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Enhance the Look of Your Wordpress 404 page

On 11.28.09, In Blog, How-To, by LeVoltz Share

There are instances when a particular webserver will not be able to serve you the specific page you are looking for. In these common cases, the server gives you page with a 404 response error.

A 404 error happens when you entered an invalid URL or the page/post you are looking for simply does not exist.

Wordpress blog displays an attractive “page not found’ every time it encounters 404 error. Using a more beautiful “page not found” rather than the very ordinary 404 error is greatly beneficial to both site owner and visitors.

Reasons why you should use an attractive 404 page

Attracting visitors is the primary goal of websites. Servicing them in the best way you can is a must. Whenever a visitor can’t find the page he is searching for, he will surely prefer to see an attractive 404 page than reading technical stuff s that he might even understand. Furthermore, a pretty 404 page is more visitor-friendly. He will feel wanted and special, choosing to stay in your site.

Different techniques can be utilized to attract new visitors and make old ones come back to your site.

You should make sure that your 404 page is in tune with your site. Its theme and look must be similar with the overall appearance of the site.
Whenever your visitor can’t find a page that he is searching for, a friendly and apologetic way of telling that the page is unavailable is required. This will make the visitor feel that his presence is important.
Adding links in you home page, article, and posts is highly suggested. In addition, you should create a way where visitors can report broken links.
Your 404 page ending up in search results like Google is a definite No. To prevent this from happening, make sure than when a missing page is requested, your webserver gives an actual status code of 404 Http.
Examples of attractive 404 page designs are shown below:

Enhancing Wordpress 404 page

The 404 page that Worpress automatically creates is good. But good can easily turn into excellent with a few simple steps. These steps will allow you to offer your visitors more interactivity with your site and optimization of search engines.

1st Step AskApache Google 404 plug-in Installation for WP blog

If you haven`t added this plugin yet, do add it ASAP. AskApache Google 404 plugin.

“This plugin uses some AJAX code, Google Search API’S, and a few tricks to display a very helpful and Search-Engine Optimized Error Page”

2nd Step Addition of 404.php code in Theme Folder

Addition of these codes in 404.php of your theme folder enables Wordpress blog to email you or your site automatically in the event a user stumbles on a 404 page.

<?php
$adminemail = get_bloginfo('admin_email'); #the administrator email address, according to wordpress
$website = get_bloginfo('url'); #gets your blog's url from wordpress
$websitename = get_bloginfo('name'); #sets the blog's name, according to wordpressif (!isset($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'])) { ?>
Sorry, tried accessing
<?php
$message = "Please don`t mind,";
} elseif (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'])) {
echo "You tried clicking ";$failuremess = "A user tried to go to $website".$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']." and received a 404 (page not found) error. ";
$failuremess .= "User came from ".$_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'];
 
mail($adminemail, "$website : Bad Link To ".$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], $failuremess, "From: $websitename <noreply@$website>"); #email you about problem

$message = "An administrator has been emailed about this problem, too.";#set a friendly message
}
echo $website.$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']; ?> and it doesn't exist. <?php echo $message; ?> Try searching below.

Alternative to Step 2.

If for some reason this plug-in won’t work, an alternate plug-in can be used.if-404-email-me.zip (4)

Extract and activate plug-in directory . Add the function to 404.php inside your theme folder.

1	<?php if(function_exists(if_error_send_mail)) if_error_send_mail(); ?>

Enhancing your 404 page is plain in simple. Remember that an attractive 404 page is important to your visitors.

LeVoltz

Le Voltz introduces you to the latest in the world of technology. Le Voltz can help improve your productivity level. Le Voltz introduces to ideas, tricks, tutorials and tips in various fields ranging from hacking to cooking. The most interesting aspect of Le Voltz is the DO-It-Yourselves (DIY) and the How-Tos. These sections deal with mini projects you could tryout during your weekends. Most of them being cheap and useful in daily life.

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