diff --git a/backend/api.go b/backend/api.go
index 032512b..eeaa1f1 100644
--- a/backend/api.go
+++ b/backend/api.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func (h *ApiHandler) ServeLoginPost(writer http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Re
 	body, err := io.ReadAll(bodyReader)
 	_ = bodyReader.Close()
 	if err != nil {
-		http.Error(writer, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)
+		WriteError(writer, http.StatusBadRequest, "failed to read body", err)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -34,19 +34,19 @@ func (h *ApiHandler) ServeLoginPost(writer http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Re
 	loginBody := LoginBody{}
 	err = json.Unmarshal(body, &loginBody)
 	if err != nil {
-		http.Error(writer, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)
+		WriteError(writer, http.StatusBadRequest, "failed to read body", err)
 		return
 	}
 
 	success, err := h.db.ValidateRootPassword(loginBody.Password)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Println("Error logging in:", err)
-		http.Error(writer, "failed to read database", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		WriteError(writer, http.StatusInternalServerError, "failed to read database", err)
 		return
 	}
 
 	if !success {
-		http.Error(writer, "invalid password", http.StatusUnauthorized)
+		log.Printf("failed login from '%s'", request.RemoteAddr)
+		WriteError(writer, http.StatusUnauthorized, "invalid password", nil)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -62,14 +62,9 @@ func (h *ApiHandler) ServeLoginPost(writer http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Re
 	cookie.HttpOnly = true
 	http.SetCookie(writer, &cookie)
 
-	writer.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
-	writer.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
-	err = json.NewEncoder(writer).Encode(map[string]interface{}{})
-	if err != nil {
-		http.Error(writer, "failed to serialize results", http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		return
-	}
+	WriteResponse(writer, http.StatusOK, map[string]interface{}{})
 
+	log.Printf("successful login from '%s'", request.RemoteAddr)
 }
 
 func (h *ApiHandler) ServeLogoutPost(writer http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Request) {
@@ -85,13 +80,9 @@ func (h *ApiHandler) ServeLogoutPost(writer http.ResponseWriter, request *http.R
 
 	h.authToken = nil
 
-	writer.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
-	writer.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
-	err := json.NewEncoder(writer).Encode(map[string]interface{}{})
-	if err != nil {
-		http.Error(writer, "failed to serialize results", http.StatusInternalServerError)
-		return
-	}
+	WriteResponse(writer, http.StatusOK, map[string]interface{}{})
+
+	log.Printf("successful logout from '%s'", request.RemoteAddr)
 }
 
 func (h *ApiHandler) ProcessAuth(next http.Handler, required bool) http.Handler {
@@ -103,7 +94,7 @@ func (h *ApiHandler) ProcessAuth(next http.Handler, required bool) http.Handler
 		}
 
 		if !isAuthorized && required {
-			http.Error(writer, "authentication required", http.StatusUnauthorized)
+			WriteError(writer, http.StatusUnauthorized, "authentication required", nil)
 			return
 		}
 
@@ -115,3 +106,19 @@ func IsAuthorized(request *http.Request) bool {
 	value := request.Context().Value(isAuthorizedContextKey)
 	return value != nil && value.(bool)
 }
+
+func WriteResponse(writer http.ResponseWriter, code int, body any) {
+	writer.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+	writer.WriteHeader(code)
+	_ = json.NewEncoder(writer).Encode(body)
+}
+
+func WriteError(writer http.ResponseWriter, code int, message string, err error) {
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Println(err)
+	}
+
+	WriteResponse(writer, code, map[string]interface{}{
+		"message": message,
+	})
+}
diff --git a/backend/blog.go b/backend/blog.go
index 9f14d02..e70ee74 100644
--- a/backend/blog.go
+++ b/backend/blog.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package main
 import (
 	"archive/tar"
 	"backend/md"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -63,7 +62,7 @@ func ParseArticle(reader io.Reader, filePrefix string) (*Article, error) {
 
 	readmeBytes, found := tarFiles["README.md"]
 	if !found {
-		return nil, errors.New("README.md not found")
+		return nil, errors.New("file 'README.md' not found")
 	}
 
 	usedFiles := make(map[string]ArticleFile)
@@ -163,7 +162,7 @@ func (h *ApiHandler) ServeBlogGet(writer http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Requ
 	} else {
 		offset, err = strconv.Atoi(offsetStr)
 		if err != nil || offset < 0 {
-			http.Error(writer, "invalid offset", http.StatusBadRequest)
+			WriteError(writer, http.StatusBadRequest, "invalid offset", nil)
 			return
 		}
 	}
@@ -174,69 +173,56 @@ func (h *ApiHandler) ServeBlogGet(writer http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Requ
 	} else {
 		limit, err = strconv.Atoi(limitStr)
 		if err != nil || limit <= 0 || limit > 100 {
-			http.Error(writer, "invalid limit", http.StatusBadRequest)
+			WriteError(writer, http.StatusBadRequest, "invalid limit", nil)
 			return
 		}
 	}
 
 	articles, err := h.db.GetBlogArticles(IsAuthorized(request), offset, limit)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Println("Error getting articles:", err)
-		http.Error(writer, "failed to query database", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		WriteError(writer, http.StatusInternalServerError, "failed to query database", err)
 		return
 	}
 
-	writer.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
-	writer.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
-	err = json.NewEncoder(writer).Encode(articles)
-	if err != nil {
-		http.Error(writer, "failed to serialize results", http.StatusInternalServerError)
-	}
+	WriteResponse(writer, http.StatusOK, articles)
 }
 
 func (h *ApiHandler) ServeBlogPut(writer http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Request) {
 	err := request.ParseMultipartForm(10 * 1024 * 1024)
 	if err != nil {
-		http.Error(writer, "failed to parse multipart form", http.StatusBadRequest)
+		WriteError(writer, http.StatusBadRequest, "failed to parse multipart form", nil)
 		return
 	}
 
 	file, _, err := request.FormFile("file")
 	if err != nil {
-		http.Error(writer, "failed to parse file", http.StatusBadRequest)
+		WriteError(writer, http.StatusBadRequest, "failed to parse file", nil)
 		return
 	}
 	defer func() {
 		_ = file.Close()
 	}()
 
-	log.Println("Creating new blog article")
+	log.Println("creating new blog article ...")
 
 	id, commit, err := h.db.CreateBlogArticle()
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Println("Error creating new blog article:", err)
-		http.Error(writer, "failed to add article to database", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		WriteError(writer, http.StatusInternalServerError, "failed to write database", err)
 		return
 	}
 
 	article, err := ParseArticle(file, "/api/blog/"+strconv.FormatInt(id, 10)+"/file/")
 	if err != nil {
 		_ = commit(nil)
-		log.Println("Error creating new blog article:", err)
-		http.Error(writer, "failed to add article to database", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		WriteError(writer, http.StatusInternalServerError, "failed to parse article: "+err.Error(), nil)
 		return
 	}
 
 	err = commit(article)
 
-	writer.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
-	writer.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
-	err = json.NewEncoder(writer).Encode(map[string]interface{}{
+	WriteResponse(writer, http.StatusOK, map[string]interface{}{
 		"id": id,
 	})
-	if err != nil {
-		http.Error(writer, "failed to serialize results", http.StatusInternalServerError)
-	}
 }
 
 func (h *ApiHandler) ServeBlogGetSingle(writer http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Request) {
diff --git a/backend/db.go b/backend/db.go
index b1ea2df..4170776 100644
--- a/backend/db.go
+++ b/backend/db.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ type Database struct {
 }
 
 func NewDatabase(path string, rootPassword string) (*Database, error) {
-	log.Println("Opening database '" + path + "'")
+	log.Println("opening database '" + path + "'")
 
 	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", path)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func NewDatabase(path string, rootPassword string) (*Database, error) {
 func (db *Database) Close() {
 	err := db.db.Close()
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Println("Error closing database:", err.Error())
+		log.Println("error closing database:", err.Error())
 	}
 }
 
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ func migrate(db *sql.DB, rootPassword string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	log.Println("Checking database schema version")
+	log.Println("checking database schema version")
 	var curVersion int
 	err = tx.QueryRow("SELECT version FROM schema_info").Scan(&curVersion)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ func migrate(db *sql.DB, rootPassword string) error {
 	}
 
 	if curVersion == -1 {
-		log.Println("Database is empty")
+		log.Println("database is empty")
 
 		err = createV1Tables(tx, rootPassword)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ func migrate(db *sql.DB, rootPassword string) error {
 			return err
 		}
 	} else {
-		log.Println("Database schema version is", curVersion)
+		log.Println("database schema version is", curVersion)
 
 		if curVersion != 1 {
 			return errors.New("unsupported database schema version")
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ func migrate(db *sql.DB, rootPassword string) error {
 }
 
 func createV1Tables(tx *sql.Tx, rootPassword string) error {
-	log.Println("Creating tables for schema version 1")
+	log.Println("creating tables for schema version 1")
 
 	salt := make([]byte, 32)
 	_, _ = rand.Read(salt)