[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #54961: Revise "Technical Difficulties" email to remove feature history and improve clarity of action steps

WordPress Trac noreply at wordpress.org
Thu Jan 27 21:25:05 UTC 2022


#54961: Revise "Technical Difficulties" email to remove feature history and improve
clarity of action steps
-------------------------+-----------------------------
 Reporter:  mrwweb       |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement  |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal       |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  General      |    Version:
 Severity:  normal       |   Keywords:
  Focuses:  ui-copy      |
-------------------------+-----------------------------
 As someone who supports websites for numerous people and organizations,
 I've found that the "Technical Difficulties" email with recovery link is
 confusing to many people. I've had multiple people wonder if it's spam and
 many others be generally confused by it.

 I would suggest the following changes based on the feedback I have heard:

 - Change the first line to clearly indicate there is a potential problem
 with the website and drop the reference to WordPress 5.2. This is not
 important information anymore.
 - Move all technical information to the end of the email so as not to
 intimidate and confuse non-technical recipients
 - Be clear that there may or may not be an active problem. I will note
 that probably half of the emails I see sent are for temporary errors
 during updates that seem to have no lasting impact on the site.
 - Suggest people contact their website host -OR- developer (currently,
 only the host is mentioned)

 I have included a copy of the email for easy reference at the end of this
 issue. I'd be happy to work up the patch for this once a few other folks
 weigh in to either confirm or amend the suggestions I have.

 > Howdy!
 >
 > Since WordPress 5.2 there is a built-in feature that detects when a
 plugin or theme causes a fatal error on your site, and notifies you with
 this automated email.
 >
 > In this case, WordPress caught an error with one of your plugins,
 Jetpack.
 >
 > First, visit your website ({url}) and check for any visible issues.
 Next, visit the page where the error was caught ({error path}) and check
 for any visible issues.
 >
 > Please contact your host for assistance with investigating this issue
 further.
 >
 > If your site appears broken and you can't access your dashboard
 normally, WordPress now has a special "recovery mode". This lets you
 safely login to your dashboard and investigate further.
 >
 > {recovery mode link}
 >
 > To keep your site safe, this link will expire in 1 day. Don't worry
 about that, though: a new link will be emailed to you if the error occurs
 again after it expires.
 >
 > When seeking help with this issue, you may be asked for some of the
 following information:
 > WordPress version
 > Current theme:
 > Current plugin:
 > PHP version
 >
 >
 >
 > Error Details
 > =============

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54961>
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