Messages - Do you know how to make message boxes user friendly? (1/3 Titles)

Last updated by RebeccaLiu over 11 years ago.See history

Message boxes should have consistent and informative titles and descriptions, and icons should be used appropriately.

Title

The title should contain the application name, so the user knows what application generated the warning/error. This is especially important when developing add-ins (e.g. Outlook add-ins or Smart Tags) as it can be difficult to know what caused the message box to pop up. Application.ProductName and Application.ProductVersion should be used to retrieve the data from AssemblyInfo. There is no need for the title to contain a brief description of the error because that information is readily available in the message box itself.

BadMsgTitle
Figure: Bad Example - Title contains brief description of error, which is already contained in the message box

GoodMsgTitle
Figure: Good Example - Title contains Product Name ("SSW eXtreme Emails!") and Product Version ("12.56")

We have a program called SSW Code Auditor to check for this rule.

Note : The Version Number in the title should only contain the Major and the Minor version numbers (e.g. 11.28) and not the complete Major.Minor.Revision.Build Numbers (e.g. 11.28.92.1198)

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