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JohnMu Google employee  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 3:55 am
From: JohnMu
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:55:40 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 3:55 am
Subject: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Hi everyone!

The team just launched another neat widget in Webmaster Tools --
Enhanced 404 pages. Find all about it in the blog post at
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/08/make-your-404-page...

This is similar to what the Toolbar does in some situations (
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/12/fyi-on-google-tool...
) and I'm excited to see it up & ready for use on your pages. Just
copy & paste the code and you're done!

Feel free to post your questions & comments here -- and of course
links to 404 pages which you have created that use this widget! I hope
I'm not the only one who likes finding pages that don't exist :-).

John


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developdaly  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 4:10 am
From: developdaly
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:10:58 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 4:10 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Any examples yet?

On Aug 19, 12:55 pm, JohnMu wrote:


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JohnMu Google employee  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 4:26 am
From: JohnMu
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:26:24 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 4:26 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Hi developdaly

It's actually pretty easy to use -- I just added it to my blog :-)

http://johnmu.com/webmaster-tols-script1

In WordPress, you can just go to Design - Theme Editor - 404 Template
(404.php) and copy & paste the code from your Webmaster Tools account
there. Simple as pie!

John


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JLH  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 4:31 am
From: JLH
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:31:44 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 4:31 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
I applaud the efforts, like most webmaster tools it's going to be
great when functioning.  I'll reserve my excitement and praise after
I've observed it for a while.

Though I must say I'm not getting warm fuzzy feelings with a caveat
like this, "This feature is currently experimental -- we might not
provide corrections and suggestions for your site but we'll be working
to improve the coverage."  To me this sounds like another adventure in
"here be dragons" support not unlike sitelinks where this group in
inundated with hourly requests for "why doesn't my 404 work, my site
is w3 compliant and I use the work "cheese" on the homepage 87.3433
times?", "how can I get Google to make my 404 work like
microsoft.com?"

I've uploaded it, though it's tough to see it working or not as my
blog already forwards a user to close matches, for example

http://www.jlh-design.com/conta

will forward you to:

http://www.jlh-design.com/contact/

http://oyoy.eu/page/headers/?full=1&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.jlh-design.c...

However if you pick something really whacky:
http://www.jlh-design.com/monkeys/

It does give you a link to a Google search, no suggestions yet on the
page itself.

I don't know why but when I copy the code from GWT and paste, it
pastes it twice, maybe just me and my browser.

On Aug 19, 12:55 pm, JohnMu wrote:


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developdaly  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 4:32 am
From: developdaly
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:32:40 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 4:32 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
I just wanted to see someone else do it first ;)

I like it.

On Aug 19, 1:26 pm, JohnMu wrote:


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michaelsowa  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 4:38 am
From: michaelsowa
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:38:46 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 4:38 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Cool!

Just added it but I get ascript error and nothing appears at all... :-
(

http://www.memorycardzoo.co.uk/cddcddc

Cheers

Mike

On Aug 19, 7:26 pm, JohnMu wrote:


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developdaly  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 4:39 am
From: developdaly
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:39:13 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 4:39 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
John, FYI, your Google search input box doesn't have a border around
it and just looks like text on the page.

On Aug 19, 1:31 pm, JLH wrote:


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JLH  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 4:52 am
From: JLH
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:52:14 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 4:52 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Thanks, I removed it until I have time to make it work.

On Aug 19, 1:39 pm, developdaly wrote:


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JohnMu Google employee  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 5:05 am
From: JohnMu
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:05:38 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 5:05 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Hi developdaly
I tried it out on your site, but there's a problem with the 404 pages
-- they redirect to an error page, which makes the widget try to
suggest alternatives for the error page :-(

For example, when I try: http://www.memorycardzoo.co.uk/53/Lexar/JumpDrive-Lightning/4GB/
(instead of /853/...) it redirects me to
http://www.memorycardzoo.co.uk/error/404.aspx?page=%2f53%2fLexar%2fJu...
which is hard to find a match for... A clean 404 would be great, if
that's possible. I did however notice that your system handles typos
in the rest of the URL really nicely, cool!

Hi JLH,
The problem is not that things will break completely, but rather that
in the worst case, we'll only be able to show a site-search box. As in
your case, the /monkeys URL is not something we could correct to
anything sensible (at least as far as I can tell :-)). A URL like
http://www.jlh-design.com/contactt/ however, would probably be
something we could suggest something better for.

Also, this is one situation where a HTML sitemap page actually makes
sense: provided we can find it, we'll link to it as well.

John


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michaelsowa  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 5:19 am
From: michaelsowa
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:19:52 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 5:19 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Hi John,

I see what you are saying with that page.  Its because its a rewritten
URL and the underlying URL for product ID 853 does exist but the
product does not so the product page 301 redirects to our custom 404
page.  So its not handled like a standard 404. (Will look into seeing
if this is possible though)  http://www.memorycardzoo.co.uk/power+traveller
should give a proper 404 page and it is a product we sell but nothing
is returned.

Also the script error I get, I get for all the 404 page examples
posted on here.  I do have all errors turned on in IE7.0 though.
"Unknown runtime error" line 10. (If that helps any :S)

Thanks

Mike

On Aug 19, 8:05 pm, JohnMu wrote:


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JohnMu Google employee  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 5:35 am
From: JohnMu
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:35:41 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 5:35 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Hi Mike
Hmm, I don't see any script errors here, but I'll have the team check
it out :)

By the way, if anyone is interested, there's a neat way to track 404s
in Analytics as well: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2006/09/tip-tracking-404-pages.html

John


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webado  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 8:55 am
From: webado
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:55:56 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 8:55 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Grrrr..... Not working for me.

http://www.melinas-music.com/discograph?q=discography

No suggestion. It shoudl bring up discography.php and a couple more
which are rpefixed by dicography- .

The search doesn't  work either as it calls back the same page with a
query string attached .... and that flops.

The actual Google search box I have on the side works OK.

I tried to make sense of the script ... nothing doing. My knowledge of
js is way too sketchy to figure it out.

On Aug 19, 3:35 pm, JohnMu wrote:


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JMK  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 6:54 pm
From: JMK
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:54:21 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 6:54 pm
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
are there open and closing tags when cutting and pasting the java
script?  I cut and paste and nothing.

On Aug 19, 3:55 pm, webado wrote:


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webado  
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 More options Aug 20 2008, 11:38 pm
From: webado
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:38:05 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Wed, Aug 20 2008 11:38 pm
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
It's 2 scripts. One locally defined on your own page, at teh locaiotn
where you'd want it to show up, and another rigbht under it, that uses
a remote js script. Optionally some css styling you can add to your
own stylesheet or a style tag ion the ehad of the page.

On 20 août, 04:54, JMK wrote:


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RainboRick  
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 More options Aug 21 2008, 12:04 am
From: RainboRick
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:04:22 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 21 2008 12:04 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
I just installed it and tried a few bad URLs that were close to being
correct, and it worked very well.  As noted in the Webmaster Tools,
the widget did not produce a link to my HTML sitemap, perhaps because
the filename is "sitemap.htm" instead of "sitemap.html".  I hope that
the widget gets a bit smarter about sitemap filename extensions soon
(.htm, .php, .asp, etc.).

The Webmaster Tools page for installing this widget should also
include some advice to add a complimentary <noscript> section to your
Custom 404 page so that you can give users running with JavaScript
disabled some appropriate advice for finding their way to the
information they're after on your site.


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cristina  
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 More options Aug 21 2008, 12:25 am
From: cristina
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:25:50 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 21 2008 12:25 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Hi JMK,
Maybe give the URL of your site,
check if your site returns
HTTP status response 404 (Not Found)
for non-existent URLs.

Another thing is that some browser plug-ins
or firewalls redirect by default to their own
404 error pages when they get HTTP status response 404.

I just tried the Google 404 widget on my site,
if you want look with 'view source' at
http://www.asymptoticdesign.com/test404
at the two script elements towards the end of the page,
where I want the widget to appear.
The content of the widget is in a div #goog-wm
created by the external JavaScript code from Google
called by the code snippet, and
#goog-wm is styled via the <style> element

(I put the <style> element from the
widget snippet in the <head> element to be
valid (X)HTML )

Cristina.

On Aug 20, 9:54 am, JMK wrote:


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webado  
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 More options Aug 21 2008, 12:26 am
From: webado
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:26:46 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 21 2008 12:26 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
I have to figure out why it does not work at all with my error page.

So can we have an exanple of one that works?

On 20 août, 10:04, RainboRick wrote:


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cristina  
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 More options Aug 21 2008, 12:37 am
From: cristina
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:37:19 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 21 2008 12:37 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Sorry to repeat,
I tried it on my site

http://www.asymptoticdesign.com/test404

it does not have all features, like the hint URLs,
but it works (for browsers that do not redirect
to their default 404 page).

Cristina.

On Aug 20, 3:26 pm, webado wrote:


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webado  
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 More options Aug 21 2008, 12:58 am
From: webado
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:58:25 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 21 2008 12:58 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Oh you have the same thing as I do.
So I'd say it doesn't work.

On 20 août, 10:37, cristina wrote:


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webado  
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 More options Aug 21 2008, 12:59 am
From: webado
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:59:21 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 21 2008 12:59 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
The search doesn't work, as it reepats the same page with a query
string attached which doesn't do any better than the first time
through.

On 20 août, 10:37, cristina wrote:


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cristina  
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 More options Aug 21 2008, 1:00 am
From: cristina
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:00:53 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 21 2008 1:00 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Sorry, me again.
It works also with hint URLs,
for example for
http://www.asymptoticdesign.com/web_access
it suggests the correct URL
http://www.asymptoticdesign.com/web_accessibility.shtml

but it cannot suggest that URL if I try for example
http://www.asymptoticdesign.com/accessibility

Cristina.


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cristina  
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 More options Aug 21 2008, 1:04 am
From: cristina
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:04:13 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 21 2008 1:04 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Sorry, me again again.
It gives hint URLs for some incorrect URLs,
but not for all.
It is quite fun to try and find incorrect URLs for which
the widget gives good suggestions.

Cristina.


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JLH  
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 More options Aug 21 2008, 1:22 am
From: JLH
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:22:49 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 21 2008 1:22 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
My favorite review so far:

http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/018036.html

"Google Enhances "404 Not Found" Experience, Creates Broken Page
Experience Instead"

I couldn't get the search button to show up, it has something to do
with CSS I just know it, and that stuff borders on black magic in my
book so I took it off, perhaps to revisit it when all other things on
my to do list are accomplished.

On Aug 20, 10:04 am, cristina wrote:


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cristina  
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 More options Aug 21 2008, 2:14 am
From: cristina
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:14:02 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 21 2008 2:14 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
Hi JLH,
I cannot find the source code for the widget
on a 404 URL from your site.
Are you sure you put the code in the
content generated for a 404 error?

Cristina.

On Aug 20, 4:22 pm, JLH wrote:


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JLH  
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 More options Aug 21 2008, 2:29 am
From: JLH
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:29:13 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Thurs, Aug 21 2008 2:29 am
Subject: Re: An easy way to make your 404 pages useful!
I took it off already.  Looked ugly cuzz the Google Search button,
well, wasn't a button.  Like I said, CSS black magic voodoo stuff, way
beyond my tolerance for tedious details.

On Aug 20, 11:14 am, cristina wrote:


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