diff --git a/cmd/ponzu/ponzu.json b/cmd/ponzu/ponzu.json
index a997bfb0..af543156 100644
--- a/cmd/ponzu/ponzu.json
+++ b/cmd/ponzu/ponzu.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-    "version": "0.8.0"
+    "version": "0.8.1"
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/management/editor/editor.go b/management/editor/editor.go
index 7bc5f351..39bb25f2 100644
--- a/management/editor/editor.go
+++ b/management/editor/editor.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ type Editable interface {
 type Mergeable interface {
 	// Approve copies an external post to the internal collection and triggers
 	// a re-sort of its content type posts
-	Approve(req *http.Request) error
+	Approve(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
 }
 
 // Editor is a view containing fields to manage content
diff --git a/system/admin/admin.go b/system/admin/admin.go
index 3df68059..7761e712 100644
--- a/system/admin/admin.go
+++ b/system/admin/admin.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ package admin
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"html/template"
 	"net/http"
 
@@ -607,3 +608,22 @@ var err500HTML = []byte(`
 func Error500() ([]byte, error) {
 	return Admin(err500HTML)
 }
+
+var errMessageHTML = `
+<div class="error-page eMsg col s6">
+<div class="card">
+<div class="card-content">
+    <div class="card-title"><b>Error:&nbsp;</b>%s</div>
+    <blockquote>%s</blockquote>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+`
+
+// ErrorMessage is a generic error message container, similar to Error500() and
+// others in this package, ecxept it expects the caller to provide a title and
+// message to describe to a view why the error is being shown
+func ErrorMessage(title, message string) ([]byte, error) {
+	eHTML := fmt.Sprintf(errMessageHTML, title, message)
+	return Admin([]byte(eHTML))
+}
diff --git a/system/admin/handlers.go b/system/admin/handlers.go
index a99a62cf..c5b30582 100644
--- a/system/admin/handlers.go
+++ b/system/admin/handlers.go
@@ -1357,56 +1357,28 @@ func approveContentHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	err = hook.BeforeApprove(req)
+	err = hook.BeforeApprove(res, req)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Println("Error running BeforeApprove hook in approveContentHandler for:", t, err)
-		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		errView, err := Error500()
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-
-		res.Write(errView)
 		return
 	}
 
 	// call its Approve method
-	err = m.Approve(req)
+	err = m.Approve(res, req)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Println("Error running Approve method in approveContentHandler for:", t, err)
-		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		errView, err := Error500()
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-
-		res.Write(errView)
 		return
 	}
 
-	err = hook.AfterApprove(req)
+	err = hook.AfterApprove(res, req)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Println("Error running AfterApprove hook in approveContentHandler for:", t, err)
-		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		errView, err := Error500()
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-
-		res.Write(errView)
 		return
 	}
 
-	err = hook.BeforeSave(req)
+	err = hook.BeforeSave(res, req)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Println("Error running BeforeSave hook in approveContentHandler for:", t, err)
-		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		errView, err := Error500()
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-
-		res.Write(errView)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -1428,16 +1400,9 @@ func approveContentHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	ctx := context.WithValue(req.Context(), "target", fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", t, id))
 	req = req.WithContext(ctx)
 
-	err = hook.AfterSave(req)
+	err = hook.AfterSave(res, req)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Println("Error running AfterSave hook in approveContentHandler for:", t, err)
-		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		errView, err := Error500()
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-
-		res.Write(errView)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -1669,16 +1634,9 @@ func editHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 			return
 		}
 
-		err = hook.BeforeSave(req)
+		err = hook.BeforeSave(res, req)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Println(err)
-			res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-			errView, err := Error500()
-			if err != nil {
-				return
-			}
-
-			res.Write(errView)
+			log.Println("Error running BeforeSave method in editHandler for:", t, err)
 			return
 		}
 
@@ -1699,16 +1657,9 @@ func editHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 		ctx := context.WithValue(req.Context(), "target", fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", t, id))
 		req = req.WithContext(ctx)
 
-		err = hook.AfterSave(req)
+		err = hook.AfterSave(res, req)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Println(err)
-			res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-			errView, err := Error500()
-			if err != nil {
-				return
-			}
-
-			res.Write(errView)
+			log.Println("Error running AfterSave method in editHandler for:", t, err)
 			return
 		}
 
@@ -1792,30 +1743,16 @@ func deleteHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 
 	reject := req.URL.Query().Get("reject")
 	if reject == "true" {
-		err = hook.BeforeReject(req)
+		err = hook.BeforeReject(res, req)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Println(err)
-			res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-			errView, err := Error500()
-			if err != nil {
-				return
-			}
-
-			res.Write(errView)
+			log.Println("Error running BeforeReject method in deleteHandler for:", t, err)
 			return
 		}
 	}
 
-	err = hook.BeforeDelete(req)
+	err = hook.BeforeDelete(res, req)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Println(err)
-		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		errView, err := Error500()
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-
-		res.Write(errView)
+		log.Println("Error running BeforeDelete method in deleteHandler for:", t, err)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -1826,30 +1763,16 @@ func deleteHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	err = hook.AfterDelete(req)
+	err = hook.AfterDelete(res, req)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Println(err)
-		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		errView, err := Error500()
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-
-		res.Write(errView)
+		log.Println("Error running AfterDelete method in deleteHandler for:", t, err)
 		return
 	}
 
 	if reject == "true" {
-		err = hook.AfterReject(req)
+		err = hook.AfterReject(res, req)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Println(err)
-			res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-			errView, err := Error500()
-			if err != nil {
-				return
-			}
-
-			res.Write(errView)
+			log.Println("Error running AfterReject method in deleteHandler for:", t, err)
 			return
 		}
 	}
@@ -2272,16 +2195,9 @@ func addonHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 		// if Hookable, call BeforeSave prior to saving
 		h, ok := at().(item.Hookable)
 		if ok {
-			err := h.BeforeSave(req)
+			err := h.BeforeSave(res, req)
 			if err != nil {
-				log.Println(err)
-				res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-				errView, err := Error500()
-				if err != nil {
-					return
-				}
-
-				res.Write(errView)
+				log.Println("Error running BeforeSave method in addonHandler for:", id, err)
 				return
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/system/api/external.go b/system/api/external.go
index 5a741077..168575ac 100644
--- a/system/api/external.go
+++ b/system/api/external.go
@@ -17,13 +17,13 @@ import (
 // /external/content?type=Review
 type Externalable interface {
 	// Accept allows external content submissions of a specific type
-	Accept(req *http.Request) error
+	Accept(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
 }
 
 // Trustable allows external content to be auto-approved, meaning content sent
 // as an Externalable will be stored in the public content bucket
 type Trustable interface {
-	AutoApprove(req *http.Request) error
+	AutoApprove(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
 }
 
 func externalContentHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
@@ -125,10 +125,9 @@ func externalContentHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 
 	// call Accept with the request, enabling developer to add or chack data
 	// before saving to DB
-	err = ext.Accept(req)
+	err = ext.Accept(res, req)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Println(err)
-		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		log.Println("[External} error calling Accept:", err)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -139,10 +138,9 @@ func externalContentHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	err = hook.BeforeSave(req)
+	err = hook.BeforeSave(res, req)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Println("[External] error:", err)
-		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		log.Println("[External] error calling BeforeSave:", err)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -152,10 +150,9 @@ func externalContentHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	// check if the content is Trustable should be auto-approved
 	trusted, ok := post.(Trustable)
 	if ok {
-		err := trusted.AutoApprove(req)
+		err := trusted.AutoApprove(res, req)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Println("[External] error:", err)
-			res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+			log.Println("[External] error calling AutoApprove:", err)
 			return
 		}
 	} else {
@@ -164,8 +161,7 @@ func externalContentHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 
 	id, err := db.SetContent(t+spec+":-1", req.PostForm)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Println("[External] error:", err)
-		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		log.Println("[External] error calling SetContent:", err)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -173,10 +169,9 @@ func externalContentHandler(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	ctx := context.WithValue(req.Context(), "target", fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", t, id))
 	req = req.WithContext(ctx)
 
-	err = hook.AfterSave(req)
+	err = hook.AfterSave(res, req)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Println("[External] error:", err)
-		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		log.Println("[External] error calling AfterSave:", err)
 		return
 	}
 
diff --git a/system/api/handlers.go b/system/api/handlers.go
index 2e70fdc0..91b10f95 100644
--- a/system/api/handlers.go
+++ b/system/api/handlers.go
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ func contentHandlerBySlug(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 func hide(it interface{}, res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) bool {
 	// check if should be hidden
 	if h, ok := it.(item.Hideable); ok {
-		err := h.Hide(req)
+		err := h.Hide(res, req)
 		if err == item.ErrAllowHiddenItem {
 			return false
 		}
diff --git a/system/item/item.go b/system/item/item.go
index e631b360..e356c7c2 100644
--- a/system/item/item.go
+++ b/system/item/item.go
@@ -42,22 +42,22 @@ type Sortable interface {
 // to the different lifecycles/events a struct may encounter. Item implements
 // Hookable with no-ops so our user can override only whichever ones necessary.
 type Hookable interface {
-	BeforeSave(req *http.Request) error
-	AfterSave(req *http.Request) error
+	BeforeSave(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
+	AfterSave(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
 
-	BeforeDelete(req *http.Request) error
-	AfterDelete(req *http.Request) error
+	BeforeDelete(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
+	AfterDelete(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
 
-	BeforeApprove(req *http.Request) error
-	AfterApprove(req *http.Request) error
+	BeforeApprove(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
+	AfterApprove(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
 
-	BeforeReject(req *http.Request) error
-	AfterReject(req *http.Request) error
+	BeforeReject(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
+	AfterReject(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
 }
 
 // Hideable lets a user keep items hidden
 type Hideable interface {
-	Hide(*http.Request) error
+	Hide(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
 }
 
 // Pushable lets a user define which values of certain struct fields are
@@ -122,42 +122,42 @@ func (i Item) String() string {
 }
 
 // BeforeSave is a no-op to ensure structs which embed Item implement Hookable
-func (i Item) BeforeSave(req *http.Request) error {
+func (i Item) BeforeSave(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
 // AfterSave is a no-op to ensure structs which embed Item implement Hookable
-func (i Item) AfterSave(req *http.Request) error {
+func (i Item) AfterSave(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
 // BeforeDelete is a no-op to ensure structs which embed Item implement Hookable
-func (i Item) BeforeDelete(req *http.Request) error {
+func (i Item) BeforeDelete(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
 // AfterDelete is a no-op to ensure structs which embed Item implement Hookable
-func (i Item) AfterDelete(req *http.Request) error {
+func (i Item) AfterDelete(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
 // BeforeApprove is a no-op to ensure structs which embed Item implement Hookable
-func (i Item) BeforeApprove(req *http.Request) error {
+func (i Item) BeforeApprove(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
 // AfterApprove is a no-op to ensure structs which embed Item implement Hookable
-func (i Item) AfterApprove(req *http.Request) error {
+func (i Item) AfterApprove(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
 // BeforeReject is a no-op to ensure structs which embed Item implement Hookable
-func (i Item) BeforeReject(req *http.Request) error {
+func (i Item) BeforeReject(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
 // AfterReject is a no-op to ensure structs which embed Item implement Hookable
-func (i Item) AfterReject(req *http.Request) error {
+func (i Item) AfterReject(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) error {
 	return nil
 }