Custom 404?

[CosmicMan]

I'd like to make my own 404 page...my domain just became active, and I see the 404 page on the server.  Can I simply create my own and replace the ready-made one?

Thanks!

Kevin

[Deb]

You sure can.  As long as there is a file titled 404.html within your /www/ directory that's the file the server will show

Deb
 - I found the not found file!

[CosmicMan]

Thanks, Deb!

Cheers, Kevin

(Still waiting for Prodigy to see my site on FQ instead of the old host...but I can see it on Excite's Free ISP. LOL!)

[Dan Kaplan]

Since this thread appears to be concluded, it's probably safe to hijack now.  

Has anyone figured out what makes IE5 tick in terms of 404 pages?  I cannot find any consistency on my own sites in terms of when my 404 page comes up and when IE5 displays it's generic white anti-sleuthing page.  I read something about it depending on the size of your 404 page (i.e. if it's too small, IE5 will use its own), but that doesn't seem to have any effect.  Any ideas?

Dan

[sheila]

Here is a really cool site I found this past week, called the "404 Research Lab": http://www.plinko.net/404/

They have an article on that site about forcing IE5 to display your custom 404 page:
http://www.plinko.net/404/custom.asp#ie

Basically, they say to have a 404.html file that is at least 512 bytes.

Here is another blurb from the same site:

IE5 Users!
You may be missing out on the wonder of 404! IE has its own error messages built in. That  sucks! You can disable them by going into the options screen, to Advanced Options, and  uncheck 'Show friendly HTTP error messages'.

[Dan Kaplan]

I've read the 512 byte thing (is it possible to have a file smaller than that?), but I have 404 files in the range of 15k (maybe double that including graphics) that don't show up in IE5 half the time.  I think there's something else going on.

Dan

[Jeff]

I'm seeing http://run-down.com/foo without problems - I tested various 404's 50 times to see if I could 'break it' without success...

[Dan Kaplan]

Thanks for checking that, Jeff.  However, I get the default IE5 404 on that exact page.  At the moment, I can't come up with a page that will give me the custom 404.  It seems intermittent.

Dan