The most common error page is the "404 File Not Found" error generated when a user tries to access a non-existent URL at your site. You can replace this default message with a .html file that displays a custom webpage of your choosing. It is recommended that you still tell the user the page was an error just so he knows.
To do this goto the directory you put your publically viewable web files in (usually public_html or www on our servers). Then create a file called .htaccess if one is not created for you using a text editor (such as pico in telnet). Enter the following command into the top of that file:
This directive tells the server whenever there is a 404 error to hunt out the file named error404.html. Now in the same directory, create a html web file called error404.html (if one is not already in place for you). You can use any of the standard html you use on normal webpages. Once these two files are created your all set and the server will automatically chage the 404 messages!ErrorDocument 404 /error404.html
Other common error messages you might wish to replace are the "500 Internal Server" error that results when a CGI script crashes, and the "401 Authorization Required" error that occurs when, for instance, someone tries to access a password protected directory without a proper username. Follow the same file naming conventions and instructions as the above and add these lines to your .htaccess file:
Frontpage Users: Some versions of microsoft frontpage have problems handling .htaccess files so we do not recommend that you use the above with frontpage.ErrorDocument 500 /errors500.html ErrorDocument 401 /errors401.html