Creating a Custom 404 Page in Genesis

Sometime you might encounter the 404 page when visiting a non-existed page. This might cause by various reasons, you might have misspelled the URL or maybe the author had deleted his article. Many websites have 404 page that is useless. Users feel lost and they quickly leave the website.

This is an example of really unique and useful 404 error page:

Cool? Besides the unique design, there some custom text plus a list of recent posts in grid layout. Visitors might get attracted to those posts and click on them, thus preventing them from leaving your website. Want a better idea? Put a search form or related post so they can simple navigate through your website.

(Pic credit: wegraphics.net)

Today I’m going to share how you can design your own custom 404 page in Genesis, the easy ways.

1. Genesis 404 Page Plugin

Love plugin? This is for you. After installing the plugin, you’ll see the new post Editor for creating your own custom 404 page in Genesis > 404 Page. Put nice words, some cool pictures and you’re done. You can also change the title of the 40 page and add search form to the page.

If you want to display your recent post or other dynamic posts, I suggest you to install Display Post Shortcode.

Install Genesis 404 Page plugin.

2. Genesis Widgetized Not Found & 404 Plugin

Another plugin to help customizing your 404 page. Instead of adding content through your post editor, this plugin will register a new widget section in the sidebar. Place your search form widget, custom menu, recent post widget, Genesis featured post widget etc. The possibilities are endless.

Install Genesis Widgetized Not Found & 404 plugin.

3. Love coding?

Yes you can. I recommend to check out these two articles by the community:

1. Customize the Genesis 404 Page by Dream Whisper Designs

If you’re not using Genesis Framework, that’s fine. You can still create your own unique 404 page. These are some good resources to learn how to create your custom 404 page:

1. How To Create A Simple 404 Error Page For WordPress Themes by WP.Tutplus
2. Creating an 404 Page in WordPress Codex