Creating custom 404 and error pages

1. Create the pages

In public_html, create simple HTML pages such as 404.html and 500.html. A good 404 page:

• says clearly the page wasn’t found
• links to the home page and key sections
• offers search if your site has it
• uses the same design as the site

Use absolute paths for CSS and images (/css/style.css), because the page is shown at whatever URL was requested.

2. Point the server at them

In public_html/.htaccess:

ErrorDocument 404 /404.html
ErrorDocument 403 /403.html
ErrorDocument 500 /500.html

Use a local path, not a full URL. A full URL makes the server redirect to the page, returning a 302 status instead of 404, which tells search engines the missing page exists.

3. Test

Visit a URL that doesn’t exist, such as /this-does-not-exist. Your page should appear, and in browser developer tools (Network tab) the status should be 404.

WordPress and frameworks

These handle their own 404s through the theme (404.php) or application routing. ErrorDocument still covers files outside the application.

Keep the 500 page simple

If PHP is what’s failing, a 500 page that uses PHP fails too. Make it plain HTML.