I ended up inserting a new page before people got to the first  
registration page. The problem with having a note on the form page  
itself, is that some browsers won't even display the form page.  
Firefox, for instance, puts up a page of its own. So our users were  
being scared by the error messages they saw, because they didn't  
understand them.

In any case, our security certificate has been renewed. And we are  
changing ISPs. :-)

Thank you for your replies.

-- Louise

On Sep 19, 2008, at 10:11 AM, Katie Albers wrote:

> In my reading of situations like this, the best model is problems in  
> the Real World... from flight delays to product recalls and it goes  
> like this: In the absense of actual information, people will make up  
> much worse and disastrous stories than you've ever dreamed were  
> possible, given what you know to be the relatively trivial nature of  
> the actual issue. Control the story yourselves, therefore, by  
> providing information.
>
> The problem with the link suggested by Heather is simply that people  
> aren't getting the information until they've encountered the problem  
> and only if they're motivated to go look for it, rather than  
> leaving. (You don't need to know what the message means if you just  
> go elsewhere.) That doesn't sound particularly ameliorative to me.  
> In your place (not having full knowledge here of the situation,  
> etc.) I would probably just put a two line explanation at the  
> beginning of any forms and sell it as a benefit: "This site/form  
> remains secure even in the event of an expired certificate. Any  
> information you enter here is protected."
>
> Katie
>
>
> At 5:41 PM -0700 9/18/08, heather gardner-madras wrote:
>> I agree with your director that it shouldn't be in the navigation or
>> anywhere prominent on the site but agree with you that users will  
>> feel much
>> better if they know what's going on.
>>
>> One way to split the difference, and I think provide a good user  
>> experience
>> for both groups would be to add a link on the form or forms that  
>> will run
>> into this called "Seeing strange messages? Here's what they mean"
>> Which leads to your explanatory page.
>
> -- 
> Katie Albers, Senior Director
> Web-Based Services
> Mary-Margaret Network
> Find.  Grow.  Work.  Play.
> +1 310 356 7550 (voice)
> +1 877 662 3777 x 709
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.mary-margaret.com
>
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