You might frequently see 500 internal server errors and 404 not found errors when browsing web pages. In reality, these are HTTP status codes that servers use to interact with web browsers. Through these HTTP codes, servers inform us what has happened on a website when we visit it.
Continue reading this blog post that explains various HTTP status codes in detail.
What Do You Mean by HTTP Status Codes?
HTTP status codes are server responses to browser requests. When users browse sites, their web browsers send requests to websites’ servers, which respond with three-digit HTTP status codes. This means that servers communicate the requests’ statuses.
Status Codes and Their Meanings
This section will discuss prominent status codes along with their meanings, such as:
- 1xx – Informational Response (These status codes are all about the information the server receives when a request is made).
- 2xx – Success (This status code indicates that the server has fulfilled the request and achieved the expected response).
- 3xx – Redirection (The requested URL is redirected elsewhere).
- 4xx – Client Errors (This shows the page is not found).
- 5xx – Server Errors (The client made a request, but the server failed to complete it).
Crucial Status Codes Users Must Know
Different status codes reveal important information regarding various client and server-side errors. Therefore, users should understand and correctly tackle such errors with the right approach.
Here are multiple HTTP status codes explained below:
- 200 (Success/OK)
- 301 (Permanent Redirect)
- 302 (Temporary Redirect)
- 304 (Not Modified)
- 400 (Bad Request)
- 401 (Unauthorized Error)
- 403 (Forbidden)
- 404 (Not Found)
- 500 (Internal Server Error)
- 501 (Not Implemented)
200 (Success/OK)
The HTTP status code 200 reveals success, meaning the request page has been fetched. The intended action has been accepted and delivered to the client by providing the requested page.
- POST: The entity explains the response to the action made.
- HEAD: An entity-header field looks similar to the request source.
- GET: The entity about the request has been sent to the response.
- TRACE: The server has taken care of the client’s request.
301 (Permanent Redirect)
301 redirect indicates that a web page or its content has permanently moved to another location. Users implement 301 redirects on their websites to specify that the original URL has been replaced. Therefore, the link juice should pass to new pages.
302 (Temporary Redirect)
A 302 redirect reveals that the request URL has been temporarily redirected to another site. The difference between 301 and 302 redirections is that the redirection takes place permanently in the former case. On the other hand, the latter case suggests that the redirection takes place temporarily.
304 (Not Modified)
As far as the HTTP 304 not modified status code is concerned, the code specifies that the website you requested has not been updated since the last time you visited it. For example, a web browser sends a request to a server related to a specific web page. Consequently, the web server responds through a ‘304 Not Modified’ status code indicating that the web page is not yet updated.
400 (Bad Request)
When a client requests a page, and the server does not understand the request regarding the web page, it shows a 400 HTTP status code. In this situation, the client should make the necessary changes before repeating the request.
401 (Unauthorized Error)
This HTTP status code needs user authentication. This status code error relates to invalid authentication credentials. Simply put, the request is unsuccessful because the authentication credentials for the target resource are invalid.
403 (Forbidden)
According to this status code, the server understands the request but cannot fulfill it due to various issues like indexing, ownership, poorly coded plugins, etc. Several examples of 403 forbidden errors exist, such as HTTP Error 403 – Forbidden, 403 Forbidden, etc.
404 (Not Found)
HTTP 404 error is also known as the ‘404 Not Found’ error. As a standard response code, it indicates that the user’s browser reached the server; however, it could not find the requested resource. In other words, the server could not locate anything and does not want to specify why it denied the request.
500 (Internal Server Error)
Error 500, commonly called the internal server error, highlights the problem or issue on the web server’s side. This means the server has experienced an unexpected condition and cannot fulfill the client’s request.
501 (Not Implemented)
When a client requests and the server in response does not recognize the request method or support any resource, they will experience the ‘501 Not Implemented response code error.
Other Unknown HTTP Status Codes List – Users Must Know
Apart from the above status codes, you should comprehend several uncommon status codes, including:
- 100 Continue
- 101 Switching Protocol
- 102 Processing (WebDAV)
- 103 Early Hints
- 201 Created
- 202 Accepted
- 203 Non-Authoritative Information
- 204 No Content
- 205 Reset Content
- 206 Partial Content
- 207 Multi-Status (WebDAV)
- 208 Already Reported (WebDAV)
- 226 IM Used (HTTP Delta encoding)
- 405 Method Not Allowed
- 406 Not Acceptable
- 407 Proxy Authentication Required
- 408 Request Timeout
- 409 Conflict
- 410 Gone
- 411 Length Required
- 412 Precondition Failed
- 413 Payload Too Large
- 414 URI Too Long
- 415 Unsupported Media Type
- 416 Range Not Satisfiable
- 417 Expectation Failed
- 418 I’m a teapot
- 421 Misdirected Request
- 425 Too Early
- 426 Upgrade Required
- 428 Precondition Required
- 429 Too Many Requests
- 431 Request Header Fields Too Large
- 451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons
- 502 Bad Gateway
- 503 Service Unavailable
- 504 Gateway Timeout
- 505 HTTP Version Not Supported
- 506 Variant Also Negotiates
- 507 Insufficient Storage (WebDAV)
- 508 Loop Detected (WebDAV)
- 510 Not Extended
- 511 Network Authentication Required
Wrapping Up
We expect you to appreciate our blog post explaining HTTP status codes. Once you understand these multiple status codes, resolving various HTTP status codes becomes a doable task. If you do not fix them in the first place, your website’s performance will significantly suffer in traffic, sales, and revenues.
Therefore, comprehending the above HTTP status codes is crucial to maintaining WordPress sites’ productivity to the next level.
