: Re: When writing an error prompt, should we end the sentence with a exclamation mark or a dot? When writing an error prompt, should we end the sentence with a exclamation mark or a dot? I am

@Smith147

Vote Up Vote Down

In a technical manual or documentation or anything similar, you wouldn't put emotion into the text. The only reasons to use an exclamation point are to convey strong emotion or a serious warning.

"Your password doesn't meet the criteria" isn't a dangerous situation. There's no need to use anything but a straightforward and calm voice. Just like you would if you were sitting next to someone in person trying to help them set up their app.

I would only use a exclamation point in an error message if there was something very important going on. Either an outright safety issue or the user was about to delete all their data. Unless you're writing an app that's supposed to sound like a person and be all folksy (and please just don't), you wouldn't speak like a person does, with emotion.

The primary purpose of punctuation in messages from an app is readability. Use a period. A period tells the user that your message is now over. Ellipses imply there is more to come, which isn't the case here.

(0)

Login to post a comment!