How do I display content to users who are not logged in instead of 404 on Private custom posts?

Question

I want to display a message like "You must be logged in to view this", with Private custom posts. Theoretically, I want to use something like this:

if (is_user_logged_in()) {
// Page code goes here
}
else {
echo "You must be logged in to view this page.";
}

This code is in the single-custom.php page template.
The true case works just fine. However, if the user is not logged in, instead of seeing "You must be logged in..." I get a 404 instead? What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

Are you doing this inside The Loop? I'd try something like this myself:

if ($post->post_status == "private" && !is_user_logged_in()) {
    echo "You must be logged in to view this page.";
} else if( $post->post_status == "private" && is_user_logged_in() ) {
    // Page code goes here
}