how to make use of .htaccess

[Miki]

Guyz

I am not able to implement .htaccess. I made .htaccess file and mention in it:

ErrorDocument 404 "Sorry Page is down"

and keep this file at the root of the website but its not working ... Please help me out

[synergytheory]

Originally Posted by seosmartz

Guyz

I am not able to implement .htaccess. I made .htaccess file and mention in it:

ErrorDocument 404 "Sorry Page is down"

and keep this file at the root of the website but its not working ... Please help me out

Instead of the string of text, use an address to a html file, i.e:

ErrorDocument 404 http://www.example.com/404error.html

[Burf.com]

Did this work as this is something i need to do

[bhartzer]

Yes, you need to specify which file is supposed to be displayed when the server receives a 404 error.

You then edit/create your error file page and upload it to your website.

Keep in mind that many web hosts now have control panels--and if there's a control panel for your site then the 404 error page might already be set up for you. Or, the control panel might have a way for you to add the page quickly without having to edit the .htaccess file.

[Miki]

Is their any need to modify httpd.conf file to setup customized 404 error page. if yes then what i need to do ???

What exactly i need to implement customized 404 page through .htaccess..
1. make .htaccess file
2. ErrorDocument 404 http://www.abc.com/404error.html
3. Place the .htaccess file at the root of the website

Please guide me ..as i have already implemented steps from 1 to 3 but no idea about httpd.conf

[Miki]

hey guys... i am able to implement customized 404 pages with the help of httpd.conf.... but not able to do it with .htaccess... Could amnyone please guide me

[Apolo]

I recommend you to try the following:

1. Create a folder "errors", where you'll store your customized error pages.

2. Create the following files in it:

500.html
400.html
401.html
403.html
404.html

as a "blank" documents.

3. Then customize your 404.html file (page) with the content you want to be shown.

4. Create the .htaccess file this way:

ErrorDocument 500 /errors/500.html
ErrorDocument 400 /errors/400.html
ErrorDocument 401 /errors/401.html
ErrorDocument 403 /errors/403.html
ErrorDocument 404 /errors/404.html

and upload it to your DocumentRoot (web directory).

Test it and enjoy it! :)

[TechEvangelist]

Someone needs to mention that the .htaccess file only works on Linux and Unix servers running Apache. If your site is on a Microsoft IIS server, .htaccess will not work.

Also, error pages need to be larger than 512 bytes or they will not work with Internet Explorer. If an error is generated and the error page is less than 512 bytes, IE will substitute its own page. Why? Who knows. It's probably another Microsoft bug that was never fixed.

[Apolo]

Originally Posted by TechEvangelist

Someone needs to mention that the .htaccess file only works on Linux and Unix servers running Apache. If your site is on a Microsoft IIS server, .htaccess will not work.

He mentioned "httpd.conf" previously, so I guess he's indeed using Apache. ;)