I’ve already read the various other threads on creating a custom 404 error page, but I’m sorry to say, I don’t understand it at all.
Currently I have my site hosted at one.com, and have access only to one folder on their server. I have Freeway upload and update my site, and it all works just fine.
What I’d like to know is, what kind of file do I need to create, and can I put this in the same folder as where Freeway uploads my site.
Generally this is a page called 404.shtml - but this may vary depending on Server configuration - and this should be uploaded alongside your index.html page.
I checked back with my hosting provider, and it turned out to be extremely simple. All I needed to do was add one line to my .htaccess file, which is in the root of my server. That line also refers to a page on my site.
As this may be useful for others as well, here’s what I did:
◦ I used the free ftp program Cyberduck to log into my sitefolder.
◦ Selected 'show invisibles'
◦ Selected the '.htaccess' file and saved it to my computer
◦ Note: Use 'download as', and name it just 'htaccess', because when you keep it named ".htaccess',
the file will be invisible on your Mac as well
◦ Once downloaded, I opened 'htaccess' with TextEdit.
◦ I added the following line: ErrorDocument 404 http://www.mysite.com/404.html, and saved the document.
◦ Meanwhile in Freeway I had created a '404' page, aptly named '404.html', and uploaded that.
◦ I now uploaded my new 'htaccess' file to my sitefolder.
◦ Deleted the old'.htaccess' file, and renamed 'htaccess' tot '.htaccess'
Should I ever wish to change my 404 page now, I just edit it in Freeway and upload it - that’s all!
Sometime around 4/2/10 (at 03:20 -0500) macsterdam said:
I used the free ftp program Cyberduck to log into my sitefolder.
Selected ‘show invisibles’
Selected the ‘.htaccess’ file and saved it to my computer
Actually, with CyberDuck and most other FTP clients as well you can
edit files directly, or at least automate the download/upload
process. Then you don’t need to worry about the dot-name invisibility
issue. Although you did point out that part of the trick very
clearly.
