diff --git a/src/main/resources/META-INF/xnat/spawner/site-admin-elements.yaml b/src/main/resources/META-INF/xnat/spawner/site-admin-elements.yaml
index 79087d4923d0e403ea0129fbac947adf68a70fcc..9c8620969cbfbb672d89e8794cf4ed2c7586f30b 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/META-INF/xnat/spawner/site-admin-elements.yaml
+++ b/src/main/resources/META-INF/xnat/spawner/site-admin-elements.yaml
@@ -144,6 +144,43 @@ adminEmail:
         on system events, such as errors, processing completion, new user registration and so on. These emails
         can be configured on the Notifications tab.
 
+siteWideAlertStatus:
+    kind: panel.select.single
+    name: siteWideAlertStatus
+    label: Enable Alert Message
+    options:
+        "0": "Off"
+        1: "On (Login Page Only)"
+        2: "On (Login and Site Header)"
+    element:
+        title: Enable Alert Message
+
+siteWideAlertMessage:
+    kind: panel.textarea
+    name: siteWideAlertMessage
+    label: Alert Message
+    code: html
+    description: Enter your message text here. You can use HTML to enter links or add emphasis as needed.
+
+siteWideAlertType:
+    kind: panel.select.single
+    name: siteWideAlertType
+    label: Alert Type
+    description: "Default: Alert"
+    options:
+        message:
+            label: Message
+            value: message
+        alert:
+            label: Alert
+            value: alert
+        error:
+            label: Error
+            value: error
+    element:
+        title: Select Alert Type
+#    value: alert
+
 fileSystemSettingsWarning:
     someInfo:
         tag: div.message
@@ -235,6 +272,18 @@ adminInfo:
     contents:
         ${adminEmail}
 
+siteWideAlerts:
+    kind: panel.form
+    name: siteWideAlerts
+    label: Site-wide Alerts
+    method: POST
+    contentType: json
+    url: /xapi/siteConfig
+    contents:
+        ${siteWideAlertStatus}
+        ${siteWideAlertMessage}
+        ${siteWideAlertType}
+
 generalSecuritySettings:
     kind: panel.form
     name: generalSecuritySettings
@@ -1174,6 +1223,7 @@ adminPage:
             contents:
                 ${siteInfo}
                 ${adminInfo}
+                ${siteWideAlerts}
         security:
             kind: tab
             name: security
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/scripts/xnat/ui/select.js b/src/main/webapp/scripts/xnat/ui/select.js
index 2fe34c52970c271c1e4e86b7be503463c5543bb4..29bf2c4d4015e5caa466d8098571000309708ad1 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/scripts/xnat/ui/select.js
+++ b/src/main/webapp/scripts/xnat/ui/select.js
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ var XNAT = getObject(XNAT);
 
     function addOption(el, opt){
         el.appendChild(spawn('option', extend(true, {
-            value: opt.value || '',
+            value: opt.value !== undefined ? opt.value : '',
             html: opt.html || opt.text || opt.label || opt.value,
             selected: opt.selected || false
         }, opt.element )));
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ var XNAT = getObject(XNAT);
         config.element = extend(true, {
             id: config.id,
             name: config.name,
-            value: config.value || '',
+            value: config.value !== undefined ? config.value : '',
             title: config.title || ''
         }, config.element);
 
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/style/app.css b/src/main/webapp/style/app.css
index 33d385a3a9e9f15cd2a5d4178daebb2ee795a812..34bceb70b9374c86f2668693bab29e901afc3d9b 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/style/app.css
+++ b/src/main/webapp/style/app.css
@@ -733,7 +733,7 @@ div.warning {
 }
 
 div.error {
-    background-color: #ffcfcf;
+    background-color: #ffeaf5;
     background-image: url(icons/icon-error-48.png);
 }
 
@@ -794,19 +794,30 @@ div.warning.no-icon {
 #header div.note,
 #header div.success,
 #header div.warning {
-    background-image: none;
-    border-width: 1px 0;
-    font-size: 11px;
-    margin: 0 -3px 0 -27px;
-    padding: 6px;
+    background-position: 8px 5px;
+    margin: 2em 0;
+    padding: 6px 6px 6px 28px;
 }
 
 #header div span {
+    display: inline-block;
     padding: 0 4px;
 }
 
-#header .close-notification:hover {
+#header .closeNotification {
+    float: right;
     cursor: pointer;
+    width: 60px;
+    text-align: right;
+}
+#header .closeNotification:hover:before {
+    content: 'Close ';
+    color: #808080;
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    font-size: 9px;
+}
+#header .closeNotification:hover {
+    opacity: 0.8;
 }
 
 .warning-inbody {
@@ -826,7 +837,7 @@ div.warning.no-icon {
     min-height: 20px;
     padding: 2px;
     position: absolute;
-    left: 0;
+/*    left: 0; */
     top: 0;
     vertical-align: middle;
     width: 550px;
@@ -1315,7 +1326,7 @@ span.sep {
     /*margin-left: -20px;*/
     line-height: 25px;
     font-size: 11px;
-    letter-spacing: 0.05em;
+/*    letter-spacing: 0.05em; */
     vertical-align: middle;
     color: #fff;
     background: #033769;
@@ -1455,7 +1466,7 @@ span.sep {
     width: 520px;
     height: 20px;
     position: absolute;
-    left: 0;
+/*    left: 0; */
     top: 0;
     line-height: 20px;
     vertical-align: middle;
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/xnat-templates/navigations/DefaultTop.vm b/src/main/webapp/xnat-templates/navigations/DefaultTop.vm
index fcbd990eb96449d72ab4d8f192a1c05260fbb0a0..84e76b20d844ed63f4ddf9ac9b8740a26abc7321 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/xnat-templates/navigations/DefaultTop.vm
+++ b/src/main/webapp/xnat-templates/navigations/DefaultTop.vm
@@ -48,6 +48,46 @@
             #end
         #end
         <div class="clear"></div>
+
+        #if ($siteConfig.pathErrorWarning != "")
+            <div id="warning_bar" style="display:none;">
+                <span class="close"><img src="$content.getURI('images/close.gif')"></span>
+                <span>
+                    XNAT System Path Verification Failure: Contact your system administrator
+                    <span class="tip_text">(<i>what does this mean?</i>)
+                        <span class="tip shadowed">
+                            $siteConfig.pathErrorWarning
+                        </span>
+                    </span>
+                </span>
+                        </div>
+                    #end
+
+                    #if ($sessionCount > 1 || $sessionIpCount > 1 )
+                    ##If you want fewer warnings, you can eliminate $sessionCount > 1 so it will not display a warning for multiple sessions on the same IP, or increase it to $sessionCount > X where X is the maximum number of sessions you can have on the same IP before you get a warning.
+                        <div id="warning_bar" style="display:none;">
+                            <span class="close"><img src="$content.getURI('images/close.gif')"></span>
+                <span>
+                    #if ( $sessionIpCount > 1 )
+                        ATTENTION: You have $sessionCount sessions open from $sessionIpCount distinct IP addresses.
+                    <span class="tip_text">(<i>what does this mean?</i>)
+                        <span class="tip shadowed">
+                            You may have multiple browsers open or may be logged in from more than one computer. If you believe that someone other than you has logged in to your account, please contact your site administrator immediately.
+                            The IP addresses are: $sessionIpCsv.
+                        </span>
+                    </span>
+                    #else
+                        ATTENTION: You have $sessionCount sessions open from one IP address.
+                    <span class="tip_text">(<i>what does this mean?</i>)
+                        <span class="tip shadowed">
+                            There is more than one session open from this computer (at IP address $sessionIpCsv). You could be logged in to XNAT using the same credentials using multiple browsers or from separate user accounts on your computer. If you believe that someone other than you has logged in to your account, please contact your site administrator immediately.
+                        </span>
+                    </span>
+
+                    #end
+                </span>
+            </div>
+        #end
     </div>
 </div><!-- /user_bar -->
 
@@ -69,46 +109,6 @@
     })
 </script>
 
-#if ($siteConfig.pathErrorWarning != "")
-  <div id="warning_bar" style="display:none;">
-    <span class="close"><img src="$content.getURI('images/close.gif')"></span>
-    <span>
-        XNAT System Path Verification Failure: Contact your system administrator
-        <span class="tip_text">(<i>what does this mean?</i>)
-            <span class="tip shadowed">
-                $siteConfig.pathErrorWarning
-            </span>
-        </span>
-    </span>
-  </div>
-#end
-
-#if ($sessionCount > 1 || $sessionIpCount > 1 )
-##If you want fewer warnings, you can eliminate $sessionCount > 1 so it will not display a warning for multiple sessions on the same IP, or increase it to $sessionCount > X where X is the maximum number of sessions you can have on the same IP before you get a warning.
-<div id="warning_bar" style="display:none;">
-    <span class="close"><img src="$content.getURI('images/close.gif')"></span>
-    <span>
-        #if ( $sessionIpCount > 1 )
-            ATTENTION: You have $sessionCount sessions open from $sessionIpCount distinct IP addresses.
-        <span class="tip_text">(<i>what does this mean?</i>)
-            <span class="tip shadowed">
-                You may have multiple browsers open or may be logged in from more than one computer. If you believe that someone other than you has logged in to your account, please contact your site administrator immediately.
-                The IP addresses are: $sessionIpCsv.
-            </span>
-        </span>
-        #else
-            ATTENTION: You have $sessionCount sessions open from one IP address.
-        <span class="tip_text">(<i>what does this mean?</i>)
-            <span class="tip shadowed">
-                There is more than one session open from this computer (at IP address $sessionIpCsv). You could be logged in to XNAT using the same credentials using multiple browsers or from separate user accounts on your computer. If you believe that someone other than you has logged in to your account, please contact your site administrator immediately.
-            </span>
-        </span>
-
-        #end
-    </span>
-</div>
-#end
-
 <div id="main_nav">
     <div class="inner">
 
@@ -217,18 +217,18 @@
 <div id="header" class="main_header"><div class="pad">
 
     #if($siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertStatus","")=="2")
-        <div id="headNotification" class="$siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertType","") hidden" style="margin-bottom: 2em;">
+        <div class="$siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertType","") headNotification hidden">
             <span class="closeNotification"><img src="$content.getURI('images/close.gif')"></span>
             <span>$siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertMessage","")</span>
         </div>
 
         <script>
             if (Cookies.get('NOTIFICATION_MESSAGE') !== 'CLOSED') {
-                jq('#headNotification').removeClass('hidden');
+                jq('.headNotification').removeClass('hidden');
             }
 
             jq('.closeNotification').on('click',function(){
-                jq('#headNotification').slideUp().addClass('hidden');
+                jq(this).parent('.headNotification').slideUp().addClass('hidden');
                 Cookies.set('NOTIFICATION_MESSAGE','CLOSED',{path: '/'});
             })
         </script>
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/xnat-templates/screens/Login.vm b/src/main/webapp/xnat-templates/screens/Login.vm
index 5a8e1c1ff3eb643fc2de8a654941ab4403cbed19..9f8ef53df241d92c0d07109f23b752e96ad15e1b 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/xnat-templates/screens/Login.vm
+++ b/src/main/webapp/xnat-templates/screens/Login.vm
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ $page.setTitle("$siteId - Please Login")
     </div>
     <![endif]-->
 
-#if($siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertStatus","")!="0")
-    <div class="$siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertType","")" style="margin-bottom: 2em;"><strong>$siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertMessage","")</strong></div>
+#if($siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertStatus","")!="0" && $siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertStatus","")!="off")
+    <div class="$siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertType","")" style="margin-bottom: 2em;" data-status="$siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertStatus","")">$siteConfig.getProperty("siteWideAlertMessage","")</div>
 #end
 
 #if($turbineUtils.GetPassedParameter("par",$data))