This feature integrates customized 404 and 500 error pages into your SAAS Starter Kit, serving the dual functions of improving user experience and streamlining issue troubleshooting for developers. The tailored 404 pages aim to sustain user interest by providing intuitive navigation options back to functional areas of your application, thereby minimizing bounce rates. On the other hand, the 500 error pages are designed to assure users that server issues are being addressed, which helps in building user trust. This feature is consistent with industry best practices, offering a balanced approach to user-friendly design and effective debugging.
In a LiveView-based application such as yours, implementing this feature involves nuances that differ from the traditional Phoenix action fallback plug. Specifically, the focus here is on the LiveView for products, rather than a generic product controller. The mount function in this LiveView is conditioned to require a valid product ID to successfully render HTML content. If an invalid ID is supplied, the default behavior is for Phoenix to display a 'product not found' error, causing the app to crash.
A commonly suggested solution for such issues in LiveView is to include error-handling logic within the 'else' block of the mount function, followed by a redirect. However, the objective here is different; rather than redirecting users, the aim is to display a 404 error page while keeping them on the erroneous URL. This choice aligns with the philosophy of enhancing user experience while allowing developers to pinpoint issues effectively.