404 error page custom define - godaddy

Hi guys,

I've edited a nice simple custom error page using define pages in admin with a little help from this page http://www.drostdesigns.com/zen-cart-seo-create-a-customized-404-error-page/ - this page says: Test the error page by typing https://www.domain.com/define_page_not_found.php

however.... my define page won't work with that url and uses this as follows: http://mymultitools.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page_not_found

No problem until i try pointing godaddy, my host, towards the page and they say they don't accept symbols in the url.

So Ive been hunting around to find where it points to 'index.php?main_page=page_not_found' so i can change it to the more simple 'define_page_not_found.php' ---- developers tool kit is referencing a file which looks interesting '
/home/content/68/5880568/html/page_not_found.php' but i don't have any folders called that so not sure how the search is finding it.

if only godaddy would accept the current url i wouldn't have this trouble.

thanks for your help!!

Joe

The reference to the 404 error page is usually in the ErrorDocument directive in your root .htaccess file.

The ErrorDocument directive MUST reference a LOCAL internal server filepath, and must NOT contain a domain name.

Be sure to test the 404 response using Live HTTP Headers for Firefox. For non-valid URLs, the first received response MUST be the one with the correct 404 status code.

There must NOT be a preceding redirect of any kind. These 'soft 404 errors' will cause you immense problems.

Hi g1smd,

Thanks for your reply! Ok, so now I have a simple .htaccess text file on the root.

Simply....

ErrorDocument 404 /define_page_not_found.php

I've checked my website loads this file.... http://mymultitools.co.uk/page_not_found.php --- actually it then auto redirects to ....http://mymultitools.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page_not_found

that ok.

I've set Godaddy 404 page destination to http://mymultitools.co.uk/page_not_found.php and waited 30mins for it to take affect.

It doesn't seem to be working. Maybe by the time I check tomorrow morning it'll have started work, I hope/doubt.

Thanks for your help, any other ideas if this doesn't work?

No. As I already said, a redirect is NOT OK.

The usual directive is: ```
ErrorDocument 404 /index.php?main_page=page_not_found

Test it by typing something that does not exist.

yes thank-you, i changed the .htaccess tested as you advise....tested and it works!!!! thanks!

surprising thing is that my Godaddy settings still have listed /define_page_not_found.php and the thing was i thought i had to have /index.php?main_page=page_not_found which because of the symbols they wouldn't accept.

awesome, best wishes, Joe