Monitor 404
Track and monitor 404 errors on your WordPress site
Monitor 404 logs every 404 page on your site — how many times it was hit, where the referring link came from, and when it last happened. Right from the list you can mark an entry as resolved, or create a redirect in the Redirects module with one click.
Key features
- Logs the URL, hit count, referrer and both the first and last time it occurred
- Atomic writes (ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE) — no risk of duplicate rows under concurrent requests
- "Create redirect" button right on each entry, wired into the Redirects module
- Mark an entry as ignored so it doesn’t clutter the list
- Zero overhead for regular visitors — it only writes on an actual 404
How it works
On the hook where WordPress already knows it’s a 404 (`$wp_query->is_404`), the module runs a single atomic SQL query with `ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE hits = hits + 1` — so even under concurrent requests to the same missing URL, only one row is ever created, with the hit count correctly incremented.
The "Create redirect" link takes you to the Redirects module page with the source address prefilled via a GET parameter — you just need to fill in the target and save.
Frequently asked questions
Will this slow the site down for regular visitors?
No — it only writes on an actual 404 page; regular site visits aren’t affected at all.
Could a traffic spike to the same missing URL create duplicate rows?
No, the write is atomic (ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE), so even dozens of concurrent requests result in a single row with the correct count.
How do I create a redirect from a detected 404?
Click "Create redirect" on the entry — it opens the Redirects module with the source address already filled in.