404 Finder: Auto-Search Redirector

About

# Never Get Stuck on a 404 Page Again! 🚀

404 Finder is a powerful Chrome extension that automatically detects broken pages and redirects you to relevant search results. Using simple, effective query generation directly from the URL, it helps you find what you were looking for when pages go missing.

## 🌟 Key Features

🔍 Smart 404 Detection
- Detects both HTTP 404 errors and "soft" 404s (pages that return 200 but show error content)
- Multi-language error phrase detection
- URL pattern analysis for common error pages

🧠 Simple Query Generation
- Automatically decodes URLs (handles %20, special characters)
- Extracts domain name and URL path components
- Transforms URL separators into readable spaces
- Creates clean, predictable search queries

🌐 Search Engine Support
- Multiple popular search engines natively supported
- Custom search engine URL support
- Multiple query templates (domain search, cached pages, similar content)

⚙️ Advanced Domain Management
- Whitelist domains for guaranteed auto-search
- Blacklist domains to disable auto-search
- Bulk import/export domain lists
- Domain status shown in popup (Whitelisted/Blacklisted/Monitoring)

🎨 Modern User Interface
- Clean, intuitive popup design
- Dark mode support (auto-detects browser theme)
- Toast notifications before redirect
- Real-time status indicators
- One-click domain management

💾 Additional Features
- Settings backup/restore (JSON export)
- Search engine loop prevention
- Added delay before redirecting
- Privacy-focused: all data stored locally

## 💻 How It Works? It's simple!

1. Detection: When you land on a 404 page, the extension instantly detects it
2. Redirect: After a brief notification, redirects you to your preferred search engine

## 🎯 Perfect For

- Anyone frustrated by dead links
- Researchers finding moved content
- Content creators managing references
- Web developers checking broken links
- SEO professionals tracking 404s

## 🔒 Privacy First

- No data collection or tracking
- All settings stored locally
- No external server communication
- Open source and transparent

## 🚀 Getting Started

1. Click the extension icon to access settings
2. Choose your preferred search engine
3. Configure domain rules if needed
4. Browse normally - 404 Finder handles the rest!

## 💬 Support

Having issues or suggestions? Visit our GitHub page - https://github.com/jmrecodes/404-finder for support and to contribute to development.