Page 14 - Payout Magazine Online Volume 9.3

Setting Up A
Let’s take an in-depth look as to why it is
important to configure your website with a
custom 404 ‘File Not Found’ page. There are
several different reasons that you may want to
equip your website with a custom 404 page,
and we are going to take a look at some of
them so that you may better determine if this
is something you wish to establish within your
website. We are also going to go through the
process of setting up this particular type of
page.
How to make a 404 File Not Found
Page
A 404 file not found page is intended to react
to any misspelled or misplaced URLs that are
established within your website. Any time that a
user reaches a page that is not yet ready to be
published, they can be redirected to a 404 file
not found page. Typos and misspelling can also
redirect to this page which can be extremely
useful if the user accidentally misspelled the
URL.
A 404 page can be scripted similar to any
other page on your website. In most cases, this
particular page is an HTML file that serves as
a landing page for any dead ends that can’t
be accessed through your website. Website
owners should take some time in creating a
professional-looking 404 page so that users
understand what it means in order to eliminate
any potential confusion.
If you are hosting your website through
a digital hosting service, there are usually
control panels they can be accessed in order to
publish a 404 page. For example, cPanel has a
dashboard that can be customized in order to
set a 404 HTML page that will redirect at any
14 PayOutMagazine
Custom 404 File
Not Found Page
point where a URL dead end is reached on your
website.
The toughest part about the entire process
is creating the HTML page with a creative and
professional design, so that users understand
they have accidentally reached a website URL
that was not intended. In a lot of cases, the
404 pages that are created for websites are
sarcastic and somewhat professional. It is good
to look at some other examples before officially
publishing your own 404 file not found page.
Designing a 404 File Not Found Page
The purpose of your 404 file not found
page is to notify users that the web page they
are trying to access is not currently available.
Website developers oftentimes customize their
404 pages in such a way so that it is extremely
clear to their users that they have reached a
page not currently available. Some websites
create an extremely simple landing page that
simply says with black and white text that the
web page is not available, while others take it
to an entirely different level and go above and
beyond what is expected of a 404 error page.
The advanced stages in this particular case
can oftentimes provide a direct reason as to
why the page was not able to load and what the
user can do to try and fix this. In most cases that few seconds to set up.
won’t be necessary, but it should be considered
among your options when creating a 404 error
page.
The final design choice is really up to the
website owner, and it comes down to what
type of website you are running and whether
or not you believe a custom 404 Error Page is
necessary. For most simple websites, a relatively
simple landing page is all that is necessary for
a 404 file not found page. However, this page
can be customized to your satisfaction in order
to ensure that it fits within your websites genre
and it doesn’t differ too much from the original
design of your site.
Finishing and Publishing the 404
File Not Found Page
The final step after designing and creating
the 404 file not found page is to begin the
process of publishing it to the control panel of
your website. Your HTML file should be named
something that reminds you of the fact that it
is an error page. In most cases users choose
either 404.HTML or Error.HTML. The file name
really is not as important as the page content
itself, but it usually helps to organize it with a
common name that you will remember.
Every website control panel in dashboard
can be a little bit different. Some of the more
common control panels opt for a simple
properties button that can be adjusted in
order to establish a 404 error page. Other
control panels may require you to configure
some settings or scripts by yourself in order
to redirect this page when a file or web page is
not found. In most cases, finding this particular
option is relatively simple and will take only a
404 File Not Found pages are a professional
touch to an important factor on almost every
website. You should consider always continuing
to update this page as necessary in order
to make sure it fits in with your website and
provides users with the information that they
need in order to successfully navigate your
website.