In case anyone doesn’t know the 404 Error page is the page you get when a visitor types in an address or clicks a link that is not there. It could be a page that’s been moved, deleted or was never there in the first place.
Most sites still have a generic error message that is assigned by their server that just says “404 Error: File Not Found”. Many people don’t realize that you can have any page be the one that shows up when your visitors gets a 404 Error. I have a simple custom 404 Error page.
On Apache servers this process is controlled by a file called htaccess.
Note: There is a “.” before the htaccess, but Word Press won’t allow this word on my blog.
This is a file which controls security and all error messages, but this post is about the 404 Error.
To make a Custom Error Page you first create your HTML error page. I recommend that you have a link to or search for all of your other pages.
Create a plain text file and name it *htaccess (replace* with .) The text in your document will be…
ErrorDocument 404 /Error.html
where Error.html is the name of your error page and it is in the same directory as htaccess.
If you place these files in your root directory they will work for your entire site or they will also work on a folder by folder basis.
You can also have a cool, funny, or beautiful error page. There’s a post on Smashing Magazine called “404,Design,Error,inspiration,Navigation,Design Showcase.” There are some really great 404 Error Pages here.