Reasons and solutions for error 404 not found

Often a situation arises where the browser displays a 404 error message instead of a specific page. People react differently: some do not notice, others get angry, others get frightened. What is 404 not found, which causes this problem? When there is no page that the person wants to see, this message is displayed. Few people know that in honor of 404 not found there are projects on the Internet, whole catalogs, competitions are organized. First let's figure out what Error 404 is when it appears. If you look at the technical side, then the browser turns to the server, which sends the code status of the requested page. If the request is processed correctly, this corresponds to the code "200 OK". Users see the requested page of the website. In the event that the request is processed with errors, people see the message with the status 404 not found.

What do the numbers indicate in error 404?

Not everyone knows that the first digit indicates the error of the client program (browser). It is assumed that the URL does not exist or is invalid. Zero indicates syntax problems. The last digit is attributed to the 40x version of the error, including, in addition to the 404 not found status, 401 unauthorized and 400 bad request.

Interesting myth about error 404

There is a funny myth about error 404, according to which, in the research center involved in the development of the World Wide Web, there was a room with the same number on the fourth floor. At a certain point, the amount of information that was processed exceeded all permissible norms, several scientists could not apply simultaneously to one document. That's when the developers came up with the idea of making an error message informing that the file was not found.

Scientists themselves from the center of CERN deny this. They claim that there was no such room. It is worth noting that it is impossible to never encounter error 404 not found. There is one more reason for this error. In Russia, the Internet connection by dial-up (telephone) is quite common. If the connection with the provider is poor, error 404 appears.

Ways to solve the problem

What can I do to prevent 404 page not found from frightening users, how to avoid this? Are there ways to solve the problem? For owners of web resources it is important that there are no "broken" links. This is easy with a static site, which is no more than 10 pages. If the Internet resource is large, there is a lot of content in it, it is difficult to keep everything under control constantly. Sooner or later, a link to a page that no longer exists. And the user himself can enter an incorrect address. It's important to make a good page reporting error 404. It should not frighten the site visitors. On it it is necessary to indicate information about the error itself so that people understand why they are here. You can also place on it some of the information that the user could search for. For example, an instruction, a form for searching. Make links to interesting articles of your site on it, do not forget about mentioning the address of the main page of the resource. The form of feedback is also not a hindrance.

Make it all with humor to the user to smile! Then it will less frighten people who first encounter such a mistake. The friendliness of the site is very important, it is necessary that people have a desire to go to your Internet resource, and a large number of mistakes, not properly designed, can irritate visitors. If the site owner knows that the page that is moved can be searched by people, it is necessary to redirect to the new address, warning about the movement of users. You need to open the page about the error 404. To do this:

- make this page, name it, for example, "404.htm";

- create a folder in the root, write it in .htaccess;

- put a page about the error;

- write in .htaccess ErrorDocument 404 / error / 404.htm.

All these actions will avoid the message not found on the pages of your site.