As you journey throughout the internet and the blogosphere, from time to time you may encounter a problem with a given website. Perhaps the page is not displaying properly, a link is pointing to a page that no longer exists, images are stacked on top of one another or not displaying at all, or a variety of other issues that you may encounter.

When this happens, it is a prime time to make use of the contact form that most websites have available. Here is a checklist for reporting these problems to the person in charge of a given website that will make their life easier, make you seem more informed, and make the problem more likely to get fixed.

First of all, try viewing the page in a different browser if you have one available, if you don’t have another browser available it’s ok. If you are on a Windows machine and using Firefox, try viewing the site in Internet Explorer just to see if you get the same results. By having this information available, you will make it easier for the person on the receiving end of your email to find the problem.

Next, locate the contact form or a contact email address for someone in charge of the site to report the problem to them and send a little message to them. However, don’t just say that the site wasn’t working properly.

Here is a checklist of things to mention and include:

  • Describe the problem as precisely as possible
  • When did this occur (Did it start happening a week ago or is this the first time)
  • What were you doing at the time it happened? Is there anything that seemed to trigger it
  • What operating system are you using
  • What browser are you using (include the version which can generally be found by going to help and clicking on about)
  • If you tried a different browser, what browser did you try and did the problem still exist or did it go away or was it any different
  • What screen resolution is your computer set to

    • If you don’t have all of these pieces of information, don’t be afraid to report the problem, but the idea is to be as specific as possible.