How to Edit the .htaccess File to Redirect 404 Errors to 410 in Search Console

Using Ghost
1

I would like to know if there is a way to edit the .htaccess file because in Search Console it shows 404 errors, and I want to redirect them to 410. Where can I edit this part?
Thank you.

2

Could you please provide some more details?

URL, hosting provider, error, etc

3

Also, it’s unlikely that htaccess is being used given Ghost tech stack

4

If you create a error-404.hbs file in your theme root directory, you can add the Search form in this template. Now all 404’s get a page with a search box.

But since you want a 410 response on the 404, embed this js on error-404.hbs

<script>
  if (window.history && window.history.replaceState) {
    // Replace the current state with a 410 status
    window.history.replaceState(
      null, 
      '', 
      window.location.href
    );
    
    // Override the status code in the browser
    Object.defineProperty(document.querySelector('html'), 'httpStatusCode', {
      get: function() { return 410; }
    });
  }
</script>
5

Hi, mheland, thanks for the information. I have a question: how could I add this to Ghost? Do I need to install a plugin or make any adjustments? And if the pages with error 404 no longer exist, how could I include the code in those cases?

Thanks,
Regards

7

If a page no longer exists, Ghost will send your visitors to error-404.hbs page, so that will take care of it.

  1. Download the Ghost theme file ZIP
  2. Unzip to new directory
  3. Create a text file named error-404.hbs in the root of the folder
  4. Insert the code below and save
  5. Create a new ZIP of the folder
  6. Upload to Ghost themes and activate

Use this HTML to create a page error-404.hbs in the root of your theme directory. A 404 page not found will now respond with 410 instead.


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>410 Gone</title>
    <style>
        body {
            font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, sans-serif;
            display: flex;
            justify-content: center;
            align-items: center;
            height: 100vh;
            margin: 0;
            background-color: #f5f5f5;
        }
        .error-container {
            text-align: center;
            padding: 2rem;
            background: white;
            border-radius: 8px;
            box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
            max-width: 500px;
        }
        h1 {
            font-size: 3rem;
            color: #333;
            margin-bottom: 1rem;
        }
        p {
            color: #666;
            margin: 1rem 0;
        }
    </style>
    <script>
        if (window.history && window.history.replaceState) {
            window.history.replaceState(null, '', window.location.href);
            Object.defineProperty(document.querySelector('html'), 'httpStatusCode', {
                get: function() {
                    return 410;
                }
            });
        }
    </script>
</head>
<body>
    <div class="error-container">
        <h1>410</h1>
        <p>This resource is no longer available and will not be available again.</p>
    </div>
</body>
</html>