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23 Oct This post is from from my other blog here Philosophical question: If a mistyped url falls in a forest of web pages, can anyone see it? We’ve all seen ‘em, the boring old “the page you requested does not exist” messages when we mistyped a url or file name. The problem with the standard HTTP Error page is that it can be scary to the, shall we say, technically challenged customers that might happen across something like this:
Most people don’t know what the codes mean, may not know what a URL is, and wouldn’t have the faintest idea of how to contact the server’s administration, assuming they cared enough to try again to find what they were looking for. A recent Craigslist experience caused me to seek creative examples of the “404 page not available” messages. Here’s a screen shot of the Craigslist 404 that sent me on this quest:
I would love to see your own creative ways you handled 404 pages, or good examples you’ve seen. Care to share?
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November 2007 why don't 404 pges ever have a form for people to easily fil out how they ended up there and a send button?
By the way - the twitter catz in your computer 404 pages were/are popular.  Reply
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November 2007 Clay, I think the form idea is good in theory...but most visitors aren't in the business of providing feedback on site errors/problems. ...i think it's more important to get the visitor as easily and quickly back onto their journey to your products or information.
That was the theory behind the recent rework we did to the ineedhits 404 pages. Reply
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November 2007 by the way - gooruze's 404 could probably improve and add some fun to it.
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November 2007 Hey Clay, thanks for linking to the Gooruze 404 pages. I agree they could be improved :). And I also like your suggestion to be able to report how you ended up on the 404 page in the first place. Would be very helpful for webmasters to know that. TheNugFarmer makes some great points in the article he references...Gooruze could revamp their 404 to provide a gateway back to home, the Q&A page, groups page and log in page, for instance, to keep people from leaving the site.
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November 2007 i found this post after i wrote "the easiest page view you'll ever get," but i sort of elaborate on what you're saying here (and you made excellent points)
i like the creative aspect, but i think you've got to make it extremely functional, almost like a portal to all the popular areas on your site. Reply
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