How To Fix 404 Errors On Your Website
In Internet, the HTTP 404, error 404, page not found, or file not found error message is indicate that the browser was able to communicate with a given server, but the server could not find what was requested, The 404 error code is one of the most frequent errors a web user encounters. Servers are required to respond to client requests, such as when a user attempts to visit a webpage. So, for example, if a user tries to access a page that has been moved, but its original link has not been redirected, the user receives a 404 error code in response. The user might also receive the code along with a human-readable phrase such as “Not Found.” 404 error codes can occur in any web browser.
History of Error 404
The term “404 Not Found” was coined by Berners-Lee himself, who explained in a 1998 interview that he wanted to make the error message “slightly apologetic”. He also said that he considered using “400 Bad Request” instead, but decided that it was too vague and technical.
The first documented case of a 404 error appearing on a web page was in 1993, when a user tried to access a page about the Mosaic web browser on the NCSA website. The page had been moved to a different location, but the link had not been updated. The user reported the error to the NCSA team, who fixed the link and added a humorous message to their 404 page: “We’re sorry, but the document you requested is not here. Maybe you should try someplace else.”
Since then, 404 errors have become one of the most common and recognizable errors on the Web.
Many websites have customized their 404 pages with creative designs, messages, or features to entertain or assist their visitors. For example, Google’s 404 page features a broken robot and a link to its homepage, while GitHub’s 404 page shows a random image of a parallax star field and a link to its status page. Some websites have also used their 404 pages to showcase their brand personality, humor, or social causes. For instance, Lego’s 404 page shows the Lego minifigure Emmet along with a humorous message, Amazon’s displays the image of a dog
Microsoft Internet Server 404 substatus error codes
Microsoft Internet Server 404 substatus error codes 404.0 – Not found.
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- 404.1 – Site Not Found.
- 404.2 – ISAPI or CGI restriction.
- 404.3 – MIME type restriction.
- 404.4 – No handler configured.
- 404.5 – Denied by request filtering configuration.
- 404.6 – Verb denied.
- 404.7 – File extension denied.
- 404.8 – Hidden namespace.
- 404.9 – File attribute hidden.
- 404.10 – Request header too long.
- 404.11 – Request contains double escape sequence.
- 404.12 – Request contains high-bit characters.
- 404.13 – Content length too large.
- 404.14 – Request URL too long.
- 404.15 – Query string too long.
- 404.16 – DAV request sent to the static file handler.
- 404.17 – Dynamic content mapped to the static file handler via a wildcard MIME mapping.
- 404.18 – Query string sequence denied.
- 404.19 – Denied by filtering rule.
- 404.20 – Too Many URL Segments.
Few ways to Resolve 404 Errors in your browser
- Try to restart your web-browser, closing your current window and opening a new one, it is as simple, but some time help
- Clear browser cache, clean your browser data and history
- Re-check for mistyped characters, check the url to ensure you entered the correct website address in the search bar
- Try another device, access the website using another web browser or machine, if it works, try clearing the previous device’s cookie and cache one more time.
- Switch browser to the incognito window. This mode doesn’t retain cookies and cache, so it will display a renewed web page version
If 404 error on your web site
Create a new .htaccess in the top directory on your site:
In File Manager, click New File in the upper menu.
Enter .htaccess as the file name.
Copy and paste the following code within the file
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>RewriteEngine OnRewriteBase /RewriteRule ^index.php$ – [L]RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-fRewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-dRewriteRule . /index.php [L]</IfModule>
Few ways to identify and fix 404 errors:
- Use a website analysis tool such as Google Search Console or Any SEO Spider to identify links that result in 404 errors
- If the URL for a page has changed, the old URL should be redirect to the new URL. Redirects are the easiest way to fix a 404 error
- Restore deleted webpages as long as there is no business reason to keep it deleted. If there is a reason to keep it deleted, then the link should be redirected
- Create the page contents for a 404 status code and substitute it for the 404 page that a browser usually provides. Custom error responses contain a message and can encourage the user to send a note to the webmaster so that the situation can be fixed
