Inline error

Inline errors are brief, in-context messages that tell merchants something went wrong with a single or group of inputs in a form. Use inline errors to help merchants understand why a form input may not be valid and how to fix it.

Examples

Use when the merchant has entered information that is not valid into multiple fields inside of a form, or needs to be displayed in a non-standard position in the form layout.

Drag to resize example

Props

fieldIDRequired
string
Unique identifier of the invalid form field that the message describes
messageRequired
string | ReactElement | (string | ReactElement)[]
Content briefly explaining how to resolve the invalid form field input.

Accessibility

  • Use the required fieldID prop to give the inline error a unique id. This ties the error to a form field using aria-describedby so that it's conveyed to screen reader users.
  • Use the required message prop to provide the text that describes the error.
  • The inline error icon helps visually identify the error message for merchants who have difficulty seeing colors or who use settings that remove color from the page.

Basic inline error

Use when the merchant has entered information that is not valid into multiple fields inside of a form, or needs to be displayed in a non-standard position in the form layout.

Inline error for Android

Accessibility

See Material Design and development documentation about accessibility for Android:

Basic inline error

Use when the merchant has entered information that is not valid into multiple fields inside of a form, or needs to be displayed in a non-standard position in the form layout.

Inline error for iOS

Accessibility

See Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and API documentation about accessibility for iOS:

Best practices

Inline errors should:

  • Be brief
  • Be written in sentence case
  • Be visible immediately upon a form input that is not valid
  • Be removed as soon as the input is valid so merchants can immediately tell they fixed the issue
  • Describe specific solutions so merchants can successfully complete their task in the form
  • Not be placed out of context of the input or group of inputs they describe

Learn more about error message patterns

Content guidelines

Inline error messages

Since the error message is directly below the source of the problem, the copy only needs to explain why the error happened. Optionally, the message can clarify what to do next or offer a one-click fix.

Inline error messages should:

  • Clearly explain what went wrong, give a next step, or offer a one-click fix
  • Be short and concise, no more than a single sentence
  • Use passive voice so merchants don’t feel like they’re being blamed for the error

  • Store name is required

  • You didn’t enter a store name.

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