"If you look at the following images of some of the custom error
pages used on WebReference, you will see that they provide better
information and more options for our visitors:
* Custom 404 error page
* Custom 500 error page
"Isn't that much better than the default pages shown at the
beginning of this tutorial? If you look closely, you'll see that
the URL the visitor attempted to access is shown, along with a few
reasons why they were not able to view it. They also are given an
option to contact someone at the Web site. In addition, all of the
regular navigation is available, as the page is formatted to look
like the rest of the Web site, thereby not causing too much alarm
to your visitors. You can also place ads on the page for additional
traffic, if you like. However, since the person is already a bit
frustrated, keeping the page ad free, for the most part, might be a
better option.
"Let's take a look and see what we need to do to implement these
type of error pages. As you'll see, it's not that difficult. The
requirements are pretty simple: you must have PHP on your Web
server; and you need to make sure that you are allowed to use
custom error pages. Most Web hosts running the Apache operating
system on their servers can accommodate both of these requirements
so they shouldn't really be a problem."
