diff --git a/site/src/routes/_error.svelte b/site/src/routes/_error.svelte
index 45dfbaef97..0071e3cea7 100644
--- a/site/src/routes/_error.svelte
+++ b/site/src/routes/_error.svelte
@@ -1,33 +1,71 @@
 <script>
 	const dev = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development';
+
 	export let status;
 	export let error;
-</script>
-
-<svelte:head>
-	<title>{status}</title>
-</svelte:head>
 
-<h1>{status}</h1>
-
-<p>{error.message}</p>
-
-{#if dev && error.stack}
-	<pre>{error.stack}</pre>
-{/if}
+	// we don't want to use <svelte:window bind:online> here,
+	// because we only care about the online state when
+	// the page first loads
+	let online = typeof navigator !== 'undefined'
+		? navigator.onLine
+		: true;
+</script>
 
 <style>
+	.container {
+		padding: var(--top-offset) var(--side-nav) 6rem var(--side-nav);
+	}
+
 	h1, p { margin: 0 auto }
 
 	h1 {
 		font-size: 2.8em;
-		font-weight: 700;
+		font-weight: 300;
 		margin: 0 0 0.5em 0;
 	}
 
 	p { margin: 1em auto }
 
-	@media (min-width: 480px) {
-		h1 { font-size: 4em }
+	.error {
+		background-color: #da106e;
+		color: white;
+		padding: 12px 16px;
+		font: 600 16px/1.7 var(--font);
+		border-radius: 2px;
 	}
-</style>
\ No newline at end of file
+
+	/* @media (min-width: 480px) {
+		h1 { font-size: 4em }
+	} */
+</style>
+
+<svelte:head>
+	<title>{status}</title>
+</svelte:head>
+
+<div class="container">
+	{#if online}
+		<h1>Yikes!</h1>
+
+		{#if error.message}
+			<p class="error">{status}: {error.message}</p>
+		{:else}
+			<p class="error">Encountered a {status} error</p>
+		{/if}
+
+		{#if dev && error.stack}
+			<pre>{error.stack}</pre>
+		{:else}
+			{#if status >= 500}
+				<p>Please try reloading the page.</p>
+			{/if}
+
+			<p>If the error persists, please drop by <a href="https://discord.gg/yy75DKs">Discord chatroom</a> and let us know, or raise an issue on <a href="https://github.com/sveltejs/svelte">GitHub</a>. Thanks!</p>
+		{/if}
+	{:else}
+		<h1>It looks like you're offline</h1>
+
+		<p>Reload the page once you've found the internet.</p>
+	{/if}
+</div>
\ No newline at end of file