When to dismiss/hide a error/warning message that has no solution for the user

Question

According to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh465304.aspx we shall not use the error/warning bar to display messages that have no solution.

Instead we shall use inline messages at the top of the page. How are those messages suppose to disappear? With a timeout? If yes, how much delay?

Answer 1

Hi Phil,

What do you mean by a message which has no solution? The Errors table in the document you reference suggests messages at the top of the page for errors which the app cannot solve but which the user can: in that case the error message would go away when the error condition no longer applies. The example is "Mail cannot sync at the moment". That would remain at the top of the page until mail can sync.

--Rob 

Answer 2

Thanks Rob! So the "can not sync" message would not be something the user is supposed to "try again"? I am just confused what the UX guidelines are for such errors/warnings. And is there only 1 solution allowed or would be something like "Mail cannot sync at the moment [Retry] [Change Account settings]" be possible too?

Of course if there is no internet connection the error could just simply say "Mail cannot sync at the moment. No Internet connection. Will retry if Internet connection is established again".