diff --git a/etc/inc/notices.inc b/etc/inc/notices.inc
index 755d4efef1..4dff7c20c3 100644
--- a/etc/inc/notices.inc
+++ b/etc/inc/notices.inc
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ $notice_path = $g['tmp_path'] . '/notices';
  * $priority - A notice's priority. Higher numbers indicate greater severity.
  *	       0 = informational, 1 = warning, 2 = error, etc. This may also be arbitrary,
  */
-function file_notice($id, $notice, $category = "General", $url = "", $priority = 1) {
+function file_notice($id, $notice, $category = "General", $url, $priority = 1) {
 	global $notice_path;
 	if(!$queue = get_notices()) $queue = array();
 	$queuekey = time();
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ function get_notices($category = "all") {
 	global $notice_path;
 	if(file_exists($notice_path)) {
 		$queue = unserialize(file_get_contents($notice_path));
+		if(!$queue) return false;
 		if($category != 'all') {
 			foreach($queue as $time => $notice) {
 				if(strtolower($notice['category']) == strtolower($category))
@@ -103,10 +104,9 @@ function close_notice($id) {
 			break;
 		}
 	}
-	/* XXX: what's $queue?  This does nothing right now so I commented it out --Bill */
-/*	$queueout = fopen($notice_path, "w");
+	$queueout = fopen($notice_path, "w");
 	fwrite($queueout, serialize($queue));
-	fclose($queueout);*/
+	fclose($queueout);
 	return;
 }
 
@@ -151,4 +151,10 @@ function print_notices($notices, $category = "all") {
 	return $toreturn;
 }
 
+function print_notice_box($category = "all") {
+	$notices = get_notices();
+	if(!$notices) return;
+	print_info_box_np(print_notices($notices, $category));
+	return;
+}
 ?>