Title: 404 error page plugin
Last modified: August 19, 2016

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# 404 error page plugin

 *  [affirmwealth](https://wordpress.org/support/users/affirmwealth/)
 * (@affirmwealth)
 * [15 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-error-page-plugin/)
 * I’m looking for a simple-to-use 404 error page plugin.
 * I want to redirect any broken links on my blog to the main home page.
 * I have found a few plugins but the installation and configuration of the plugin
   is not easy to understand.
 * They keep talking about editing code, which I can do if it is explained to me
   step-by-step. But the plugins do not come with clear instructions.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  [hedronist](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hedronist/)
 * (@hedronist)
 * [15 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-error-page-plugin/#post-1813521)
 * So which plugins were you having trouble with? A link is worth … well, a lot!
 * Normally the 404 is handled by the 404.php file in the theme folder. A good place
   to look and learn is at the twentyten theme that comes with WP 3+. If your theme
   doesn’t supply a 404.php file then WP has a pretty reasonable default.
 * It is a Bad Idea to have a 404 (Page Not Found) result in a valid page (200 OK)
   because it can mess up your search engine ranking (and any other program that
   might be looking at your site). The WP default a) gives a true 404 error, b) 
   a search box, and c) your theme with all of its nav. That’s enough for almost
   any user who is likely to use your site.
 *  Thread Starter [affirmwealth](https://wordpress.org/support/users/affirmwealth/)
 * (@affirmwealth)
 * [15 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-error-page-plugin/#post-1813524)
 * Well, this is what my theme does now:
 * [http://adriannemiller.com/author/adrianne/](http://adriannemiller.com/author/adrianne/)
 * I was hoping for something that would allow me to redirect all missing pages 
   to my home page.
 *  [hedronist](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hedronist/)
 * (@hedronist)
 * [15 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-error-page-plugin/#post-1813529)
 * Right. That’s the default handling for a 404 – inside your theme. Automatically
   redirecting 404s to your front page can actually be confusing for people. They
   click on _The Best Roast Chicken Ever!_ and they get … the front page? If they
   get a 404 page they will know it was a bad link and deal with it.
 * It’s better to make sure you don’t have any 404s to begin with. There are many
   site checkers out there, but I’ve always liked [Xenu Link Checker](http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html)
   for it’s speed and simplicity. It has the same site credentials as MSIE, so make
   sure you fire up IE and logout before running it or it will wander into the admin
   Dashboard … which could be Bad.
 * Ps. Although you may really like it, most people do **not** like web pages that
   force them to listen to music … over, and over, and over again. It slows down
   the page load (not a Good Thing) and it gets old really fast. No offense intended,
   but this one is pretty much chiseled into stone for the Dos and Don’ts of website
   design.
 *  Thread Starter [affirmwealth](https://wordpress.org/support/users/affirmwealth/)
 * (@affirmwealth)
 * [15 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-error-page-plugin/#post-1813530)
 * Thanks! You’ve been helpful.
 * Now I see that I don’t really need a plugin after all.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘404 error page plugin’ is closed to new replies.

 * 4 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [affirmwealth](https://wordpress.org/support/users/affirmwealth/)
 * Last activity: [15 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/404-error-page-plugin/#post-1813530)
 * Status: not resolved

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