An empty Custom Post Type Archive page returns 404 in WP 3.1

Question

I have set up a Custom Post Type called "Portfolio". If I view the CPT's Archive page without adding any posts to it (/portfolio or /?post_type=portfolio), it returns a 404 page. Is there a way to show the archive page but personalize the message? Ie "there are currently no portfolio items here right now".

As soon as I add 1 post into the portfolio custom post type, the archive page loads fine.

Here are other posts that match my issue

http://wordpress.org/support/topic/empty-archives-returning-404

Custom Post Type Archives with 0 Posts Redirects as 404

Answer 1

what have you set the "has_archive" option to in your CPT? Also, make sure to reset your permalinks.

As for putting a customized message, you can create an archive template specific to that CPT. If the CPT is "portfolio", then you can create a template called "archive-portfolio.php" and customize it as you see fit.