SEO: 404 Pages

[AmyStephen]

OK. Thanks for that. Obviously, was not following that.

[pvh123]

I can now see where Brad is going having read his explanation again; I am not a Apache guru so it takes a bit more thinking for me. This raises another question, since this is all very Apache directed, what about IIS websites? I know that you can replace the default errorpages in IIS, but that would be "static" pages than and we are very "dynamic". Also how does this reflect on this discussion? We need to handle the same issue there as well, I think.

[brad]

Similar principles apply to IIS, however, without having the use of mod_rewrite, it's also a non issue IMHO. I'm happy to explain more sometime if needed.

[mcsmom]

Brad, right now there are a lot of places in the code where it checks permissions and if the user does not have proper permissions it uses JError::raiseError to get the error.php, whether from the system template folder or the current template (if error.php exists for the template). These show in the apache log with the right header if the status number is included in the code.

In terms of resources used is there any advantage to going to error.php over showing a warning or a notice?

[brad]

I understand at some point, Joomla is going to have to handle error pages. All I am suggesting is that out of the box this be minimal. IF people want to enable it, I'd like to see them have to turn it on, or edit a line our of .htaccess. Just something that enables default sites, Joe Blow in the street, to use the webserver default 404's if possible.

The next step is to minimize the amount of work that Joomla does to throw a 404.. again I am not sure of the finer details on this.

[alledia]

OK - would we consider going with a plugin (albeit not in the core package)?

[brad]

OK - would we consider going with a plugin (albeit not in the core package)?

Even if it were in the Core Package, I have no issue, as long as it is off by default

[mcsmom]

Right now, as far as I know error.php is mainly used when specifically called by Joomla! in the code using JError which are not usually true 404s. The one exeption is if you have sef on with the extension selected, in which case index.php/cat.html will give you the system error page.

So, it sounds like if we had a plugin by default set to off that controlled whether the error.php was used that would solve some possilbe resource problems anyway.

Also, I would say it should first always look to the current template and then if there is no error.php go to the system template.


Now, we all know already that we can just go and customize the apache error pages to look however we want. And from what Brad is saying that is what someone concerned about resources should do. The problem is, however, if you have multiple domains on your account you can't customize too much because it wouldn't match all of your different domains. So, what you do is make an error.php page for your template.

Then I think we have the possibly interesting possibility of allowing editing editing of error.php as part of the template manager.

[alledia]

Interesting article on 404s from ALA: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/perfect404/

Some key takeaways:

404 Must-haves

* A link to the site map and the home page.
* A search box.
* A distinctly minimalist look. Avoid putting all your standard site navigation on this page.

1 and 2 would certainly entail the page being part of Joomla with the ability to place modules in the content.

[perandre]

My opinion:
-It should be in Joomla core, but it could be turned off as default
-It should be a normal article that can be linked to from a menu element (invisible menu, that is...for configs and module placement).

Great!

[RickGlaser]

Always use a sitemap, and when you are using a SEF comp. make sure that you do things correctly and do not have the native Joomla SEF activated as well. It will prevent many headaches.

[holdencreative]

Incidental to this thread...thought you may like to know..
I have created a summary of the primary 'Custom 404 Page' method as a Joomla! Documentation Tutorial.

Original Thread:

http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=199&t=251089

New Documentation Page:

http://docs.joomla.org/Tutorial:Create_ ... Error_Page

The only significant difference from the method described on the first page of this thread is that the tutorial suggests using a traditional Joomla! URL (non-SEF) in order to avoid the requirement of a newly published menu item.

While this *may not be the best* long-term method toward SEO and Joomla! it provides a single source solution to a common question on the forums.

[301yutredo]

I agree with http://www.alistapart.com/articles/perfect404/ Keep it simple.good luck.