couldn't be moved because it was already moved or deleted, or access was denied.

If the program can easily determine the cause, why put the burden on the user to determine the specific cause? The program can determine if access was denied, so this problem should be reported with a specific error message. Use messages with multiple causes only when the specific cause cannot be determined. In this example, it would be difficult for the program to determine if the item was moved or deleted, so a single error message with multiple causes might be used here. However, it's unlikely that users are going to care if, for example, they couldn't move a deleted file.

Although most use dialog boxes or pop-up boxes, notification icons and status bars are also used for displaying error messages. Effective and proper error messages require users to be informed of the problem, why it occurred and give guidance or a solution to resolve the issue. Based on the error message prompt, users are expected to change the data input or behavior or perform a different course of actions. Proper design of error messages is an important criteria in the fields of usability and even in other fields involving human-computer interactions.

For quality user experience, the error messages need to be well-documented and helpful. Poorly documented error messages result in poor user and product satisfaction. By: Justin Stoltzfus Contributor, Reviewer. By: Satish Balakrishnan. Dictionary Dictionary Term of the Day.