diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7080f312c..4977dad15 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,3 +11,4 @@ static/fonts
 stack_local
 test/data/registry/
 GIT_HEAD
+.idea
diff --git a/app.py b/app.py
index f0f5b3069..2ad2fe618 100644
--- a/app.py
+++ b/app.py
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ from util.security.signing import Signer
 from util.security.instancekeys import InstanceKeys
 from util.saas.cloudwatch import start_cloudwatch_sender
 from util.config.provider import get_config_provider
-from util.config.provider.baseprovider import SetupIncompleteException
 from util.config.configutil import generate_secret_key
 from util.config.superusermanager import SuperUserManager
 from util.secscan.api import SecurityScannerAPI
diff --git a/config.py b/config.py
index d693ee73f..f877afb7e 100644
--- a/config.py
+++ b/config.py
@@ -382,4 +382,3 @@ class DefaultConfig(object):
 
   # Overridable list of reverse DNS prefixes that are reserved for internal use on labels.
   LABEL_KEY_RESERVED_PREFIXES = []
-
diff --git a/static/directives/quay-message-bar.html b/static/directives/quay-message-bar.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f5b512511
--- /dev/null
+++ b/static/directives/quay-message-bar.html
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<div class="announcement inline" ng-show="messages.length">
+  <div ng-repeat="message in messages">
+      <a ng-href="" class="quay-service-status-description">{{ message.content }}</a>
+  </div>
+</div>
diff --git a/static/js/directives/quay-message-bar.js b/static/js/directives/quay-message-bar.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a85ae0b17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/static/js/directives/quay-message-bar.js
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+/**
+ * An element which displays a message for users to read.
+ */
+angular.module('quay').directive('quayMessageBar', function () {
+  return {
+    priority: 0,
+    templateUrl: '/static/directives/quay-message-bar.html',
+    replace: false,
+    transclude: false,
+    restrict: 'C',
+    scope: {},
+    controller: function ($scope, $element, ApiService) {
+      $scope.messages = [];
+    }
+  };
+});
diff --git a/templates/base.html b/templates/base.html
index c67835a93..f860cef37 100644
--- a/templates/base.html
+++ b/templates/base.html
@@ -229,6 +229,7 @@ mixpanel.init("{{ mixpanel_key }}", { track_pageview : false, debug: {{ is_debug
       {% endif %}
 
       <nav class="navbar navbar-default header-bar co-m-navbar co-fx-box-shadow" role="navigation"></nav>
+      <div class="quay-message-bar"></div>
       <div class="quay-service-status-bar" quay-require="['BILLING']"></div>
       <div id="padding-container">
         <div id="co-l-view-container">