Help with new site design, using htaccess to avoid 404 pages

        # if the request does not match a valid, resolved file
        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
        # and the request does not match a valid, resolved directory
        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
        # then take everything after the initial slash, and store it in $1  --> /?(.*)
        # rewrite the URL to server My_Handler_Page, using $1 as a query string parameter
        # and append the original query string, if any
        RewriteRule /?(.*) /My_Handler_Page?original=$1 [QSA]

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Note that I edited the directives slightly, since my initial post was a bit loose.

To set up the handling page, just make a new .php file.  Assuming the rule above, ensure  the "/My_Handler_Page" part is the actual path/filename of the handler file you create.  The handler code could look something this:

<?
$request='';
if (isset($_GET['original'])) { $request=$_GET['original']; }
if (!$request) {
  // there is no "original" parameter passed...do something cool and intuitive
} else {
  // here, you can use $_SERVER, $_GET, etc., to determine what you actually want to do
  switch ($request) {
     case 'this_page.shtml': header('location:this_new_page.php'); break;
     default:
         // create your default "not found" page here
         break;
  }
}

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Admittedly, that example is pretty basic.  Since you have full access to the entire context of the request, including cookies and any related session information you might have in a database, you could really do anything you wanted in the handler.  If you're just looking for a basic 1-to-1 map of "this-old-url" to "this-new-url", you should look at the solution ahoffmann referenced in his last post.

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewritemap

Don't worry, it is must easier than it sounds.  This is a bit beefier than a normal rule set, and it is a bit slower.  You probably would not notice unless you're handling a few hundred requests a second.  This method allows you to just keep a managed list of the 1-to-1 matched redirects.  Once it is set up, you only need to change the list, not write any new rules.