A prettier default 404 page

[skttl]

I know the default 404 page is intentionally left ugly. But it looks awful, and gives Umbraco a bad rep, when lazy Umbraco devs forget to do their own 404 page. So why not make it a bit prettier?

Based on the noNodes splash screen I've come up with this layout:

I would suggest, that the parts about "This page can be replaced" and "Be a part of the community" should only be visible if you are logged in to the backoffice - or running on localhost.

Similarly, the message "No umbraco document matches" or "No template exists to render the document at URL" should only be visible for logged in users - or running localhost.

If not logged in, or not running on localhost the message should simply be "No document matches /xxx"

I think the messages "no umbraco document matches" and "no template exists" are valuable for the developer, so no need to remove them completely.

[bielu]

@skttl I still have an opinion to leave ugly page, as it is good motivation even for lazy devs to change that. And I am not big fan of anything "pretty". But maybe that is just me being weird and don't like defaults ;)

[nul800sebastiaan]

Thanks for the suggestion, think it might be good to have a better default indeed, we'll have a chat at HQ in the new year and then I'll get back to you.

[drpeck]

Could you not have an ugly one in debug mode that screams "Setup a custom 404 and here is how you do it"? In production however, if the advice has been ignored then there is something super minimal but equally not embarrassing.

I personally don't feel this has anything to do with laziness, any more than the many other config defaults that are setup. We want to make it as easy as possible to build in Umbraco, while also providing the ability to extend it.

[Ric-Carey]

Just to add, many years ago I had a client that went ballistic over the "this is intentionally left ugly" line when the config got messed up on live, and the default page got shown by mistake and they thought it was something we had done on purpose.

[skttl]

@nul800sebastiaan up for grabs?

[nul800sebastiaan]

@skttl thanks for the ping!

Talked to the team: "would personally leave it minimal. “Page not found”. A default system font in the middle of the screen. No mention of Umbraco, our, or anything else. I like the idea of a different version in development mode where we can guide how to change the page.".

I'll put it up for grabs! 👍