I have a few add-on domains, and they are all running WordPress. Some of them load the 404.php just fine, but I'm having a problem with a couple where I can't get a 404 error message. Funny how everyone on the internet is trying to NOT get a 404 error page and I'm frustrated because I CAN'T get one.

If I enter a non-existing address, I should get a 404 error, but I don't. Instead, it posts every single page published on this site.

I made sure that I have a 404.php file in the proper location. I added a line to .htaccess to direct the error to the appropriate file, though I was unsure of where exactly in the .htaccess file to PUT the new line:


The .htaccess file is in the same folder as all my wordpress files (including the wp-admin folder, wo-content folder, etc).

I've googled a hundred different things, but haven't found a solution. I know this isn't exactly a question about lunarpages, but this forum seems much more helpful than the wordpress.org support forum.

Thank you so much for the quick reply!!

A bogus URL doesn't redirect to the Home Page, but to some new entity that compiles the content of every page published on the site tacked into one page. It winds up being 200+ pages of content from 30+ published pages

When I tried to go to http://domain.net/index.php?error=404 like you suggested, it did indeed send me to the Home Page. But when I type in a bogus URL, it loads every page like I mentioned above.


Ok, on to your next suggestion - I edited out all the rewrite stuff from the .htaccess file so now it's absolutely empty. I entered a bogus URL and got the good ol' Firefox 404 Not Found (not the 404.php that matches my theme).

I added ErrorDocument 404 /index.php?error=404 to the .htaccess and I was once again back to loading the page with a compilation of every page published.

Also, what does the rewrite stuff (what I commented out) do? Is leaving .htaccess empty a problem?

Thanks again for your help!

Yes, I created a custom 404.php file by duplicating the index.php, deleting the loop parts, and then entering some text and renaming the file 404.php. Without even opening the .htaccess file, this worked for 3 out of 5 sites I've been working on. I can't for the life of me figure out what's different with the other two...

Thank you again for taking the time to help me! There are about a million unanswered support posts in the WordPress forum, and the idea of becoming 100,000,001 didn't appeal to me.

I was invoking the error page via index.php because that is what is largely recommended in the world of WordPress (I did many many Google searches on this topic). For some horrible reason, this does not work for me.

For now, I've created an html file, stuck it in my root, and I direct errors to it with: ErrorDocument 404 /404error.html

EDIT: I lied. Now every page on my site except for the front page is returning a 404 error. Back to Google...


With your suggestions, however, I've managed to winnow the problem down to a few things.

1. In .htaccess, the line: RewriteRule . /index.php [L]  is causing a large problem. I have to remove this line or else my new html error page won't show. Instead, I'll get the evil Compilation Page (mentioned in previous posts). I don't fully understand what this RewriteRule does... I hope it's okay I removed it...

2. Manually entering index.php?error=404 into the URL (http://domain.net/index.php?error=404) redirects me to the front page, not the 404.php page.

3. Putting ErrorDocument 404 /index.php?error=404 at the top of .htaccess redirects a non-existing URL to the evil Compilation Page.

4. This all happens using the Default theme as well, so the problem is in my content, my permalinks, or some other unknown factor.

Unless someone has suggestions for more things for me to try, I'm going to just use the html error page and forget about trying to make it play nice with WordPress.

Thanks again for helping me work through this. I'll probably re-examine the problem in a couple months and hope that more information is available (I can't be the only one having this problem... right?).

Ok, things are getting confusing because I'm trying a dozen different combinations of things. So I will try to be systematic. For all these cases, I'm entering a 100% non-existing URL: http://domain.net/dfvdfv/

Also, I want to mention that this is for an add-on domain.

1. With a completely blank .htaccess I get the standard Firefox 404 Not Found page for the non-existing page. However, I also get a 404 Not Found for all existing pages except for the front page (index).



2. The default WordPress .htaccess
I get the evil Compilation Page, and all my pages load properly (Sidebar links, etc).



3. I've seen at least a dozen different sites, including Wordpress.org, say that adding ErrorDocument 404 /index.php?error=404 to the .htaccess will make WordPress look for the 404.php file in the template folder (which I have - it's a copy of my index.php with the Loop removed).


This still returns the evil Compilation Page, and all the pages load fine.



4. At this point, I'll mention that manually entering http://domain.net/index.php?error=404 redirects to the front page (which is a WordPress default action, though it's completely ignoring my 404.php file).



5. So I created a super-simple html file and placed it in my root directory.

And this file loads fine: http://domain.net/404error.html



6. Now I tried to add this to the .htaccess

And yet again I get the evil Compilation page, with all the other pages loading fine.



7. I removed the WordPress rewrite section again
And the new html page displays for the non-existing URL, but all of the other pages (Sidebar links) return a 404 now.



8. So there are 2 basic outcomes right now: either I get the evil Compilation page and all my pages load; or the 404.html displays, but all of my legit pages become 404 errors.

I'm leaving the site set up with


So you can see how bizarre the evil Compilation page is.

Yes, I was clearing my cache. I think I figured out the problem (or at least a fix for it).

In case anyone has this problem in the future, my Reading Settings were to display a static page. Logically, I chose the page I wanted from the Front page drop down menu.

The solution is to choose a random page from the Posts page drop down menu as well (not the same one as in the Front page menu). This second Posts page will not actually display, but for whatever reason, it stops the loop from breaking and displaying everything.

After doing this, all of the things I've been trying to do suddenly worked: the redirection to the 404.php (by adding ErrorDocument 404 /index.php?error=404), the <?php else :?> after the loop (in index.php), everything. I have no idea if this is a bug or not, but it's extremely non-intuitive to me. Why would you choose 2 different pages for the static front page, especially when only one of them is displayed?

Anyway, thank you again for taking the time to help me. Just having someone to discuss this with is what kept me from giving up. I'll be sure to add this to the list of reasons I recommend Lunarpages ^_^