Redirecting to a 404 page - php

Question

I have a web app, and I want to redirect users to the 404 page without them actually ever going to a 404 page. Is this possible?
I added this line of code to my .htaccess file:
ErrorDocument 404 /404.php
So when a user types in (a page that does not exist on my website):
shareit.me/jsdhjfkhoe
They are redirected to:
shareit.me/404.php
Is there a way to redirect to the 404 while the URL remains:
shareit.me/jsdhjfkhoe

Answer 1

Use this to pass all paths to 404.php if they do not exist and preserve the URL:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /404.php [L]
Set this header in the 404.php file.
header("HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found");

Answer 2

This line:
ErrorDocument 404 /404.php
doesn't change the URL in the client browser since it does only internal rewrite to /404.php
I suspect you have some other rule in your .htaccess doing this full redirect. If you post your full .htaccess then I can investigate.

Answer 3

Actually this should do the trick:
ErrorDocument 404 /404.html
-> Try using an html element named 404.html in your root!
Have a look at this if you want to see a full implementation: https://github.com/h5bp/html5-boilerplate/blob/master/.htaccess
Otherwise you could have a look at the documentation if anything is unclear:
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/core.html#errordocument

Answer 4

If you want to make your own customized Error 404 page. Here's what you need to write down on your .htaccess.
----------- .htaccess ----------------
# 1 ---- Establish a custom 404 File not Found page ----
ErrorDocument 404 /filenotfound.php
# 2 ---- Prevent directory file listing in all of your folders ----
IndexIgnore *
----------- .htaccess ----------------
Where filenotfound.php is your own 404 customized page. Hope it helped.