using mod rewrite for 404

[john1000]

hi,

after some searching the forum i did run into a few topics that deals with almost same question i have but were still different...

What i want...
One of my sites i changed its content and chances are i will get requests on pages,html and php that doesnt exist anymore.

To take care of that i would like to use mod_rewrite.
sure i can use ErrorDocument 404 /
but if people go to page mysite.com/whatever.php (or html) i want every non existent request redirected to mysite.com/

How do i do that?

[scriptmasterdel]

Wouldn't it be more of an advantage to have a "301 Permanently Moved" redirect? This would work as an advantage on the Search Engines because the page would be found once all the new pages have been indexed, Instead of finding a blank page and loosing all the current search engine relevancy?

Just a thought.

Del

[jdMorgan]

> i want every non existent request redirected to mysite.com/

Not recommended -- Research "duplicate content" and "dup content penalty" for more info.

A better solution is to redirect those pages which do have an exact or "close enough" replacement to that replacement, make your custom 404 error page friendly and informative, and provide links on it to your home page and site map.

Jim

[john1000]

hi,

ok i guess ill go for the simple 404 then...