Wow, nice selection. This has got me inspired to work on my 404 page. Thank you.

So your the reason my sites logged a million /adsddsa 404’s last month

Can’t wait for the next contest :)

Hopefully we’ll make the next cut

Still my favorite 404 page (that I’ve made) Link [jpmullan.com]

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I think some of the links may be messed up.

The last one (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/images/404-2/doodoo.jpg) and the printscreen one (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/images/404-2/printscreen.jpg) seem to point to other 404 pages.

I can’t even find 404 pages, heh.

crud, were you guys even able to see our 404 page? I think one of my devs fixed the site to auto-direct…. so basically fixing something that was suppose to be broke lol.. dang it! Next contest!

the hard path:
Link [dev.starfeeder.com]

Nice one! Gave me a cool idea for my own site

Link [www.corksurf.com]

I love the Link [www.djangobook.com] one.

Hello

I like alos the 404’s page of ministry for the culture of the French government

URL : Link [www.culture.gouv.fr]

It’s not a real 404 but also a screen for not available. I like this one from Link [datenvandalismus.org].

I’m a bit disappointed to see all those technical “404 errors”. Does any visitor know where you are talking about? Only people who actually build websites, as well as other IT professionals know what the 404 means. Is it that hard to use a clear message the users directly understand?

Adore the blue screen of death 404. What a great way to inject a little secret creativity on a site that’s been design-by-committeed to death.

buena colección :D

I think the old blue-screen-of-death one is my favorite because taking little potshots at Microsoft is always funny. There are some very clever ones in here. I’m going to have to rethink my 404 page to provide a little more creativity.

In terms of usability, I think providing a search field as well as some links to recent pages would be one of the better solutions though.

the book 404 page has impossible page numbering…page 404 should be on the left side, not the right.

unless it’s 0 indexed.

So fun, I enjoyed looking at all of these! It’s intriguing how such a number has birthed all these artistic interpretations. Here’s my watermelony one:

» Link [torley.com]

actually mine is better.. =]

Link [scar.atspace.org]

The Pure pwnage 404 is my favorite. Helps if you know the show.
Link [www.purepwnage.com]

Great selection. I like the idea making a nice or funny 404 page. So I made also one for my own blog (http://blog.aditu.de/error/404 or any other not existing link ;)).

Thanks for the inspiration and sharing!!!!

At the top of section 2 you write “and beer to keep you company”, but the bottle depicted on the image below is clearly a whisky bottle.

404 Research Lab at Link [www.plinko.net]

Can’t help but to plug PG’s 404, a fancy shirt :-)

Link [www.planetgeek.org]

I can’t believe you missed the best 404 of all time… Link [thcnet.net] (Yes, it really works!)

Here is a error page from my site: Link [www.herospy.com]

By the way I really like your Smashing Website

Thanks for the mention guys.

You just have to like how the first one confuses 404 with 505 (in the big image, not in its headline though).

The blue screen of death is the most scary 404 message - unknowing browsers that are familiar with the Windowz blue screen will most likely be certain they have killed their machine at first glance when happening upon a missing page.

“actually mine is better.. =]

Link [scar.atspace.org]

Yes i like the idea of your 404 page

Nice collection!

Nice list — was happy to see our site get up there (Link [www.slonky.com]).

Definitely like how there’s a good mix of function, creativity, and etc., throughout the list.

Loved the 404 idea, atleast this way the visitors would remember our page for a long time even if it doesnot load

Link [www.poemofquotes.com]
I love this one ~~oops!

I still prefer mine :)
It captures your IP and your web client and writes it in the BSOD :)
Link [www.mariotomic.com]

Also, check out these ones :)

Link [www.mariotomic.com]

Link [www.mariotomic.com]

Nice pages. :)

Nice one! I’m doing one to my Site

I like the error page at ibiblio (especially the Australian one):

Link [www.ibiblio.org]

i would like to make one custom page too…to told my reader page infected by virus….hohoho scare them when them access wrong page

The bluescreen one breaks all the other one’s… eheh

I like this blue screen of death-style 404 page more: Link [zonaphotoshop.com]

Here’s my Link [www.edg3.co.uk] page as well.

We have one up at Link [www.roleplaygateway.com]. It’s pretty much identical to the rest of the site, so users aren’t interrupted and are naturally pushed into our site.

404 error.

this explanation really cool and valuable. where to change that page.

thanks

This is one that I use.
Link [24boards.com]

It exists already ?

Link [hypem.com]

hello, this is my 404 page, that i created recently :)
Link [lanooz.net]

‘wrong WC!’ :P

also check out this 404:

Link [www.webhex.net]

hahaha!
Love it!
You can make a post with some 404 images. I have some to contribute! ^^

Strong Bad!!!, man nice way to be creative with errors.

How about the depressed server???

Link [redvip.homelinux.net]

I loved those ones!

Link [www.thoughtbubble.cx]

This is my fave 404… good and insulting
Link [www.kosch.co.uk]

I like this one too:

Link [www.findmyroof.com]

My favorite is still:
Link [www.lookitsme.co.uk]

the Link [b3ta.com] is pretty cool, all the images were created by the board users

the one for BlueVertigo is actually a song for the last episode of cowboy bebop, just thought I should straighten that out.

Nice collection of 404 pages. I’m thinking of creating my own 404 page but I keep procrastinating. I’ll get to it one of these days.

Good article… reminded me that my portfolio’s 404s are still the WordPress default. Thanks for the reminder!

NIce list. Some of those are a bit odd or niche, though… Check out this one from a D&D website:
Link [d20srd.org]

This is one my brother drew for his website back in highschool. Him and a friend were doing on-the-side website designs and if you got a 404 or an unavailable page, this is what would show up. Also, he had a “fu** off” under the image in the same colors and spraypaint style…. but I can’t find the image for the lettering.

Link [sano.dnsalias.org]

The digg effect is strong in this one. Thanks for sharing these pages. 404 doesn’t seems so bad anymore.

Link [tysontate.com]

whats up with your lame-o 404?

: )

I quite like mine over at Link [www.dans-blog.com]

http://errtheblog.com/my_page

That is a good one!

I’ve been inspired.

I’ve always used this as my 404 page. Two parts are randomly generated from javascript.

I’m going to go home and spruce mine up a bit and give it more oomph.

My error page: Link [www.der-vigilant.de]

Homer Simpson (doh!) @ Fox Latin America: Link [mundofox.com]

Here’s a good one:

Link [www.newyorker.com]

Three words: Sharks with Lasers.

Link [renkoo.com]

јебига means “fuck it!” in Serbian. I suppose the people at Rainfall Daffinson are not aware of that. ;)

Link [www.tonycai.com]

YAY! SIMPSONS!

I find it arrogant and annoying when a website blames ME for arriving at a 404. More than once I have been sent there from within their own site, but they assume it’s either my stupidity, my inability to type, my outdated bookmark (which should be their problem, not mine) or some other sites bad link.

The sites I like admit it just could be their fault and offer me an opportunity to tell them about it.

Check out this one:

Link [www.libria.net]

Truly a great work. I feel inspired to do my own 404 page.
Thankx

though you cant find it the page … its good to look at …
that good … right ??
hehe …
good list … thanks for sharing …

Nice collection. Although Link [sebastians-pamphlets.com] is missing. ;(

Here’s one that clearly shows why the website went down, devs and a Nerf war.

Link [myquire.com]

I would like to submit my own for review
Link [www.hitpoints.org]

Wow! I love all the creativity that’s gone into the 404 pages. Makes me want to make some changes to mine. Thanks for the ideas.

Very very good. A lot of interesting ones out there. I believe the less technical, the better…

Link [www.offeroftheday.com]

Freaking cool - now what about some funky BSOD!? Link [www.templatestaff.com]

now that is what I call creative people with very interesting website, even 404 page can make people stay long on their website !

The Homestar Runner one you have there isn’t a 404 error, that was a toon called Link [www.hrwiki.org] they had designed to look like a 404 error.

They do have a creative 404 error though, see Link [www.hrwiki.org] at the Homestar Runner Wiki for more information.

It is said, “To err is human,”
That quote from alt.times.lore,
Alas, you have made an error,
So I say, “404.”

Double-check your URL,
As we all have heard before.
You ask for an invalid filename,
And I respond, “404.”

Perhaps you made a typo –
Your fingers may be sore –
But until you type it right,
You’ll only get 404.

Maybe you followed a bad link,
Surfing a foreign shore;
You’ll just have to tell that author
About this 404.

I’m just a lowly server
(Who likes to speak in metaphor),
So for a request that I don’t know,
I must return 404.

Be glad I’m not an old mainframe
That might just dump its core,
Because then you’d get a ten-meg file
Instead of this 404.

I really would like to help you,
But I don’t know what you’re looking for,
And since I don’t know what you want,
I give you 404.

Remember Poe, insane with longing
For his tragically lost Lenore.
Instead, you quest for files.
Quoth the Raven, “404!”

by Dan Black
Link []
16 August 1999

“Shocking visitors with colors…”

The description of the first page under #8 made me pause. It sounded like they’d never seen a test-pattern from an old VCR before. And having thought about it, it seems likely that the writer never did! I recognize it, but it’s been a long time since I actually saw it in the wild. Perhaps it’s simply a thing of the past. It’s not supposed to be appealing - in its natural habitat, it’s just something that is not white noise/static, could function as a test-pattern and supposedly was easy to make. It was displayed whenever there was no signal, so using it as a 404 page makes perfect sense. =)

omg why orkut.com error page isnt in the list? its so funny.. says ‘bad bad server,no donut for you’ =D

wicked,
nicely done

I notice that none of those pages (as pretty as they are) provide the seo and user benefits provided by Link [www.askapache.com]…

Any comments about my website’s 404?

Link [www.lalit.org]

Thanks dweeble for the referance! I’m a BIG stickler on Copyright and Intelectual Property and wish that the page had sited the source it’s the las and a good idea. For anyone who cares it is indeed Cowboy Beebop (and anime series) The song was composed by Yoko Kanno and is avalible on the CD Blue. Though the OST1 is a much better CD

i love them.. its we freindly “negative” tone…. i’ll be looking forwar to my 404 ERRORS if thats the case… maybe they could include useful info..or we could make ads on the 4o4 error showups..hmmm . just a thought…

Number 8 (first one) is better than the editors give it credit for! Its TV/video test pattern that is used to calibrate monitors and systems called “colour bars”. To me it is like when your TV transmission signal drops out. A better screen would be a Test Pattern like the kind TV stations do use when theres a signal failure.

How fun! Thanks for sharing. My 404 page has been “different” and humorous since the start, but I had no idea others were doing fun and creative things with theirs as well. This was enjoyable - can’t wait for the next set.

Very good Collection.. iwant create my 404 page ! :P

Those page were awesome, and funny!

Link [www.waltribeiro.net]

How about a song about 404 pages? HAHA…

Oops.. 404 Error : )

Link [www.waltribeiro.net]

Link [www.qcybb.com]

I also got inspired. I grew up with c64, so this is mine:

Link [www.klaus.dk]

Link [intravero.com]

This inspired me to create a 404 for my historical cartography website. I titled the 404: “Here be dragons”, a reference that was supposedly put on maps in unknown lands. Of course, I added a detail from such a map as well!

Link [www.historischecartografie.nl]

My favorite: Link [www.realgoodssolar.com] .

It’s an especially funny 404 page if you care about global warming.

this is good page. I like the paper & pen page and I have used it. Please let me know if you have any suggestion to put this page in blog?

Brilliant post! I never really thought to put much effort in to mine, maybe i should.

Love the book one and the bsod!

Link [zanami.ru]

Wow, nice list! You’ve given me inspiration to work on my 404 page now as well.

This 404 page has a 303 synth toy embedded!

Lot’s of original ideas in this list.

Here is our contribution to the world of 404s… the Link [magictoolbox.com] :)

Also check out using your 404 page to boost your google ranking with this Link [www.askapache.com] for wordpress.

Someone sent me this Link [latelategifts.co.uk] at Xmas. Made me laugh.

Really inspiring! Mine should have a search box already, but I need to get more on top of this. See if I can find something more creative. :)

bule screen of death , LOL

another one:
Link [www.amcharts.com]

Link [tema.ru]
Link [www.artlebedev.com]

Link [tedbeer.net]

Cool 404’s. Inspired me to do my own. Link [www.66mobile.com]

Very impressed. These are some great designs and I been noticing in my stats
that I have been getting 1000’s of 404 error pages not found so I want to find a
way to make it more useful and at the same time, capitalize on sales and leads.

Terrance Charles
Link [www.terrancecharles.com]

Rainfall Daffinson’s example of 404 is excellent, it is useful and provides the user with help to navigating back. There is nothing worse than seeing a “page not found” page.

Excellent examples

The big problem with most of these is that it takes the user a while to realise there’s no content, because there is content specifically made to replace what obviously appears to these designers to be a negative on a 404 — the rightful lack of content.

These have inspired me to create a Link [tannerhobin.com].

Hi, I use my bus:

Link [www.explorando.com.br]

Link [www.jhuskisson.com] - new site launched, new 404 page

Sooo cool. Geez I am way behind the times. Definately adding this to my to-do list.

Thx for the refs

Greatness!!! There are some awesome 404’s out there…

Link [www.geeksquad.com]