404 GUARD GUIDE
Install the plugin, check the safe list and compare your results before choosing stronger protection.
Have a current backup and use a quiet time or a staging copy if the site handles orders or enquiries. In WordPress, go to Plugins, choose Add New Plugin, then Upload Plugin. Select the supplied 404 Guard ZIP, install it and activate it.
Open 404 Guard and check the licence or trial status. The current website trial includes 500 protected 404 hits, so plan your checks before using the allowance on repeated test requests.
Choose Monitor mode while you inspect the setup. In this mode, 404 Guard doesn’t protect missing requests. That gives you a way to compare the site’s usual behaviour and investigate anything that needs attention.
Make a short list of pages and actions the business relies on. Include the home page, contact form, bookings, search and any login area. For a shop, include a product, category, cart and checkout.
Build the Safe URL index from the plugin’s Safe URLs screen. This is the list of website addresses that 404 Guard should allow through to WordPress. Let the build finish before relying on it.
Check that important content and supported redirect sources are included. Custom forms, booking systems and other plugins may use extra addresses. Test those actions and add a precise safe entry if a legitimate address needs one. Avoid a broad exception that allows every address through.
Review 404 Behaviour and choose the response style that suits your website. A visitor following an old Google result may need a useful page with a way back to your services. Missing files may be better served with a much smaller response.
Use an address you know doesn’t exist for your test. Check what a visitor sees and confirm that the request returns a proper 404 status. Test existing redirects separately.
Confirmed 404 cache focuses on repeat requests for addresses already found to be missing. Strict protection can handle unknown addresses on the first hit, so your safe list needs to be checked before using it.
Repeat the important customer journeys with protection enabled. Submit a form only if you intend to create a real enquiry or test record. Use your usual staging or payment test process when checking a shop. If something stops working, switch back to Monitor mode and check the exact request.
Run the Performance test and keep the before-and-after result. Also check ordinary pages while the site is busy. A quicker missing-page response is useful, but customers still need working pages, forms and checkout.
Review Health Check for unexpected triggers and keep an eye on response times over time. After major changes to URLs, plugins or checkout behaviour, repeat the important checks.
Send the exact address, your protection mode and what happened when you tested it.
