This is very useful when for instance, Google has one of your site’s no longer existing pages, on cache: or if a user types a wrong URL directly on the browser.

 

Here you’ll find the steps needed for customize your Error 404 Page, with SharePoint.

 

1. First you have to create a new page in your SharePoint Page library, personalize it with your site’s style, you add an error or page not found message. In my case I created the page: Error.aspx

 

 

2. Now in the server where the SharePoint site is located, on the Layouts folder (systemdrive%\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\) you have to create an ASPX page to redirect it to the personalized Error page.  I created the “redirect404.aspx”. This page must have the redirect code to your SharePoint Page. I used a simple  javascript:

 

3. I the same Layouts’ address, there’s a folder named \1033, in this folder you’ll find the sps404.html file, you have to copy this file, and store it with a representative name like “mysite404.html”. This file contains a STSNavigate redirection script, we need to change the default parameter (”/_layouts/spsredirect.aspx?oldUrl=” + requestedUrl) to the “redirect404.aspx” address, this is:

STSNavigate("/_layouts/redireccionar404.aspx");

 

4. Until now, we’ve just done de redirection (in two steps) to our Error.aspx page , now we have to let SharePoint know that the “FileNotFound” is “mysite404.html” instead of  sps404.html; to do this we just have to create a little console application to assign the FileNotFoundPage to our Web Application.

 

5. The console program would be something like this:

string uriString = "";
Console.WriteLine("Uri String: ");
uriString = Console.ReadLine();
System.Uri webApplicationUri = new Uri(uriString);
SPWebApplication webApplication = SPWebApplication.Lookup(webApplicationUri);
string fnfPage = "";
Console.WriteLine("File Not Found Page name: ");
fnfPage = Console.ReadLine();
webApplication.FileNotFoundPage = fnfPage;
webApplication.Update();

 

6. We just have to run the application in the server where the site is located, and provide the right parameters.

 

 

7. And that’s it , the  next time people looks for a non existing page in your Site, SharePoint will redirect them to Error.aspx