How can I create an error 404 in PHP?

Question

My .htaccess redirects all requests to /word_here to /page.php?name=word_here. The PHP script then checks if the requested page is in its array of pages.

If not, how can I simulate an error 404? I tried this, but it didn't result in my 404 page configured via ErrorDocument in the .htaccess showing up.

header($_SERVER["SERVER_PROTOCOL"]." 404 Not Found");

Am I right in thinking that it's wrong to redirect to my error 404 page?

Answer 1

Did you remember to die() after sending the header? The 404 header doesn't automatically stop processing, so it may appear not to have done anything if there is further processing happening.

It's not good to REDIRECT to your 404 page, but you can INCLUDE the content from it with no problem. That way, you have a page that properly sends a 404 status from the correct URL, but it also has your "what are you looking for?" page for the human reader.