“404 — Not Found” on homepage

UPDATE: I was able to edit the 404 file to say “We are undergoing technical difficulties. Please check back soon!” But still not sure why it is displaying this file, and why the sidebar is misaligned. Please help! Thanks.

Well, you sidebar is not aligned because you are missing <div id="page"> just before <div id="pages"> in you template above the error message.

As for why the error is being shown, it is hard to tell without more information — what does your template do?, what did you edit?; some code would be useful.

-Brendon.

Well, the other blogger that works on the blog posted a blog with some code for videos. I believe that some of this code was not html and possibly screwed things up. Somehow, when he published this new post, it combined with the pervious blog post and messed things up, so he deleted the new post. After he deleted it, we got this error. For some reason, this error shows up on every different theme we try, except for the themes that came with WordPress. So now we are really confused on whether it’s a theme problem or a WP problem.

Thanks for the info on the sidebar. I’ll see if that helps.

Here is some of the code he tried to post…

.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;}

I know this is not html. I’m not sure what it is…besides maybe some sort of internal msnbc code? And not sure how this code could have messed up the display of the latest posts on the homepage…but it did. Unfortunately, I did not do this myself. Otherwise, I could provide more details. This is what he has told me…

As far as I know, the code couldn’t have messed it up (that’s CSS). Pages such as https://11thr.com/blog/?cat=520 are working fine, so I reckon you have a page set for your homepage.

Go to Settings > Reading and look at “Front page displays”. If it has “static page” checked, make sure the page in the front page box exists (or create another one).

Thanks,
Brendon.

Thanks for the help. I already checked out the “front page displays.” It is still set at “the most recent posts.” I tried switching back and forth but neither showed up.

It’s some kind of weird, deep-rooted WordPress problem, but I’m confused on what could of caused it. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen after I posted, so I’m just retelling what I know secondhand.

Are there some files I could use from the original installation to replace current files? Why does the “404.php” file usually show up?

Brendon,

I am working with Brian and was my post that began this problem. I pasted text from a Word doc into the visual side of the post. Then I added the video codes I was trying to post between the text in the HTML. I am green when it comes blogging so some of the these things maybe should have been red flags for me but unfortunately were not.

When I previewed this post 1 of the 5 videos showed up so I went back to the HMTL removed the codes and re-pasted them into HTML, thinking the second try might work. When I published the post and viewed it, still 1 of the 5 videos were displayed but part of Brian’s previous post was overlapping my post in the left margin. Also our sidebar which is usually indented was pushed up against the left side of the page.

Trying to resolve this issue, I went back into the post copied the visual side to save it and deleted my post (BELOW IS THE COPIED VISUAL SIDE). I then went back to view our homepage after delete my post and the homepage then displayed the ‘404 – NOT FOUND’ message with our sidebar still pushed against the left side of the page.

So that is the story to what led us to where we are. Not sure if the copied post below can assist in solving the situation…

Thanks for any assitance you can provide for us.

-Matt

Visual Copied Post
———-
With Sunday’s Super Bowl fast approaching, some of the most unforgettable moments during the games broadcast will be the Super Bowl commercials. Instead of using the breaks in action to go grab another beverage or a second plate of goodies, viewers stay glued to the tube to see how creative advertisers can be with their $3 million, 30 second snippets.
As Brian promised, below are 5 of the more creative choices from the Super Bowl ads archives. These clips will get you geared up for Sunday’s inventive shorts.
5. Coke – “Parade Baloons” (2008)
What began as a duel between parade balloon versions of Underdog and Stewie from Family Guy fighting for an inflatable Coke bottle atop the Manhattan skyline, turned into an interception and seizure of the Coke bottle by the classic Charlie Brown.
.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;}

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
4. Budweiser –“Sleigh Ride” (2004)
There is nothing more unromantic than being on a sleigh ride with your special someone and the horse pulling you having gas. Budweiser did a great job implementing a fart joke into the SuperBowl shuffle.

3. McDonald’s – “The Showdown” (1993)
An old school classic with McDonald’s version of Ebony and Ivory, pairing Michael Jordan and Larry Bird playing a wacky game of horse. A teenager at the time, I remember countless times playing h-o-r-s-e with friends trying to reenact, “Off the wall, over the backboard, nothing but net!”
.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;}

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
2. E*Trade – “Money Out the Wazoo” (2000)
This commercial wouldn’t connect as well these days of economic problems but E*Trades gives a great portrayal of a play on words.
.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;}

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
1. Reebok –“Terry Tate Office Linebacker” (2003)
Representing my number one and a favorite of the peeps here at 11thr, is Reebok’s hilarious addition to the corporate office, Terry Tate. “Break was over 15 minutes ago, Mitch!”

.msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px;} .msnbcLinks a:link, .msnbcLinks a:visited {color: #5799db !important;} .msnbcLinks a:hover, .msnbcLinks a:active {color:#CC0000 !important;}

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Matt Suttner thinks it will be hard to top some of these past commercials this Sunday but promises not to break the seal until the halftime to view this year’s contenders.