Custom Error Pages - Customizing BlueHost Error Pages

Once you set up your domain on your BlueHost account, error pages are added to the domain directory. All are named with the .shtml file extension. They include:

• 400 (Bad Request)
• 401 (Authorization Required)
• 403 (Forbidden)
• 404 (Not Found)
• 500 (Internal Server Error)

You can choose to leave these pages as they are, edit them through the Control Panel, OR the method I prefer, editing them with your web editor.

To Customize your 'Error Pages' Using the Control Panel

Step 1: Log into your Bluehost control panel.

Step 2: Locate the 'Advanced' menu.

Step 3: Locate and click on the Error Pages icon. This will take you to the 'Error pages' menu.

Step 4: Select the domain to customize error pages for from the drop down menu. Select he error page to customize. View Screenshot

Step 5: To customize the error page, you can click on the error page number (400, 401, 403, 404, 500) or the error page name (Bad Request, Authorization required, etc) When the selected Error Page loads, the following six tags are available:

1. Referring URL - Displays the url of the web site the visitor was previously viewing.
   
   <!--#echo var="HTTP_REFERER" -->
2. Visitor's IP Address - Displays the IP address of the visitor viewing the error page.
   
   <!--#echo var="REMOTE_ADDR" -->
3. Requested URL - Displays the intended url the visitor is trying to view.
   
   <!--#echo var="REQUEST_URI" -->
4. Server name - Displays the web site's server name.
   
   <!--#echo var="HTTP_HOST" -->
5. Visitor's browser - Displays the visitor's browser type such as IE, FireFox, Netscape, etc.
   
   <!--#echo var="HTTP_USER_AGENT" -->
6. Redirect Status Code - This displays the type of code in the 300-307 range.
   
   <!--#echo var="REDIRECT_STATUS" -->

You do not have to use any of the above tags. They are available to you based on your own personal preferences and needs specific to your web site. You can place any html code or text in the error page. View Screenshot

Tip: You can find what error codes are being shown to your visitors by viewing any of the available web site statistical analysis programs built in to cPanel such as Awstats, Webalizer, etc.

Step 6: If you are satisfied with your customized error page click on the 'Save' button to store your changes. You will be taken to the 'Error page saved' menu. 

Step 7: Click the 'Go Back' button to return to the Error pages main menu to edit a different Error Page or Click the 'Home' icon in the upper left hand corner to return to the main cPanel menu.

COMMENT: The resulting error page does NOT give much in the way of information. I prefer to design my own error page and publish it to the server.

To Customize your 'Error Pages' Using Expression Web

You can either create a new page from scratch in Expression Web OR  create a new page using your dynamic web template. If you have your pages located in subdirectories as well as your main directory, you will need to change your references to absolute urls (full url) for the error page to work in the subdirectories.

Example: http://www.expression-web-tutorials.com/404.shtml

Example: http://www.expression-web-tutorials.com/403.shtml

Step 1: File > New > Page OR File > New > Create From Dynamic Web Template

Step 2: Save the newly created page with the same name as the error file on the server i.e. 404.shtml NOTE: If you choose to use your DWT, immediately detach the page from the DWT. Format > Dynamic Web Template > Detach from Dynamic Web Template.

Step 3: Change all links to style sheets and images to absolute URL's if you want you page to work across the entire site. Edit the page as you wish.

Step 4: Save the error page and publish to your BlueHost server space.

Simple as that. Now instead of a blank page or a page that gives no information on your site, you have your own custom error page.

NOTE: The graphic image used on the 403.shtml page is one I purchased and MAY NOT be copied. The image used on the 404.shtml page is one I created and you are free to us.

Additional Resources

• 404 Error by S. R. Emerson
• HTTP 404 by Wikipedia
• http://www.404errorpages.com/

All of the BlueHost Tutorials have been assembled into one EBook in pdf format for easy printing. The file has been zipped for quicker downloading.

Copyright © 2010 Pat Geary of Expression Web Tutorials and Templates, All Rights Reserved
Updated June 6, 2011