diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/composer_controller.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/composer_controller.js
index 688a28d10a2..b0940bea272 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/composer_controller.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/composer_controller.js
@@ -39,6 +39,13 @@ Discourse.ComposerController = Discourse.Controller.extend({
       buttons;
 
     composer = this.get('content');
+
+    if( composer.get('cantSubmitPost') ) {
+      this.set('view.showTitleTip', true);
+      this.set('view.showReplyTip', true);
+      return;
+    }
+
     composer.set('disableDrafts', true);
 
     // for now handle a very narrow use case
@@ -328,6 +335,8 @@ Discourse.ComposerController = Discourse.Controller.extend({
   close: function() {
     this.set('content', null);
     this.set('view.content', null);
+    this.set('view.showTitleTip', false);
+    this.set('view.showReplyTip', false);
   },
 
   closeIfCollapsed: function() {
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/helpers/application_helpers.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/helpers/application_helpers.js
index 44d86537eac..dd8caec7b15 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/helpers/application_helpers.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/helpers/application_helpers.js
@@ -98,6 +98,21 @@ Ember.Handlebars.registerHelper('inputTip', function(options) {
   return Ember.Handlebars.helpers.view.call(this, Discourse.InputTipView, options);
 });
 
+/**
+  Inserts a Discourse.PopupInputTipView
+
+  @method popupInputTip
+  @for Handlebars
+**/
+Ember.Handlebars.registerHelper('popupInputTip', function(options) {
+  var hash = options.hash,
+      types = options.hashTypes;
+
+  normalizeHash(hash, types);
+
+  return Ember.Handlebars.helpers.view.call(this, Discourse.PopupInputTipView, options);
+});
+
 
 /**
   Produces a bound link to a category
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/models/composer.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/models/composer.js
index c4a287379b6..68ceff6f64b 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/models/composer.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/models/composer.js
@@ -276,7 +276,9 @@ Discourse.Composer = Discourse.Model.extend({
   },
 
   save: function(opts) {
-    return this.get('editingPost') ? this.editPost(opts) : this.createPost(opts);
+    if( !this.get('cantSubmitPost') ) {
+      return this.get('editingPost') ? this.editPost(opts) : this.createPost(opts);
+    }
   },
 
   // When you edit a post
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/composer.js.handlebars b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/composer.js.handlebars
index 54361f62760..aab1e64fed9 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/composer.js.handlebars
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/composer.js.handlebars
@@ -32,7 +32,12 @@
             {{#if content.creatingPrivateMessage}}
               {{view Discourse.UserSelector topicIdBinding="controller.controllers.topic.content.id" excludeCurrentUser="true" id="private-message-users" class="span8" placeholderKey="composer.users_placeholder" tabindex="1" usernamesBinding="content.targetUsernames"}}
             {{/if}}
-            {{textField value=content.title tabindex="2" id="reply-title" maxlength="255" class="span8" placeholderKey="composer.title_placeholder"}}
+
+            <div class="title-input">
+              {{textField value=content.title tabindex="2" id="reply-title" maxlength="255" class="span8" placeholderKey="composer.title_placeholder"}}
+              {{popupInputTip validation=view.titleValidation show=view.showTitleTip}}
+            </div>
+
             {{#unless content.creatingPrivateMessage}}
               {{view Discourse.ComboboxViewCategory valueAttribute="name" contentBinding="categories" valueBinding="content.categoryName"}}
               {{#if content.archetype.hasOptions}}
@@ -53,6 +58,7 @@
           <div class='textarea-wrapper'>
             <div class='wmd-button-bar' id='wmd-button-bar'></div>
             {{view Discourse.NotifyingTextArea parentBinding="view" tabindex="3" valueBinding="content.reply" id="wmd-input" placeholderKey="composer.reply_placeholder"}}
+            {{popupInputTip validation=view.replyValidation show=view.showReplyTip}}
           </div>
           <div class='preview-wrapper'>
             <div id='wmd-preview' {{bindAttr class="hidePreview:hidden"}}></div>
@@ -70,7 +76,7 @@
 
         {{#if Discourse.currentUser}}
           <div class='submit-panel'>
-            <button {{action save}} tabindex="4" {{bindAttr disabled="content.cantSubmitPost"}} class='btn btn-primary create'>{{view.content.saveText}}</button>
+            <button {{action save}} tabindex="4" {{bindAttr class=":btn :btn-primary :create content.cantSubmitPost:disabled"}}>{{view.content.saveText}}</button>
             <a href='#' {{action cancel}} class='cancel' tabindex="4">{{i18n cancel}}</a>
           </div>
         {{/if}}
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/popup_input_tip.js.handlebars b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/popup_input_tip.js.handlebars
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8fa9bc38f55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/popup_input_tip.js.handlebars
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+<a href="#" class="close" {{action hide target="view"}}><i class="icon icon-remove-sign"></i></a>
+{{view.validation.reason}}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/composer_view.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/composer_view.js
index f2154519bc7..2d8b7d0b5db 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/composer_view.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/composer_view.js
@@ -369,7 +369,33 @@ Discourse.ComposerView = Discourse.View.extend({
       $adminOpts.show();
       $wmd.css('top', wmdTop + parseInt($adminOpts.css('height'),10) + 'px' );
     }
-  }
+  },
+
+  titleValidation: function() {
+    var title = this.get('content.title'), reason;
+    if( !title || title.length < 1 ){
+      reason = Em.String.i18n('composer.error.title_missing');
+    } else if( title.length < Discourse.SiteSettings.min_topic_title_length || title.length > Discourse.SiteSettings.max_topic_title_length ) {
+      reason = Em.String.i18n('composer.error.title_length', {min: Discourse.SiteSettings.min_topic_title_length, max: Discourse.SiteSettings.max_topic_title_length})
+    }
+
+    if( reason ) {
+      return Discourse.InputValidation.create({ failed: true, reason: reason });
+    }
+  }.property('content.title'),
+
+  replyValidation: function() {
+    var reply = this.get('content.reply'), reason;
+    if( !reply || reply.length < 1 ){
+      reason = Em.String.i18n('composer.error.post_missing');
+    } else if( reply.length < Discourse.SiteSettings.min_post_length ) {
+      reason = Em.String.i18n('composer.error.post_length', {min: Discourse.SiteSettings.min_post_length})
+    }
+
+    if( reason ) {
+      return Discourse.InputValidation.create({ failed: true, reason: reason });
+    }
+  }.property('content.reply')
 });
 
 // not sure if this is the right way, keeping here for now, we could use a mixin perhaps
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/dismissable_input_tip_view.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/dismissable_input_tip_view.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a4c5be876c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/dismissable_input_tip_view.js
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/**
+  This view extends the functionality of InputTipView with these extra features:
+    * it can be dismissed
+    * it bounces when it's shown
+    * it's absolutely positioned beside the input element, with the help of
+      extra css you'll need to write to line it up correctly.
+
+  @class PopupInputTipView
+  @extends Discourse.View
+  @namespace Discourse
+  @module Discourse
+**/
+Discourse.PopupInputTipView = Discourse.View.extend({
+  templateName: 'popup_input_tip',
+  classNameBindings: [':popup-tip', 'good', 'bad', 'show::hide'],
+  animateAttribute: null,
+  bouncePixels: 6,
+  bounceDelay: 100,
+
+  good: function() {
+    return !this.get('validation.failed');
+  }.property('validation'),
+
+  bad: function() {
+    return this.get('validation.failed');
+  }.property('validation'),
+
+  hide: function() {
+    this.set('show', false);
+  },
+
+  bounce: function() {
+    var $elem = this.$()
+    if( !this.animateAttribute ) {
+      this.animateAttribute = $elem.css('left') == 'auto' ? 'right' : 'left';
+    }
+    this.animateAttribute == 'left' ? this.bounceLeft($elem) : this.bounceRight($elem);
+  }.observes('show'),
+
+  bounceLeft: function($elem) {
+    for( var i = 0; i < 5; i++ ) {
+      $elem.animate({ left: '+=' + this.bouncePixels }, this.bounceDelay).animate({ left: '-=' + this.bouncePixels }, this.bounceDelay);
+    }
+  },
+
+  bounceRight: function($elem) {
+    for( var i = 0; i < 5; i++ ) {
+      $elem.animate({ right: '-=' + this.bouncePixels }, this.bounceDelay).animate({ right: '+=' + this.bouncePixels }, this.bounceDelay);
+    }
+  }
+});
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/input_tip_view.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/input_tip_view.js
index 108cf0c1d59..f2f5eca3737 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/input_tip_view.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/input_tip_view.js
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
   @module Discourse
 **/
 Discourse.InputTipView = Discourse.View.extend({
-  templateName: 'input_tip',
   classNameBindings: [':tip', 'good', 'bad'],
 
   good: function() {
diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/application/compose.css.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/application/compose.css.scss
index 4d3e113c5cd..a1477934b0b 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/application/compose.css.scss
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/application/compose.css.scss
@@ -104,9 +104,6 @@
 }
 
 #reply-control {
-  .requirements-not-met {
-    background-color: rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.12);
-  }
   .toggle-preview, #draft-status, #image-uploading {
     position: absolute;
     bottom: -31px;
@@ -325,6 +322,15 @@
       bottom: 8px;
     }
   }
+  .title-input {
+    position: relative;
+    display: inline;
+    .popup-tip {
+      width: 300px;
+      left: -8px;
+      margin-top: 8px;
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 .reply-to {
@@ -450,6 +456,10 @@ div.ac-wrap {
     .textarea-wrapper {
       padding-right: 5px;
       float: left;
+      .popup-tip {
+        margin-top: 3px;
+        right: 4px;
+      }
     }
     .preview-wrapper {
       padding-left: 5px;
diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/application/input_tip.css.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/application/input_tip.css.scss
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fabfdaba7ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/application/input_tip.css.scss
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+@import "foundation/variables";
+@import "foundation/mixins";
+
+.popup-tip {
+  position: absolute;
+  display: block;
+  padding: 5px 10px;
+  z-index: 101;
+  @include border-radius-all(2px);
+  border: solid 1px #955;
+  &.bad {
+    background-color: #b66;
+    color: white;
+    box-shadow: 1px 1px 5px #777, inset 0 0 9px #b55;
+  }
+  &.hide, &.good {
+    display: none;
+  }
+  a.close {
+    float: right;
+    color: $black;
+    opacity: 0.5;
+    font-size: 15px;
+    margin-left: 4px;
+  }
+  a.close:hover {
+    opacity: 1.0;
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/components/buttons.css.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/components/buttons.css.scss
index d65cd88dcbc..21bcefbf2c7 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/components/buttons.css.scss
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/components/buttons.css.scss
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
   &:active {
     text-shadow: none;
   }
-  &[disabled] {
+  &[disabled], &.disabled {
     cursor: default;
     opacity: 0.4;
   }
diff --git a/config/locales/client.en.yml b/config/locales/client.en.yml
index 56a34ba9d5b..b116b51a42f 100644
--- a/config/locales/client.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/client.en.yml
@@ -338,6 +338,12 @@ en:
         need_more_for_title: "{{n}} to go for the title"
         need_more_for_reply: "{{n}} to go for the reply"
 
+      error:
+        title_missing: "Title is required."
+        title_length: "Title needs between {{min}} and {{max}} characters."
+        post_missing: "Post can't be empty."
+        post_length: "Post must be at least {{min}} characters long."
+
       save_edit: "Save Edit"
       reply_original: "Reply on Original Topic"
       reply_here: "Reply Here"