Knowledge-Advantage, Inc.

404 - PAGE NOT FOUND

 

What does "404" mean anyway...

 

The first 4 indicates a client error. The server is saying that you’ve done something wrong, such as misspell the URL or request a page which is no longer there. Conversely, a 5xx error indicates a server-side problem. It also indicates an error which may be transient; if you try it again, it may work.

 

The middle 0 refers to a general syntax error. This could indicate a spelling mistake.

 

The last 4 just indicates the specific error in the group of 40x, which also includes 400: Bad Request, 401: Unauthorized, etc.

 

It’s been said that 404 was named after a room at CERN where the original web servers were located. However, we were told by a reliable source:

 

“Having visited CERN myself, I can tell you that Room 404 is not on the fourth floor – the CERN office numbering system doesn’t work like that – the first digit usually refers to the *building* number (ie. building 4), and the second two to the office number. But, strangely, there is no room “04” in building “4”, the offices start at “410” and work upwards – don’t ask me why. Sorry to disappoint you all, but there is no Room 404 in CERN – it simply doesn’t exist, and certainly hasn’t been preserved as “the place where the web began”. In fact, there *is* a display about this, including a model of the first NeXT server, but the whole “Room 404″ thing is just a myth.”

 

According to the W3C, 404 Not Found is only supposed to be used in cases where the server cannot find the requested location and is unsure of its status. If a page has permanently been deleted, it is supposed to use 410: Gone to indicate a permanent change. But has anyone ever seen 410? It must be 404.

 

Credit: http://queenofsubtle.com/404/?page_id=1921

 

You see, you actually learned something from your mistake. Now comes the issue of solving the problem. Sorry, you're on your own there. But you can start by going to our home page. That's kind of what we do at KA, we help solve problems.