Using Pages module, how can I still get 404 pages?

Question

I have a template set up that I point various Channel Entries to via a pages URL. For example, I might have a channel on my site that contains all the various pages for a department, and all those channel entries point to a single template. That template, of course, shows whatever channel entry gets pumped its way.

I'm noticing that I'm never getting a 404 when an invalid URL is typed in; the template just serves a piece of content off the stack from the channel. So if I go to /whatever/labs I'll see the content I expect there. If I go to /whatever/labsARG I'll see some random content pulled from the channel, but never the 404.

I think the problem is that the template as set up is told to fetch an article/page from the channel - so if it isn't passed on explicitly it fetches one.

    {exp:channel:entries channel="pathology_content" limit="1" require_entry="yes"}

Any thoughts? Is there a way to designate this a Pages only template - ie, only show content if it's incoming from a Pages URL, otherwise 404?

Answer 1

You're already using require_entry, so the final step is to use the no_results check.

{if no_results}
    {redirect="404"}
{/if}

Answer 2

in you control panel go to Design>Template Manager > Global Template Preferences

find 404 page and assign a 404 template. it works for me hope thats help