We also sent out an immediate message to our list explaining what had gone wrong and asking people to be patient with us.

I’m somewhat surprised that sent another email to your list - why did you decide to do this? Did you have to direct them to another petition page?

No, it was simply courtesy — as soon as we got rid of that little piece of default text, people were going to start getting an error message when they hit the button as they were used to doing. This way, they at least had some warning that things were different. It definitely seems to have helped — we got several thank-yous and, it was also a good starting point for people who DID write in to complain. I’d definitely recommend in the future that if you screw something up like that, let the list know! They’re adults and will usually understand the problem and appreciate the communication. — cpd

Turns out, activist groups like ours have trained people to send advocacy messages without a second thought (I doubt many of them even read what they’re signing). So, when our folks got our alert last week, many of them clicked the “send� button without even scrolling down to see what the message said, just as they always do.

This is one of the biggest concerns that I’ve heard from people working on the hill who receive our messages - that when so many messages come in saying the same thing, they are unsure people know, and really support what they are signing.

Without meaning to, this does give a little insite into the number of people this is true of. It must also be said, however, that this doesn’t mean that these people didn’t read the message sent to them and beleive 100% in the action, and in taking action.

And of course the big take away is, as the author says, we have to be very careful when we are changing the experience for our readers.

It’s a bummer that it happened, but I do appreciate you sharing it. We definately all need the reminder!