404 how to help request?

[BeatingSkull]

ok...i used to use free hosts with the free host domain, so i never had control of the 404 traffic. NOW, im on paid hosting with a registered domain name & i have no idea how to direct 404 traffic.. i need help with this if anyone is willing to help.. i can either build a page & direct 404 to it or i can direct the 404 to a sponsor site with my refcode--(if the sponsor allows it)...
can anyone explain this to me in simple layman terms, step by step.. thank you

[PbG]

Build page.
Save as 404.htm, html, or shtml
Upload to /public_html
Add ErrorDocument 404 /404.htm (use whatever extension you saved file with) to public_html/.htaccess

Enter nonexistent url in browser to test.

[Lycanthrope]

If you haven't done so already, signup for Pimproll.

Then, place this in your .htaccess file (you'll probably want to change it to your ref code ):

ErrorDocument 400 http://galleries.downloadpass.com/in...ml?ft=pr1167-1
ErrorDocument 401 http://galleries.downloadpass.com/in...ml?ft=pr1167-1
ErrorDocument 403 http://galleries.downloadpass.com/in...ml?ft=pr1167-1
ErrorDocument 404 http://galleries.downloadpass.com/in...ml?ft=pr1167-1
ErrorDocument 500 http://galleries.downloadpass.com/in...ml?ft=pr1167-1