David Gillaspey
Sun., Jan. 4, 2009, 12:45 am
Hi all,
A "404" error page is the page your visitors see when the page they are looking for is not available. It's also the page visitors see when they incorrectly type a URL in their browser address bar.
Web hosters typically provide a default 404 error page when a custom one is not available. It seems to me that there's several problems with such default error pages:
1) They're not very friendly.
2) They're not very helpful — a person who arrives at such a page typically was looking for some particular page, after all. A default 404 error page doesn't help the visitor find what he or she was looking for, or explain why it wasn't available.
3) Default 404 error pages tend to include links to other sites. My guess is your web hoster makes money off you by including these links.
Here's what the default 404 error page looked like for Great Church Websites (which hosts this forum):
http://www.greatchurchwebsites.org/images/forum/default_404_error.jpg
At least there's no embarrassing links. (Except for the "Bookmark this Page" link at bottom. Uh?)
Today, more than four years after launching my website, I finally got around to creating a custom 404 error page, which you can view here:
http://www.greatchurchwebsites.org/404_error_page.php
You create the custom 404 error page as you would any other web page, then upload it to your server. Then, you set this page to be your custom 404 error page through your hosting account's control panel.
http://www.greatchurchwebsites.org/images/forum/custom_404_error_starting_steps.jpg
My web hoster's (IX Web Hosting) control panel offer two routes to accomplishing this. However, each path leads to the same final settings panel. So, I could choose either the Web Options link (top), find the Error setting (not at all helpfully named), and click the Add button next to it. Otherwise, I could just click on Error Pages (bottom). Either path leads to this settings panel:
http://www.greatchurchwebsites.org/images/forum/custom_404_error_final_step.jpg
There, I selected "404 | Not Found" from the Error Document Code dropdown menu. I selected "Redirect" from the two "Type" radio button options at the bottom. I copied and pasted the URL to my custom 404 error page into the "Message or URL" field.
(Don't hand type the URL in this field. The last thing you want to do is make a mistake typing in the URL of your custom 404 error page.)
You'll probably have to click an "Apply" button to apply this change. You may have to wait a few minutes for the custom 404 error page to start working.
A "404" error page is the page your visitors see when the page they are looking for is not available. It's also the page visitors see when they incorrectly type a URL in their browser address bar.
Web hosters typically provide a default 404 error page when a custom one is not available. It seems to me that there's several problems with such default error pages:
1) They're not very friendly.
2) They're not very helpful — a person who arrives at such a page typically was looking for some particular page, after all. A default 404 error page doesn't help the visitor find what he or she was looking for, or explain why it wasn't available.
3) Default 404 error pages tend to include links to other sites. My guess is your web hoster makes money off you by including these links.
Here's what the default 404 error page looked like for Great Church Websites (which hosts this forum):
http://www.greatchurchwebsites.org/images/forum/default_404_error.jpg
At least there's no embarrassing links. (Except for the "Bookmark this Page" link at bottom. Uh?)
Today, more than four years after launching my website, I finally got around to creating a custom 404 error page, which you can view here:
http://www.greatchurchwebsites.org/404_error_page.php
You create the custom 404 error page as you would any other web page, then upload it to your server. Then, you set this page to be your custom 404 error page through your hosting account's control panel.
http://www.greatchurchwebsites.org/images/forum/custom_404_error_starting_steps.jpg
My web hoster's (IX Web Hosting) control panel offer two routes to accomplishing this. However, each path leads to the same final settings panel. So, I could choose either the Web Options link (top), find the Error setting (not at all helpfully named), and click the Add button next to it. Otherwise, I could just click on Error Pages (bottom). Either path leads to this settings panel:
http://www.greatchurchwebsites.org/images/forum/custom_404_error_final_step.jpg
There, I selected "404 | Not Found" from the Error Document Code dropdown menu. I selected "Redirect" from the two "Type" radio button options at the bottom. I copied and pasted the URL to my custom 404 error page into the "Message or URL" field.
(Don't hand type the URL in this field. The last thing you want to do is make a mistake typing in the URL of your custom 404 error page.)
You'll probably have to click an "Apply" button to apply this change. You may have to wait a few minutes for the custom 404 error page to start working.