Custom Error Pages
What are custom pages for errors?
When your website generates an error, such as a 404, it produces an error page to let visitors know what issue occurred. If you would like a list of errors that may be generated as well as more information about what they mean, please check the article below:
On shared hosting, these are branded with HostGator branding by default, and on a VPS or Dedicated server, they are generally blank white error messages. However, you can design these pages to have your branding or unique information to help assist visitors experiencing errors.
How do I create custom pages for errors?
To create a custom page for the errors generated by your account, please log in to cPanel and click Error Pages under Advanced. Select the domain or subdomain you want and click the page you want to edit. Insert your own custom page code (in HTML or SHTML). The changes will be applied after you click Save.
But I don’t know any HTML...
Never fear. If you use a design program like HostGator Website Builder, simply publish a page that you would want to use. Next, visit your website online and pull up that new page you want. At the top of your browser, go to View and choose "Source" or "Page Source." Copy everything from the pop-up window (right-click, Select All, right-click, Copy), and now you can paste where the HTML code belongs.
Afterward, you may want to remove that extra page from your site builder program.
Common problems
If you still see the HostGator branded pages, try refreshing your browser (ctrl + F5). If you still see the HostGator pages, please add this code to your .htaccess file in the public_html directory:
ErrorDocument 403 /403.shtml
ErrorDocument 404 /404.shtml
ErrorDocument 500 /500.shtml
For detailed instructions on how to edit your .htaccess file, please check the following article:
You can even use existing pages as the resulting page. Say you don't want any visitors seeing 404 errors on your site. You can make your home page the result, like so:
ErrorDocument 404 /index.html
If Internet Explorer is not displaying the custom page, it is likely because the page must be larger than 1 kilobyte.
There are many errors for which you may define pages. For a list of errors you may wish to create pages for, please check out the following article:
How can I revert to the default error pages?
Simply delete the page from the public_html folder:
- 403.shtml
- 404.shtml
- 500.shtml