I searched for some instructions on how to easily find dead links on my blog. I found some plugins that do just that but instead of using a plugin to do it why not use this cool method that can also provide you with a custom 404 page ?
The WordPress Codex directory is way cool and it is maybe one of the best wordpress resources out there. Here’s the link that interests us in particular: Creating an Error 404 Page. You just need to create a 404.php file in your theme directory (in case you don’t already have one). Put the following code in it and customize aiding yourself with the comments:
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| <?php get_header(); ?>
<div id="post-entry">
<h1>Whoops !</h1>
<div class="post-content">
<p>You
<?php
#some variables for the script to use
#if you have some reason to change these, do. but wordpress can handle it
$adminemail = get_bloginfo('admin_email'); #the administrator email address, according to wordpress
$website = get_bloginfo('url'); #gets your blog's url from wordpress
$websitename = get_bloginfo('name'); #sets the blog's name, according to wordpress
if (!isset($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'])) {
#politely blames the user for all the problems they caused
echo "tried going to "; #starts assembling an output paragraph
$casemessage = "All is not lost!";
} elseif (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'])) {
#this will help the user find what they want, and email me of a bad link
echo "clicked a link to"; #now the message says You clicked a link to...
#setup a message to be sent to me
$failuremess = "A user tried to go to $website"
.$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']." and received a 404 (page not found) error. ";
$failuremess .= "It wasn't their fault, so try fixing it.
They came from ".$_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'];
mail($adminemail, "Bad Link To ".$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'],
$failuremess, "From: $websitename <noreply@$website>"); #email you about problem
$casemessage = "An administrator has been emailed
about this problem, too.";#set a friendly message
}
echo " ".$website.$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']; ?>
and it doesn't exist. <?php echo $casemessage; ?> You can click back
and try again or try using the search box in the sidebar.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<?php get_sidebar(); ?>
<?php get_footer(); ?> |
Easy enough ? I think it is an awesome method. At least for testing if not for permanent use. Hope this helps. Oh, and by the way, if you have a large blog be ready to be bombarded with emails generated from this 404 page.
Best way to inspect dead links using your 404 page
I searched for some instructions on how to easily find dead links on my blog. I found some plugins that do just that but instead of using a plugin to do it why not use this cool method that can also provide you with a custom 404 page ?
The WordPress Codex directory is way cool and it is maybe one of the best wordpress resources out there. Here’s the link that interests us in particular: Creating an Error 404 Page. You just need to create a 404.php file in your theme directory (in case you don’t already have one). Put the following code in it and customize aiding yourself with the comments:
Easy enough ? I think it is an awesome method. At least for testing if not for permanent use. Hope this helps. Oh, and by the way, if you have a large blog be ready to be bombarded with emails generated from this 404 page.