How to handle 404 and 301 redirects in Django?

@jamison 

Handling 404 errors and implementing 301 redirects in Django involves different steps. Below are the general approaches for each:

Handling 404 Errors in Django

1. Custom 404 Error Page: Create a custom template for your 404 error page, typically named 404.html, and place it in one of your template directories. Customize the look and feel of this template according to your needs, possibly including a user-friendly message or navigation links.
2. Configuring URL Patterns: Ensure your URL patterns are defined properly so that Django can determine whether a page exists. Use include() appropriately to manage app-specific URLs correctly.
3. Middleware and Settings: Make sure DEBUG is set to False in your production settings to enable custom error handling. In development mode (DEBUG = True), Django will show the default technical 404 page with debug information. Customize your error handling further using middleware if necessary.
4. Custom Error Handling View (Optional): You can use a custom view to handle 404 errors by modifying your urls.py with a handler for 404. Add this to your urls.py: from django.http import HttpResponseNotFound from django.shortcuts import render def custom_page_not_found_view(request, exception): return render(request, "404.html", {}, status=404) handler404 = 'your_app_name.urls.custom_page_not_found_view'

Implementing 301 Redirects in Django

1. Permanent Redirects in Views: Use Django’s redirect() function with the permanent keyword argument set to True for returning a 301 status code: from django.shortcuts import redirect def old_view(request): return redirect('new-view-name', permanent=True)
2. Using URL Patterns: Define URL patterns in urls.py that issue 301 redirects: from django.urls import path from django.views.generic.base import RedirectView urlpatterns = [ path('old-url/', RedirectView.as_view(url='/new-url/', permanent=True)), ] This RedirectView will serve a 301 redirect from old-url to new-url.
3. Middleware for Complex Redirects (Optional): For more complex redirect logic, you might consider writing custom middleware that processes and acts on certain conditions to issue a redirect.
4. SEO Considerations: Ensure that URLs being permanently redirected are no longer listed in XML sitemaps or navigation. Update any backlinks you control to point to the new URL to avoid unnecessary redirects.

By using a combination of views, URL configurations, and possibly middleware, you can effectively handle 404 errors and set up 301 redirects in Django applications. Remember to test these behaviors in both DEBUG and production (DEBUG=False) environments to ensure configurations are behaving as expected.