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Alert
draft
Storybook

Alerts display important messages in a way that attracts the user's attention without interrupting their task.

Behaviors

TypePurpose
Persistent

They are usually urgent and intrusive, require immediate attention and require action to be dismissed.

Passive

Are informational, report a system issue that does not require any action by users.

Types

Within Grafana, we have three different types of alerts and they can be used depending on the context and content.

TypePurposeBehavior
Inline

To notify users of the status of an action. They appear at the top or bottom of the main content area

Passive or Persistent

Toast

These temporary window elements are used to display short messages; they appear at the top-right corner of the screen and can be dismissed by clicking the [x] or it will disappear after a few seconds

Passive

Banner

It will remain until the user rejects it or until the status that triggered the banner is resolved

Persistent

Message Type

StatusUsageActionColorIcon
Informational

Provide information to users, and don’t interrupt any current actions

Do not require immediate action and can be dismissed by a user clicking the [X] or passively display until the display timer expires

Blue background

Info-circle

Success

When any action is successful, it is confirmed when a task is completed as expected

Typically do not require further action and can be dismissed automatically or persist in a nonintrusive manner

Green background

Check

Warning

Informing users that an action is undesirable

Often persists until users have taken action to dismiss the notification or taken steps to resolve the issue

Yellow background

Exclamation-triangle

Error

When an action doesn't happen as expected, usually something has failed and the user is expected to take action

Always persists until the user has taken steps to remedy the issue that triggered the notification

Red background

Exclamation-circle

Content

An Alert can contain a single action, dismiss or close actions are optional.

Main elements

  • Icon Status

    • Represent the importance of the message through the color and icon for each status.
  • Alert Copy/Title

    • Should be explicit, clear and short that explain the most important part of the information.
  • Details

    • Precise description for the notification, telling users what they need to do.
  • Button and text links

    • Only persistent notifications should contain text links or buttons.
  • Close Icon

    • Appears when the notification can be dismissed by the user.

Formating

Anatomy

Image description

  1. Icon Status: Informs user what is the notification status
  2. Alert Copy/Title: Notifying with a quick summary of what the message is about
  3. Details: Short description explaining in more detail what the user has to do
  4. Action (optional): Text link button or default button which allows users to navigate to a page with more details

Further Reading & Sources