Custom error pages

Joomla! uses the templates/system/error.php file to handle several HTTP Status errors, including "403 Forbidden", "404 Not Found", and "500 Internal Server" Errors. You can style the error results, if desired.

It is important to understand that the error.php is an independent file from Joomla!. Plugins do not run on the file. You cannot include modules or use <jdoc:include> statements.

Overriding the System Error Results

To override the system error results, copy the templates/system/error.php file into your templates/<template-name> directory.
If it finds one, Joomla! will use the error.php file from the current template, in place of the system file.
You can format the page, as desired, to match your template.

Overriding the System Styling

If you want to change the styling, copy the templates/system/css/error.css file into your templates/<template-name>/css directory.

Next, update the your templates/<template-name>/error.php file to reference the new location of the stylesheet by changing this line, accordingly:

Then, simply change the error.css, as desired, for your styling requirements.

Customizing Error Messages

To create the custom error message, dependent upon the specific error code, you'll want to add the following code somewhere in the error.php document to create the custom message.

Here is an example of how display a 404 error:

<?php if ($this->error->code = '404') { ?>
	<div id="errorboxheader">Page not found</div>
		<div id="errorboxbody"><p>Sorry! That page cannot be found.</p>
		</div>
	</div>
<?php } ?>

When a request is made for a page on your site, the server returns an HTTP status code in response to the request. Joomla! returns a '200 - the server successfully returned the page' for error pages. This is problematic for those working with Google Webmaster Services and trying to get a sitemap resolved.

If you want Joomla! to return a status code for the error, you can do so by adding logic before the DOCTYPE line, as follows:

<?php 
if ($this->error->code = '404') {
	header("HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found");
} ?>

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Simple. Effective
written by Joshua Harrington, July 03, 2008

Thanks for this article. It's simple to do and makes quite a difference on any website.

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