Message

A Message provides system feedback for users. Messages can be provided as a prominently-displayed banner with a longer explanation, or as inline validation feedback.

Guidelines

When to use messages

Messages must include text clearly defining the system feedback to the user. They also include an icon to help users recognize the type of message, and they can also feature an optional dismiss button to close the message.

Specifications

The message component may contain the following items:

1. Icon
   Icons simplify user recognition and provide the ability to shorten message text. A specific icon is matched with each message type (e.g., ‘success’) to ensure recognition.
2. Message text
   The message text should be as clear and concise as possible, offering feedback to users. If applicable, it may also suggest next steps.
3. Close button (optional)
   To allow for the message to be dismissed, an optional icon-only quiet button can be included.

The inline message component includes both the icon and message elements, excluding the close button.

Accessibility note

The message icon adds a point of recognition for color-blind users.

Component limitations

The message can contain an unlimited number of characters, and there is no minimum requirement. Ensure that the icon is always aligned on top with the text.

Refer to the Message component in Codex Figma.

Types

Message layout

There are two types of messages, each suited to specific use cases:

1. Message: Utilize it to display system feedback, respond to user actions, or provide information.
2. Inline message: Employ it to offer feedback on the validation of form inputs.

Message type

Depending on the feedback conveyed to the user, the messages can be categorized as follows:

1. Neutral or notice messages provide general user feedback. They are accompanied by the 'infoFilled' icon by default, but the icon may be changed to any other system icon to emphasize a specific aspect of the notice message.
2. Success messages deliver feedback of a successful user interaction, like publishing an article. Accompany the message with the 'success' icon.
3. Error messages have the strongest visual priority of all system messages. Use them to alert the user only in situations when their immediate attention is needed. Accompany the message with the 'error' icon.
4. Warning messages provide important information about circumstances that require caution. Accompany the message with the 'alert' icon.

Inline messages follow the same categorization: notice, success, error, and warning.

Dismissability

Messages can be categorized based on how they are removed from the interface as follows:

Dismiss button

Messages can be dismissed by utilizing the close button within the message. Note that inline messages cannot be dismissable.

Auto-dismiss

Messages can be also auto-dismissable. This means they will automatically disappear after 4 seconds.

This feature should only be used for very short messages to ensure that they can be read and understood before disappearing. When in doubt, do not use auto-dismiss. To prevent error messages from disappearing before users fix the error, do not use auto-dismiss with error messages. Auto-dismiss can be used with or without the manual dismiss button.

Best practices

Consider the following recommendations when working with messages.

Icon

Do:

• Customize the notice message with another icon if needed.
• Use the 'success', 'error', and 'alert' icons to represent their corresponding message statuses.

Don't:

• Remove the icon, as it is essential for reinforcing the meaning of the message.
• Replace the status icon in the success, error, and warning messages.

Message's text

Do:

• Incorporate various text formats and links within the message text as necessary.

Don't:

• Bold all the message text.

Content

Keeping messages clear is ideal for accessibility (reducing cognitive load) and using the right tone provides relevance.

Error message

Error messages let a reader know that there is a problem and should include clear instructions or next steps to solve the problem.

Do:

• Keep messages short and simple, with one or two solutions, to reduce cognitive load. Concise & Accessible
• Use formatting to make the copy easy to skim and help users move through a flow more quickly and confidently. Concise

Don't:

• Give multiple options for fixing the issue. Concise
• Apologize more than once, to avoid eroding the reader’s sense of trust in the experience. Trustworthy

Success message

Success messages let a user know that the action they took was successful.

Do:

• Use clear, positive, short messages. Accessible & Relevant

Don't:

• Include too much information. Concise

Warning message

Warning messages indicate urgent information and consequences to the user (e.g., that an impending action is irreversible). Warning messages should also include a solution to the potential problem.

Do:

• Keep messages short and precise. Concise & Accessible

Don't:

• Write in a way that might cause a reader to panic or worry. Trustworthy

Notice message

Notice messages alert a reader to important, but non-urgent, information. These messages are not generally used for feedback on a user’s actions, but rather for offering neutral information or recommendations.

Do:

• Keep messages in an informative, neutral tone. Consistent & Trustworthy

Don't:

• Include more than one message. Concise
• Use warning or error language. Relevant & Trustworthy

Keyboard navigation

Key	Function
Enter	When the Message is closable and the focus is placed on its close button, it closes the Message. If the focus is placed on a link within the Message, it activates the link.

Demos

Configurable

<cdx-message>Message text</cdx-message>

Name	Value
Props
type	notice warning error success
inline
allowUserDismiss
Slots
default
View
Reading direction	Left to right (LTR) Right to left (RTL)

Fade in

When a message is dynamically added to the UI, use the fadeIn prop to enable a transition.

NPM

<template>
  <cdx-button :disabled="showMessage" @click="showMessage = true">
    Show message
  </cdx-button>
  <cdx-message v-if="showMessage" type="warning" :fade-in="true">
    <p><strong>Warning!</strong> Here's some information you should know.</p>
  </cdx-message>
</template>

<script>
import { defineComponent } from "vue";
import { CdxMessage, CdxButton } from "@wikimedia/codex";

export default defineComponent({
  name: "MessageFadeIn",
  components: { CdxMessage, CdxButton },
  data() {
    return {
      showMessage: false,
    };
  },
});
</script>

MediaWiki

<template>
  <cdx-button :disabled="showMessage" @click="showMessage = true">
    Show message
  </cdx-button>
  <cdx-message v-if="showMessage" type="warning" :fade-in="true">
    <p><strong>Warning!</strong> Here's some information you should know.</p>
  </cdx-message>
</template>

<script>
const { defineComponent } = require("vue");
const { CdxMessage, CdxButton } = require("@wikimedia/codex");

module.exports = defineComponent({
  name: "MessageFadeIn",
  components: { CdxMessage, CdxButton },
  data() {
    return {
      showMessage: false,
    };
  },
});
</script>

Dismiss button

Messages can be made dismissable by setting the allowUserDismiss prop to true.

When the dismiss button is clicked, the Message component hides itself, and a 'user-dismissed' event is emitted to the parent component in case the parent component needs to react to the message dismissal in some way.

Note that inline messages cannot be dismissable.

<cdx-message dismiss-button-label="Close">
	Notice message with dismiss button
</cdx-message>

Auto-dismiss

The autoDismiss prop can be used to automatically remove the message after a period of time. Set this prop to true to use the default display time of 4000 milliseconds (4 seconds). To customize the display time, set the autoDismiss prop to a number of milliseconds.

This feature should only be used for very short messages to ensure that can be read and understood before disappearing. When in doubt, do not use auto-dismiss. Auto-dismiss cannot be used for error messages: if the type prop is set to error, the autoDismiss prop will be ignored and a warning will be thrown if it's set.

Auto-dismiss can be used with or without the manual dismiss button.

NPM

<template>
  <cdx-button :disabled="showMessage" @click="showMessage = true">
    Show message
  </cdx-button>
  <cdx-message
    v-if="showMessage"
    type="success"
    :fade-in="true"
    :auto-dismiss="true"
    :display-time="3000"
  >
    Success! This message will disappear...
  </cdx-message>
</template>

<script>
import { defineComponent } from "vue";
import { CdxMessage, CdxButton } from "@wikimedia/codex";

export default defineComponent({
  name: "MessageAutoDismiss",
  components: { CdxMessage, CdxButton },
  data() {
    return {
      showMessage: false,
    };
  },
});
</script>

MediaWiki

<template>
  <cdx-button :disabled="showMessage" @click="showMessage = true">
    Show message
  </cdx-button>
  <cdx-message
    v-if="showMessage"
    type="success"
    :fade-in="true"
    :auto-dismiss="true"
    :display-time="3000"
  >
    Success! This message will disappear...
  </cdx-message>
</template>

<script>
const { defineComponent } = require("vue");
const { CdxMessage, CdxButton } = require("@wikimedia/codex");

module.exports = defineComponent({
  name: "MessageAutoDismiss",
  components: { CdxMessage, CdxButton },
  data() {
    return {
      showMessage: false,
    };
  },
});
</script>

Multiline message

Message content can contain markup like bold text and links.

<cdx-message type="error">
	<p><strong>An error has occurred.</strong></p>
	<p>Comprehensive explanation of the error.</p>
	<p><a href="#">Link</a> to more information.</p>
</cdx-message>

With custom icon

Only notice messages may have a custom icon.

<cdx-message :icon="cdxIconArticle">
	Notice message with custom icon
</cdx-message>

Vue usage

Message styles and icon will vary depending on the message type (notice, warning, error or success). Messages are block style by default, but can be displayed as inline messages via the inline prop.

Block-style messages can be made dismissable in the following ways:

• By using the allowUserDismiss prop, which adds a dismiss button.
• By using the autoDismiss prop. This can be set to true to use the default display time of 4000 milliseconds (4 seconds), or the display time can be customized by setting autoDismiss to a number of milliseconds. Error messages cannot auto-dismiss: if the type prop is set to error, then the autoDismiss prop will be ignored.

Props

Prop name	Description	Type	Values	Default
type	Status type of Message.	StatusType	'notice', 'warning', 'error', 'success'	'notice'
inline	Whether this message follows the inline design (no padding, background color, or border).	boolean	-	false
icon	Custom message icon. Only allowed for notice messages.	Icon	-	null
fadeIn	Whether the message should fade in. Should be used for messages that are dynamically displayed, not present on page load.	boolean	-	false
allowUserDismiss	Allow the message to be dismissed by the user. Adds an icon-only dismiss button.	boolean	-	false
dismissButtonLabel	Visually-hidden label text for the dismiss button for user-dismissable messages. Omit this prop to use the default value, "Close".	string	-	''
autoDismiss	Enable automatic dismissal of message after a period of time. This prop can be set to true to use the default display time of 4000 milliseconds. To customize the display time, set this prop to a number of milliseconds. Error messages cannot be automatically dismissed. If the type prop is set to error, this prop will be ignored. TODO: consider adding a stricter validator to set limits on this. If the time is too short, the message may not be readable. If the time is too long, the message probably shouldn't be auto-dismissed.	boolean|number	-	false

Events

Event name	Properties	Description
user-dismissed		Emitted when the message is dismissed by the user via the dismiss button.
auto-dismissed		Emitted when the message is automatically dismissed after the display time.

Slots

Name	Description	Bindings
default	Message content.

CSS-only version

Note that some features of the Vue component require JavaScript and are therefore not supported in the CSS-only version (fade in, dismiss button, and auto-dismiss).

Markup structure

TIP

The outer <div> should have one of the following ARIA attributes:

• For notice, warning, and success messages: aria-live="polite"
• For error messages: role="alert"

Message content (can include markup)

<!-- Root element with layout and type classes, and additional attribute(s). -->
<div
  class="cdx-message cdx-message--block cdx-message--notice"
  aria-live="polite"
>
  <!-- Empty span for message icon. -->
  <span class="cdx-message__icon"></span>
  <!-- Div for content. -->
  <div class="cdx-message__content">Message content (can include markup)</div>
</div>

Message layout

There are two layout styles for messages: block and inline. Use the following classes to apply these layouts.

• Block: cdx-message--block (class can be omitted since this is the default)
• Inline: cdx-message--inline

This is a block-style message.

This is an inline-style message.

<div
  class="cdx-message cdx-message--block cdx-message--notice"
  aria-live="polite"
>
  <span class="cdx-message__icon"></span>
  <div class="cdx-message__content">This is a block-style message.</div>
</div>
<div
  class="cdx-message cdx-message--inline cdx-message--notice"
  aria-live="polite"
>
  <span class="cdx-message__icon"></span>
  <div class="cdx-message__content">This is an inline-style message.</div>
</div>

Message types

There are 4 message types, which change the colors and icon depending on the message's purpose. Use these classes to apply the different message type styles:

• Notice: cdx-message--notice (class can be omitted since this is the default)
• Warning: cdx-message--warning
• Error: cdx-message--error
• Success: cdx-message--success

This is a notice message.

This is a warning message.

This is an error message.

This is a success message.

<div
  class="cdx-message cdx-message--block cdx-message--notice"
  aria-live="polite"
>
  <span class="cdx-message__icon"></span>
  <div class="cdx-message__content">This is a notice message.</div>
</div>
<div
  class="cdx-message cdx-message--block cdx-message--warning"
  aria-live="polite"
>
  <span class="cdx-message__icon"></span>
  <div class="cdx-message__content">This is a warning message.</div>
</div>
<div class="cdx-message cdx-message--block cdx-message--error" role="alert">
  <span class="cdx-message__icon"></span>
  <div class="cdx-message__content">This is an error message.</div>
</div>
<div
  class="cdx-message cdx-message--block cdx-message--success"
  aria-live="polite"
>
  <span class="cdx-message__icon"></span>
  <div class="cdx-message__content">This is a success message.</div>
</div>

Multiline message

Message content can contain markup like bold text and links.

An error has occurred.

Comprehensive explanation of the error.

Link to more information.

<div class="cdx-message cdx-message--block cdx-message--error" role="alert">
  <span class="cdx-message__icon"></span>
  <div class="cdx-message__content">
    <p><strong>An error has occurred.</strong></p>
    <p>Comprehensive explanation of the error.</p>
    <p><a href="#">Link</a> to more information.</p>
  </div>
</div>