404 or 500 error page

[baggyeyes]

Title:
404 or 500 error page

Area:
Text and /or image representing <user name="pauamma">'s suggested message

Summary:
<a href="http://dw-news.dreamwidth.org/13432.html?thread=1467512#cmt1467512">As seen in the News entry</a> for 11/02/2009.

Description:
I want either a TV set graphic with this illustrated, or just a well-worded version:

<a href="http://dw-news.dreamwidth.org/13432.html?thread=1467512#cmt1467512">all-news channel: "In other news, a satellite picture of the forest fires in $location showed the words: We know DW is down, we're working on it."</a>

Poll #1634 404 or 500 error page

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 32

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
4 (12.5%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
2 (6.2%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
17 (53.1%)

(I have no opinion)
9 (28.1%)

(Other: please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[dingsi]

I dislike error and status pages that try to be clever

+1. Especially as some jokes just aren't particularly funny. All I need to know is that a page couldn't be found/loaded/whatever, and why.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, they fall flat more often than not. Like this forest fire thing does nothing for me. Also in particular joking about natural disasters can have really bad timing. I mean, you don't want a forest fire joke your error page when some wildfire just killed people, which is not such a rare occurence.

[dingsi]

Yes, that's exactly what I've been thinking. And even without the potentially offensive ones, I can only remember one customized Error page that I found genuinely funny.* So I tend to say, don't bother, just give me the info.

* For the record, that page had the server apologizing profoundly and at length for not being able to find the page, but I don't remember any specifics.