About

This is a fictitious earlier version of the 404 → 307 web site.

It is a contrived example of how we can fundamentally alter web sites (different web or application server, different technology stack, different URL structure, etc.) without contributing to link rot and without breaking the Web.

How it works

  1. If a link is not found (404) on 4042307.org, the request is forwarded to this site.

  2. If the link is found here, it is displayed.

  3. If the link is not found here, it is forwarded to the copy of my first Geocities web site as hosted by Archive.org.

  4. If the link is found there, it is displayed. For example, try this relative link, which doesn’t exist here but did on my web page from 1997: /stuff.htm.

  5. If the link is not found there, we reach the end of the chain and see a 404 page served by the Internet Archive. For example, try this relative link, which doesn’t exist here or on my web page from 1997: /missing.html.

The nginx configuration on this site to implement the 404 → 307 redirect is:

server {
  # …
  location / {
    error_page 404 =307 https://web.archive.org/web/20030319083157/http://www.geocities.com:80/broadway/1085$request_uri;
    try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
  }
}

Visit the main 404 → 307 site to find out more.