Nice messages

Display Backdrop status, warning, and error messages as lightweight popups using the jQuery jGrowl plugin. This avoids page layout shifts caused by native message markup and provides a consistent, themeable notification experience.

Features

• Popup rendering for status, warning, and error messages via jGrowl
• Global, per-page, or per-user visibility controls
• Per-type lifetime, glue, and speed settings
• No duplicate native message markup when popups are enabled
• Ships with bundled jGrowl assets under lib/jgrowl

Requirements

• Backdrop CMS 1.x
• jQuery (bundled in Backdrop core)

Installation

• Install this module using the official Backdrop CMS instructions:
  https://backdropcms.org/guide/modules

• The module bundles the jGrowl library at lib/jgrowl and loads it via Backdrop’s library system; no extra download is required.

Configuration

• Go to Administration > Configuration > System > Nice messages
  (admin/config/system/nicemessages).
• Choose the default state: On, Off, or User-controlled (requires permission).
• Adjust position and per-type settings (lifetime, glue, speed).
• Configure page visibility rules using path patterns (* wildcard supported). Examples: blog, blog/*, <front>.

Permissions

• administer nicemessages: Access the configuration form.
• toggle nicemessages: Users with this permission can enable/disable popups on their account edit page (user/$uid/edit).

Behavior and Notes

• Libraries: jGrowl assets are declared with hook_library() and attached on non-AJAX requests; AJAX responses rely on the base page assets.
• The module overrides the status_messages theme function and suppresses native markup to prevent duplicates when popups are active.
• If messages do not appear on dynamic/AJAX-heavy pages, ensure at least one non-AJAX page load has occurred since cache clear so assets are present.

Troubleshooting

• No popups appear:
  
  • Clear caches, then load a regular (non-AJAX) page.
  • Check browser console for errors involving jGrowl or BackDrop.behaviors.
  • Verify lib/jgrowl/jquery.jgrowl.min.js and .css are present.
• Native messages still render:
  
  • Clear caches; check that no theme overrides are forcing native status_messages output.
• User toggle not working:
  
  • Ensure the field field_user_nicemessages_enabled exists on the User entity (created on module install) and users have the toggle nicemessages permission.

Issues

Bug reports and feature requests:
https://github.com/backdrop-contrib/nicemessages/issues

Maintainers

• Alan Mels
• Seeking additional maintainers

Credits

• Ported to Backdrop CMS by Alan Mels
• Originally written for Drupal by Blazej Owczarczyk (blazey)
• Sponsored by AltaGrade

License

This project is GPL v2 software. See LICENSE.txt for the complete text.