advanced customization WordPress

Michael Fields answers:

IMHO it's a bad idea to use pages for such a thing. I would also suggest not overriding template hierarchy at all. In my experience you will get the best results if you work with WordPress. The best solution here is to probably create a custom post_type for "sections" or something similar:
function mfields_register_section_post_type() {
register_post_type( 'mfields_section', array(
'public' => false,
'show_ui' => true,
'publicly_queryable' => false,
'rewrite' => false,
'query_var' => false,
'show_in_nav_menus' => false,
'can_export' => true,
'hierarchical' => false,
'supports' => array( 'title', 'editor' ),
'labels' => array(
'name' => 'Sections',
'singular_name' => 'Section',
'add_new' => 'Add New',
'add_new_item' => 'Add New Section',
'edit_item' => 'Edit Section',
'new_item' => 'New Section',
'view_item' => 'View Section',
'search_items' => 'Search Section',
'not_found' => 'No Sections found',
'not_found_in_trash' => 'No Sections found in Trash'
)
)
);
}
add_action( 'init', 'mfields_register_section_post_type', 0 );

You could then create a new "Section" with a title of "404" and use the content box to store whatever text/images you need. Once this is done, create a 404.php file in your theme and add code similar to the following:

<?php
$sections = get_posts( array(
'post_type' => 'mfields_section',
'post_title' => '404',
) );
if ( isset( $sections[0] ) ) {
global $post;
$post_backup = $post;
$post = $sections[0];
setup_postdata( $post );
the_title( '<h2>', '</h2>' );
the_content();
$post = $post_backup;
}
?>

This code will display the first section with a title of "404". This is the most flexible solution IMO. If an end user accidentally deletes the section, a new one can easily be created and will display in the appropriate template based on it's title.

Best Wishes,
-Mike

Daniel Wahlqvist comments:

I was thinking 'pages' but you're absolutely right, I should treat this as a custom type. I will do it like you suggest.

I might post more detailed questions when I have implemented this in more detail. Thanks for the ideas!