Friendly 404

[Ampa]

I mistyped the forum URL on a friend's PC as donationcoder.com/forum and got a rather plain and unhelpful 404 page not found.

I know it is a small thing, but couldn't we have a nicer error page, which lists the major areas of the site, tries to redirect (after a few seconds) to the most likely destination if it can easily be guessed (eg. forum -> forums!).

[mouser]

i think it's a great idea to have a nice looking 404 staring our mascot Cody, with maybe a list of likely destinations (mini site map); we'll get right on it!

[40hz]

This was one of the best 404's I've ever seen:

http://1976design.com/blog/404

And this one is almost as helpful - but cuter. Incorporates a mascot theme too!

[attach]

[Eóin]

My suggest would be to not make a 404 page too busy. I find on some sites that sometimes it take me a few moments to realize I'm not looking at a content page.

I think incorporating Cody is a great idea, as having an image dominate the 404 page very quickly indicates, to me at least, that this is not where I intended to be.

[mouser]

I find on some sites that sometimes it take me a few moments to realize I'm not looking at a content page.

agreed -- it should be really clear you are on a 404.

[cranioscopical]

a nice looking 404 staring our mascot Cody

agreed -- it should be really clear you are on a 404.

Yeah, you don't want people staring at Cody for too long 

[1NR1]

Have a N.R.N.Y

(R for review)

[Carol Haynes]

How about a large dazed looking Cody wondering where the heck he is with just the usual site header and footer?

[mouser]

i think the image of cody on pirate ship looking through his telescope would be a good 404 base image with some minor modifications.

[mouser]

Maybe we need to have a contest to make a custom Cody 404 page for donationcoder.
Here is my entry, using Nudone's image of cody from our last NANY event:

http://www.donationcoder.com/About/404.html

[nudone]

looks good to me.

[housetier]

I say it needs more whitespace, and the links should have the same style as all the other links on dc.com

[nudone]

I say it needs more whitespace, and the links should have the same style as all the other links on dc.com

good points.

[Carol Haynes]

Why not just use the normal site header and footer (menus etc) with a message that points to them and quicklinks to the home page and Forums. All the other links are already there.

For example just use the home page as it isbut replace the main body with the 404 message and Cody.

I like the Cody image though.

[wraith808]

I say it needs more whitespace, and the links should have the same style as all the other links on dc.com

Won't it have more whitespace in the wild?  That seems like a compressed layout... as a full page, you'd have a lot more space to fill...

[parkint]

I REALLY like that one.
It is obvious, cute without being annoying.

Thumbs up from me! 

[OldElmerFudd]

The whitespace is nice and the layout feels right. Good job!

[lanux128]

something like this would cute, it still retains the normal site header and footer (menus etc) as Carol mentioned above.

• http://gyazo.com/06eefac4caa0123301c4ea9e1936fa1b.png

[tomos]

[attachimg=#]

I only came across this by accident - it looks absolutely super -
I would say: dont change a thing   

[IainB]

@mouser:

Here is my entry, using Nudone's image of cody from our last NANY event:
http://www.donationcoder.com/About/404.html

I think that is a great 404 design.    
+1 vote from me.

Out of interest, take a look at this for an amusing 404 from Snopes.com
http://snopes.com/Peter%20Cosgrove