Yes, having broken links or hard to reach pages where misspelled words are common will eventually lead your web visitors to the infamous HTML code 404 – Page Not Found. Should we ensure that this never happens? We can try, but just in case, rather than provide a simple “Not Found” message like this, we can always make our own.
The first step is to create your very own 404.html file using any familiar HTML editor that you already have. Once you are happy with your new 404 page, upload it to your Web Server with a filename you are comfortable with. I just named mine 404.html !
Next, if the file .htaccess already exist in your root folder of your Web Server, all you need to do is to add the following line of code, to point to your newly created 404.html file.
ErrorDocument 404/404.html
Now, if the file .htaccess does not exist, create a file using notepad, calling it .htaccess and add the line of code above. That’s it. Save, and upload this file.
To test your new 404 page, enter a non-existent page in your browser like http://neweastbay.com/hellodolly and you should be able to see if your newly set up HTML code 404 page appears. If it does, congratulations!
For our page, we added the option for a live chat with our help desk, so that we may direct our web visitors to the correct page.
Happy Trails to all !
