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Inline notification

Usage

Overview

An inline notification gives feedback that is specific to a form, process or a section level action performed by the user. It appears only one at a time, placed near the relevant area of the UI and has the same width as the container. The height of inline messages can grow with content.

These notifications exist until dismissed by the user, until issue(s) resolution, or when the user navigates away from the current page.

Anatomy

Inline notification messages in order of severity

Inline notifications are based on the severity of the message.

  1. Success messages: indicate a successful operation.

  2. Warning messages: indicate potential issues with a task.

  3. Error messages: indicate that an operation has encountered errors that prevent the user from progressing to the next stage of a task.

  4. General/Neutral Messages: provide helpful information that may aid in task completion or note next steps.

    A user clicks a country code selector and chooses the country from a dropdown list

Inline notifications consist of the following elements:

  1. Icon: provides a visual indication of the message severity.

  2. Title: a short text definition of the notification.

  3. Description (optional): an optional description of the message. It can contain up to 2 lines of wrapped text.

  4. Close button: dismisses the message.

  5. Link (optional): enables users to view further details. Can be part of the title text, description text or can be a distinct entity.

Best practices

  • Use inline notifications when the feedback is from the current page in view.

  • Use inline notifications for instant feedback on a process confirmation (Submit, etc.)

  • Never use inline notifications for system level notifications. Use Toasts instead.

  • Never stack inline notifications in a way that causes content to be pushed down from view. Use the bundled messages pattern instead, as defined further below in the doc.

Interactions

The inline notifications component has the following accommodations for various usage patterns

Usage patterns in the UI showing the notification list the errors and where the occur

  1. Bundling alerts of the same severity: when multiple messages of the same severity arise in the app, the messages may be bundled together so that it is easier to scan and act on the messages.

    • Title: gives the number of the alerts and an optional title message.

    • Hide/show control: expands to view messages or collapses from view.

    • Alert position navigation link: indicates where the alert has occurred and gives users the ability to navigate to the trigger.

    • Description: provides contextual information about the message.

  2. Bundling alerts of different severities: when multiple messages of different severities arise in the app, the messages may be bundled together so that it is easier to scan and act on the messages.

    • Title: Gives the number of alerts in order of highest priority. For example, if there are 5 errors and 5 warnings, the title should communicate the number of errors found and may include an optional title message.

    • Message toggle: Enables the user to toggle between alert groups. Each toggle contains an icon, which indicates the category of the alert, and the number of messages.

    • Navigation link: indicates where the alert has occurred and gives users the ability to navigate to the trigger.

    • Description: provides contextual information about the message.

There are two ways to navigate via inline notifications:

  1. Inline links: enable users to navigate to a help document or view further details.

  2. Navigation links on messages: give users the ability to navigate to the part of the UI that triggered the message.

UX writing considerations

Inline notification title

  • Titles should be short, descriptive, and communicate essential information.

Inline notification description

  • In one or two short sentences, explain what actions the user can take to address the issue and provide a path forward.

  • The description can include a link that directs users to next steps or enables them to view further details.

Legal and support information

Published: March 19, 2025 at 9:30 AM

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