Keeping Visitors Through 404 Errors - What Are the Requirements for Setting Up an Error 404 Page?

Ok, this is where it can get tricky. The requirements for setting up an error 404 page depend upon your set up and web server. Generally, you need to have administrator access rights to your server. As most shared servers (the most common type for small business web sites) do not allow you to have full administrator rights you may have a problem. Some good web hosts allow you administrator rights to your directory alone, this is very useful. If you are not sure about this ability ask your web hosting company, as they may be able to set this function for you.

How Do You Put Up an Error 404 Page?

An error 404 page is controlled by a file called .htaccess.  The dot prefixing the name is important.  It is also important to know that windows and Unix systems treat these files differently as the dot is a hidden windows file.  This is often apparent when you want to upload or change a .htaccess file as with some FTP (File Transfer Protocol) packages the file is not visible.  To get around this upload the .htaccess file as normal and it will overwrite the existing file.

Another problem here is that windows won’t let you call a file .htaccess.  What I do is save and upload the file as htaccess.txt and then rename it once uploaded.

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