custom Archives - Joe Tech

How To Create A Custom 404 Error Page In WordPress

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If everything went well, you found this post by way of this site’s home page or a link or maybe you just typed it in. The important thing is that you found it, but what would happen if the link was wrong or the post vanished. On most sites, when a page is not found, the server generates a “404” error code to let the browser know. Chances are good that you’ve seen the result of this a few times. Usually, it’s boring and sometimes even uninformative, leaving you with nowhere to go. If you have a blog or website, surely you’d like to keep that visitor interested and help them find other content on your site. You’re in luck because today, I’m going to tell you how.

Create Custom Error Pages

Custom 404 - JoeTech.com

What you see above is my custom 404 error page. In WordPress, I replaced everything in /wp-content/themes/joetech/404.php with my own HTML to make my error page custom. The HTML can be anything you want, but you should make sure to view it in a browser by trying to visit any non-existing page on your blog. In my case, I went old school with the famous Windows Blue Screen of Death that often felt like an extension of Windows 98, popping up more often than anyone would like. Of course, I changed it around a bit to include a Star Wars quote and links both to my site and to share the 404 page on Facebook for any who think it’s amusing.

While 404 is the error code and page that surfaces the most, web servers have several codes to indicate the result of a web request. A couple others that come in just behind 404 are 403 (Forbidden) and 500 (Internal Server Error). Many years ago, at an Internet service provider I worked for, we had Macho Man Randy Savage for our 500 page and Mr T. was there to “Pity da Foo” who tried to access a forbidden page. Have fun with it and post links to your results in the comments below.

Build A Custom Car Online With Local Motors

Have you ever wanted a car that none of your friends have? How about one that you helped design and build and is super rare? A car company by the name of Local Motors has combined web technology and real-world micro factories to provide us with the most interactive and unique car buying experience I’ve seen and they invited me to tour the Arizona micro factory and talk about how it all works.

(Rally Fighter – view the full photo gallery)

The car shown above is LM’s Rally Fighter, the first in what Local Motors hopes will be a growing line of kick-ass cars that turn heads.

Design Your Dream Car Online

When asked, most people can tell you, without much hesitation, what their dream car is. Mine’s a Ferrari F430, but I have always loved the concept cars I see at the auto shows every year. Unfortunately, most of the concept cars remain just that… concepts. This is where Local Motors has found a niche.

Local Motors

Rather than creating concepts and never building anything, Local Motors decided to open the game up to the public to come up with the next winning car design. You start by joining the Local Motors website and if you’re creative enough, you can submit your own original car design. From the submitted designs, the community votes on what should be built. The most popular ideas then move on to co-creation, where the community helps decide the body, interior details, etc. Together, the community of site members design an awesome car from the ground up.

Even if you don’t plan to buy one, there’s plenty of incentive to join in and contribute. Local Motors hosts design contests in which the winners can win prizes or cash amounts up to $20,000, which is a great start towards buying the car you design or can just pay some bills.

Own One

When Local Motors decides to build one of the community designed cars, they begin accepting reservations. A reservation requires a $1,000 deposit, and gets your name on a list of future owners. When it’s your turn, you give them another deposit, this one for $5,000, to lock down your build date, and the remaining balance is due when you arrive to start building. After the two weekends of building, you get to take your car home with you.

Local Motors

At the time of this writing, the Rally Fighter, the first car available from Local Motors, is priced around $60,000, but I’m told this may go up with a move to higher-end parts being included next year. The cost, well above your standard sedan, buys you a car that looks like no other and is limited to only 2,000 built. To make your car even more unique, you’re encouraged to design a custom skin for your car. This can be accomplished solo or with the help of a Local Motors designer. This car is for the collector or enthusiast who wants something truly unique.

Get Your Hands Dirty

For some, the experience is pretty much complete at the time of purchase. For others, a big part of the experience is building the car yourself. While you don’t have to spend weeks painstakingly sweating over every little nut and bolt or even weld, part of your purchase is the experience of the build, itself. Over two three-day weekends and with the assistance of a builder, you put it all together in a Local Motors micro factory.

Local Motors

Local Motors provides a cafeteria, RV parking, the space, parts, and tools, and all you bring is some elbow grease and a desire to be immersed in the process. They encourage you to bring a friend, too, to help build and join in the experience.

Local Motors

From the outside, it looks like just a big warehouse with a car painted on the side, but inside is a well-lit, air-conditioned shop with all the tools and tech needed to get the job done. In addition to the human help, there’s also a couple large screens connected to computers with a specialized wiki detailing every step for your particular car.

Conclusions

As huge as the Rally Fighter is, it’s not very practical, but would make a great toy. The next car, I’m told, will be an electric vehicle, and I’m hoping it will be based on the Miami Roadster. For the auto enthusiast, this is a great package and unique experience, but the cost will leave the rest of us designing.

Custom Twitter Backgrounds Help You Stand Out

Twitter has grown leaps and bounds, becoming one of the fastest growing networks ever. Because of this, it can be hard to stand out from the millions of other users on the site. If you’re like me and use twitter for marketing, you need to catch someone’s attention quickly. Websites have about ten seconds to impress the visitor. Twitter profiles have far less and if it looks bland, the browser window or tab might get closed and never found again.

Posting valuable updates and getting retweeted is a great way to get people to your twitter profile page. Beyond the content, one of the best ways to get them to click “Follow” is to be original and for many, this is accomplished with Custom Twitter Backgrounds by companies like the one sponsoring this post. Not only does a custom background stand out from the stock ones, but it also adds credibility to you because it doesn’t look like one of 100 accounts set up by a script somewhere. The benefits of having a custom background are clearly there. The only question is if the benefits are worth the cost. As a designer and developer, I’m well aware of the time involved and I think the $99 price tag is certainly justified. As a Twitter user and internet marketer, I am also aware of the tight budgets we often struggle with. If you don’t do a lot of marketing on Twitter, you might benefit from a stock background or a free background (see the same link above as they have free ones on the site, too). If you are serious about marketing online and plan to follow through with Twitter and really work hard at getting followers, $99 is worth the value it will add to all the hard work you’re putting in to build your brand.