2.13.1.18. Customizing a 404 Page in WordPress

In WordPress, customizing your own 404 page is done by changing the theme template.

  1. Go to section "Appearance → Theme editor":
  2. On the right side of the page, select the theme you want to edit and find "404 error template":(Note that child themes may not have these templates as they come from the parent theme.)
  3. After selecting the template file, you will see its contents, in which you need to make changes to create the desired page. Several important elements:
    • Code insertion is used to specify the search string:
      <?php get_search_form(); ?>
    • To indicate the possibility text translation error is used to insert a string into a function like this:
      <?php _e('text'); ?>
  4. Clickon "Update file".

The default template for the Twenty Nineteen theme looks like this: 

<?php
get_header();
?>
<section id="primary" class="content-area">
  <main id="main" class="site-main">
    <div class="error-404 not-found">
      <header class="page-header">
        <h1 class="page-title"><?php _e( 'Oops! That page can’t be found.', 'twentynineteen'); ?></h1>
      </header><!-- .page-header -->
      <div class="page-content">
        <p>
          <?php _e( 'It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search?', 'twentynineteen' ); ?>
        </p>
        <?php get_search_form(); ?>
      </div><!-- .page-content -->
    </div><!-- .error-404 -->
  </main><!-- #main -->
</section><!-- #primary -->
<?php
get_footer();
Content