diff --git a/ghost/admin/views/base.js b/ghost/admin/views/base.js
index 6b447d1bd6..542900100b 100644
--- a/ghost/admin/views/base.js
+++ b/ghost/admin/views/base.js
@@ -73,7 +73,10 @@
                 this.removeSubviews();
             }
             return Backbone.View.prototype.remove.apply(this, arguments);
-        },
+        }
+    });
+
+    Ghost.Views.Utils = {
 
         // Used in API request fail handlers to parse a standard api error
         // response json for the message to display
@@ -115,7 +118,7 @@
             }
             return vars;
         }
-    });
+    };
 
     /**
      * This is the view to generate the markup for the individual
diff --git a/ghost/admin/views/blog.js b/ghost/admin/views/blog.js
index 276a3473f9..f8204cc3b2 100644
--- a/ghost/admin/views/blog.js
+++ b/ghost/admin/views/blog.js
@@ -72,9 +72,9 @@
         },
 
         removeItem: function () {
-            var view = this;
+            var self = this;
             $.when(this.$el.slideUp()).then(function () {
-                view.remove();
+                self.remove();
             });
         },
 
diff --git a/ghost/admin/views/editor.js b/ghost/admin/views/editor.js
index cf9c4c4dfe..e98d6b2766 100644
--- a/ghost/admin/views/editor.js
+++ b/ghost/admin/views/editor.js
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@
         },
 
         toggleStatus: function () {
-            var view = this,
+            var self = this,
                 keys = Object.keys(this.statusMap),
                 model = this.model,
                 prevStatus = this.model.get('status'),
@@ -112,10 +112,10 @@
                     message: 'Your post: ' + model.get('title') + ' has been ' + keys[newIndex],
                     status: 'passive'
                 });
-            }, function (response) {
+            }, function (xhr) {
                 var status = keys[newIndex];
                 // Show a notification about the error
-                view.reportSaveError(response, model, status);
+                self.reportSaveError(xhr, model, status);
                 // Set the button text back to previous
                 model.set({ status: prevStatus });
             });
@@ -136,10 +136,9 @@
 
         handleStatus: function (e) {
             if (e) { e.preventDefault(); }
-            var view = this,
-                status = $(e.currentTarget).attr('data-set-status');
+            var status = $(e.currentTarget).attr('data-set-status');
 
-            view.setActiveStatus(status, this.statusMap[status]);
+            this.setActiveStatus(status, this.statusMap[status]);
 
             // Dismiss the popup menu
             $('body').find('.overlay:visible').fadeOut();
@@ -147,8 +146,8 @@
 
         updatePost: function (e) {
             if (e) { e.preventDefault(); }
-            var view = this,
-                model = view.model,
+            var self = this,
+                model = this.model,
                 $currentTarget = $(e.currentTarget),
                 status = $currentTarget.attr('data-status'),
                 prevStatus = model.get('status');
@@ -168,7 +167,7 @@
                 });
             }
 
-            view.savePost({
+            this.savePost({
                 status: status
             }).then(function () {
                 Ghost.notifications.addItem({
@@ -176,15 +175,10 @@
                     message: ['Your post "', model.get('title'), '" has been ', status, '.'].join(''),
                     status: 'passive'
                 });
-            }, function (request) {
-                var message = view.getRequestErrorMessage(request) || model.validationError;
-
-                Ghost.notifications.addItem({
-                    type: 'error',
-                    message: message,
-                    status: 'passive'
-                });
-
+            }, function (xhr) {
+                // Show a notification about the error
+                self.reportSaveError(xhr, model, status);
+                // Set the button text back to previous
                 model.set({ status: prevStatus });
             });
         },
@@ -214,7 +208,7 @@
 
             if (response) {
                 // Get message from response
-                message = this.getErrorMessageFromResponse(response);
+                message = Ghost.Views.Utils.getRequestErrorMessage(response);
             } else if (model.validationError) {
                 // Grab a validation error
                 message += "; " + model.validationError;
@@ -228,9 +222,7 @@
         },
 
         render: function () {
-            var status = this.model.get('status');
-
-            this.setActiveStatus(status, this.statusMap[status]);
+            this.$('.js-post-button').text(this.statusMap[this.model.get('status')]);
         }
 
     });
@@ -337,19 +329,21 @@
         // Currently gets called on every key press.
         // Also trigger word count update
         renderPreview: function () {
-            var view = this,
+            var self = this,
                 preview = document.getElementsByClassName('rendered-markdown')[0];
             preview.innerHTML = this.converter.makeHtml(this.editor.getValue());
-            view.$('.js-drop-zone').upload({editor: true});
+            this.$('.js-drop-zone').upload({editor: true});
             Countable.once(preview, function (counter) {
-                view.$('.entry-word-count').text($.pluralize(counter.words, 'word'));
-                view.$('.entry-character-count').text($.pluralize(counter.characters, 'character'));
-                view.$('.entry-paragraph-count').text($.pluralize(counter.paragraphs, 'paragraph'));
+                self.$('.entry-word-count').text($.pluralize(counter.words, 'word'));
+                self.$('.entry-character-count').text($.pluralize(counter.characters, 'character'));
+                self.$('.entry-paragraph-count').text($.pluralize(counter.paragraphs, 'paragraph'));
             });
         },
 
         // Markdown converter & markdown shortcut initialization.
         initMarkdown: function () {
+            var self = this;
+
             this.converter = new Showdown.converter({extensions: ['ghostdown']});
             this.editor = CodeMirror.fromTextArea(document.getElementById('entry-markdown'), {
                 mode: 'markdown',
@@ -359,24 +353,22 @@
                 dragDrop: false
             });
 
-            var view = this;
-
             // Inject modal for HTML to be viewed in
             shortcut.add("Ctrl+Alt+C", function () {
-                view.showHTML();
+                self.showHTML();
             });
             shortcut.add("Ctrl+Alt+C", function () {
-                view.showHTML();
+                self.showHTML();
             });
 
             _.each(MarkdownShortcuts, function (combo) {
                 shortcut.add(combo.key, function () {
-                    return view.editor.addMarkdown({style: combo.style});
+                    return self.editor.addMarkdown({style: combo.style});
                 });
             });
 
             this.editor.on('change', function () {
-                view.renderPreview();
+                self.renderPreview();
             });
         },
 
diff --git a/ghost/admin/views/login.js b/ghost/admin/views/login.js
index 71d0eef903..e6b1a584e7 100644
--- a/ghost/admin/views/login.js
+++ b/ghost/admin/views/login.js
@@ -52,8 +52,7 @@
             event.preventDefault();
             var email = this.$el.find('.email').val(),
                 password = this.$el.find('.password').val(),
-                redirect = this.getUrlVariables().r,
-                self = this;
+                redirect = Ghost.Views.Utils.getUrlVariables().r;
 
             $.ajax({
                 url: '/ghost/signin/',
@@ -66,10 +65,10 @@
                 success: function (msg) {
                     window.location.href = msg.redirect;
                 },
-                error: function (obj, string, status) {
+                error: function (xhr) {
                     Ghost.notifications.addItem({
                         type: 'error',
-                        message: self.getRequestErrorMessage(obj),
+                        message: Ghost.Views.Utils.getRequestErrorMessage(xhr),
                         status: 'passive'
                     });
                 }
@@ -88,8 +87,7 @@
         submitHandler: function (event) {
             event.preventDefault();
             var email = this.$el.find('.email').val(),
-                password = this.$el.find('.password').val(),
-                self = this;
+                password = this.$el.find('.password').val();
 
             $.ajax({
                 url: '/ghost/signup/',
@@ -101,10 +99,10 @@
                 success: function (msg) {
                     window.location.href = msg.redirect;
                 },
-                error: function (obj, string, status) {
+                error: function (xhr) {
                     Ghost.notifications.addItem({
                         type: 'error',
-                        message: self.getRequestErrorMessage(obj),
+                        message: Ghost.Views.Utils.getRequestErrorMessage(xhr),
                         status: 'passive'
                     });
                 }
diff --git a/ghost/admin/views/settings.js b/ghost/admin/views/settings.js
index fdc426613c..ce8ef09469 100644
--- a/ghost/admin/views/settings.js
+++ b/ghost/admin/views/settings.js
@@ -95,15 +95,22 @@
                 checkboxClass: 'icheckbox_ghost'
             });
         },
-        saveSuccess: function () {
+        saveSuccess: function (model, response, options) {
+            // TODO: better messaging here?
             Ghost.notifications.addItem({
                 type: 'success',
                 message: 'Saved',
                 status: 'passive'
             });
         },
-        saveError: function (message) {
-            message = message || 'Something went wrong, not saved :(';
+        saveError: function (model, xhr) {
+            Ghost.notifications.addItem({
+                type: 'error',
+                message: Ghost.Views.Utils.getRequestErrorMessage(xhr),
+                status: 'passive'
+            });
+        },
+        validationError: function (message) {
             Ghost.notifications.addItem({
                 type: 'error',
                 message: message,
@@ -210,12 +217,12 @@
                 ne2Password = this.$('#user-new-password-verification').val();
 
             if (newPassword !== ne2Password) {
-                this.saveError('The passwords do not match');
+                this.validationError('Your new passwords do not match');
                 return;
             }
 
-            if (newPassword.length < 7) {
-                this.saveError('The password is not long enough. Have at least 7 characters');
+            if (newPassword.length < 8) {
+                this.validationError('Your password is not long enough. It must be at least 8 chars long.');
                 return;
             }
 
@@ -234,14 +241,12 @@
                         status: 'passive',
                         id: 'success-98'
                     });
-                    self.$('#user-password-old').val('');
-                    self.$('#user-password-new').val('');
-                    self.$('#user-new-password-verification').val('');
+                    self.$('#user-password-old, #user-password-new, #user-new-password-verification').val('');
                 },
-                error: function (obj, string, status) {
+                error: function (xhr) {
                     Ghost.notifications.addItem({
                         type: 'error',
-                        message: 'Invalid username or password',
+                        message: Ghost.Views.Utils.getRequestErrorMessage(xhr),
                         status: 'passive'
                     });
                 }