What do you do with your error pages? Do you turn them into an opportunity to proselytize your services? Or do you have a bland 404-no-thanks page? Or do you allow customers to customize their error pages?

Allowing clients to customise their error pages would be the done thing to do :D

Making 404 pages into big ad pages for paid hosting customers would be very tacky.

Making 404 pages into big ad pages for paid hosting customers would be very tacky.
No, I agree. But I was just setting up custom error pages for my clients, and was wondering what would happen if they deleted THOSE. I thought maybe the server might swallow it's own head, so I was trying to figure out a way to have a different page it defaults to if the custom one is gone. That's why I was wondering what others put on them.

Are you using Apache?

If so then using .htaccess rather than the httpd.conf to set up the custom errors will be the safest way - then if the custom html page got renamed or deleted, apache will not fall over the next time you restart it.

Well, I had considered individual .htaccess files, but I'm still wondering what happens if the custom page is missing.

Nothing really happens, when a 404 shows up, it just doesn't show a error message..

Had it happen a few weeks ago on one of my servers....

Well, I had considered individual .htaccess files, but I'm still wondering what happens if the custom page is missing.

I have just tested it - You get a very nasty looping effect.

However if you put this in the httpd.conf instead of .htaccess and the 404 page got deleted or renamed - apache will not restart.

.htaccess is most likely the best way to go.

I have just tested it - You get a very nasty looping effect.
Seems to me...and I could be wrong...that it would have the same effect whether it is .htaccess or httpd.conf, wouldn't it?

The only reason I'm obsessing over this is because, well...and I'm probably the only one out there that has this problem <ahem>, but not all of my customers are the brightest stars in the sky.:blush:

Oh well - good luck ;)