The Easiest Way To Create a Genesis Custom 404 Page

[Okay guys, I’m wearing my techie hat today. Anything worth doing is worth doing well. When you brand yourself in business, ministry or anything, you want to make sure you have all areas covered, right? So, here’s another tip from my toolbox to make your website better. If for any reason you haven’t signed up to receive my weekly newsletter, sign up here]

Create a Genesis Custom 404 Page 
Recently I switched to the Genesis framework and thus far, it has been great! However, I found that the default 404 error (page not found) lists all my pages and doesn’t give my readers any cute info or redirect them anywhere.

So, I researched online how to create a custom Genesis 404 page without installing plugins that will slow down my website. Then, I found this nice blog post by Enstine about creating custom 404 pages.

It’s pretty simple to do. Click here and follow the instructions. The good thing about the blog post is that he also shows how to create a 404 page for non-Genesis theme users.

Some codes have changed, so what you need to look for in your functions.php file is:

/** Start the engine */
include_once( get_template_directory() . ‘/lib/init.php’ );

When you find this, then insert the code that Enstine provides on his blog. It is essential that you have your own customized 404 page for your genesis theme. if you don’t, when a page that used to exist doesn’t appear anymore, the default 404 (page doesn’t exist info) lists all the pages on your website. Everything!

Well, if you find all these to be too much for you to handle and you don’t know anything whatsoever about editing code, some people go for plugins. I didn’t use one for this quick fix. I tweaked it and voila! With 404 pages, you can make good use of them instead of a blank “SORRY.” Take a look at mine and let me know what you think. It’s still a work in progress but better than what it was!

Question: Did you create your Genesis custom 404 page or use a plugin?

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Belinda Enoma

Belinda is a Global Privacy and Cybersecurity Consultant, Corporate Trainer (leadership, culture, diversity and inclusion, cyber privacy and security awareness), Writer, and International Speaker with a unique blend of law and technology. She is a digital entrepreneur, author, ordained pastor, mentor to women ready to impact their generation and host of Destiny Chats podcast. For consultation, click here and invitation to speak, click here