AT LAST - works perfectly and sooooo simple! I’m sure we’re all grateful to see a happy end to this thread - google the problem and you’ll see there’s a lot of confusion. Thanks to all for your persistence and @swilliam for the simple solution
If anyone doesn’t want to plough through all of this thread and needs to add a custom 404 that works for top level URL errors and sub-directories - here’s a summary for dummies (like me).
- Create your custom 404 error page just like any other page in RW
- De-select “show in navigation”
- Call the page something relevant - “404” is probably easiest but up to you. I use “notfound”
- Leave it in root folder (/)
- Using FTP, add an .htaccess file at root level on your server or modify if already there. Add the following to it:
ErrorDocument 404 yourdomain.com/yourcustom404filename.html
(for example: ErrorDocument 404 http://mygreatwebsite.com/404.html)
If there are problems with this it is possible your hosting service does not allow user-modified .htaccess files. In which case, see if there are error pages you can edit in cPanel insteasd, or ask your hosting service to help - or change hosting service.
And that should be it. However, I’ve been drinking tonight so test it first…and if I’ve summarised incorrectly shoot me down in flames. 