Introduction

A redirect is a method of forwarding users and search engines to a different URL from the one they originally requested.

The most common use of a redirect is to forward potential visitors of an old URL - to the new URL which replaces it. Adding a redirect for URLs that no longer exist will lower the volume of "404 - Page can't be found".

The Redirect page lets you to set up and manage HTTP 301 redirects on your store. You can add redirects manually using the interface, or upload a CSV file to add multiple redirects at a time.

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Redirects use the HTTP response status code of 301. This is the best way to ensure that users and search engines are directed to the correct page. The 301 status code means that a page has permanently moved to a new location.

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If a link for a product or category is automatically forwarding you to your homepage, or an alternative page, it may be because a redirect is set up for that URL.

URLs for discontinued products may also automatically redirect users to your stores homepage, or an alternative page. Navigate to Products > All Products > Edit Product > SEO to check if this is the case.

Viewing Redirects

To view a list of current redirects set up for your store, navigate to Tools > Redirects.

Here, you're presented with a list of redirects, to which you can add, edit or delete.

Searching Redirects

If you're looking for a specific redirect, you can search by both the Old URL and New URL using the Search Bar. Results will dynamically appear as you type.

You can cancel a search at any time using the "X" button to the right of the search bar.

Adding a New Redirect

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URLs must be provided in one of the following formats:

• http://example.co.uk/portfolio
• http://www.example.co.uk/portfolio
• /portfolio

To add a new redirect:

1. Select whether you would like to redirect all URLs that begin with the Old URL or just the ones that match it exactly.

2. Enter the URL that you would like to redirect from in the Old URL field.

3. Choose if you would like to redirect to the New URL absolutely or not. If you would like to preserve any Filters or Sub-categories that might be included, then do not tick this box.

4. Enter the URL you would like visitors to be forwarded to in the New URL field.

5. To add the new redirect, click the Create button.

Exact Matching

If you do not tick the box to have a Redirect use the begins method, then it will only redirect URLs that match the Old URL value exactly. This means that if you set the Old URL value to "/dvds/" then only the URL http://www.yourseite.com/dvds/  would be redirected and all of the following would be ignored:

• http://www.yourseite.com/dvds/crime/
• http://www.yourseite.com/dvds/p:0-10/
• http://www.yourseite.com/dvds/si:5,6,7/
• http://www.yourseite.com/dvds/page2.html

Begins Matching

If you tick the begins box, then the Redirect will affect any URL starting with the value set in the Old URL field.

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Please note that the URL must begin with the configured value and so while "/dvds_old/crime/" would become "/dvds/crime/", "/crime/dvds_old/" would not become "/crime/dvds/".

Absolute or Preserved redirects

When redirecting using the begins method, you can also select another option called absolute. If you configure a redirect to change "/dvds_old/" to "/dvds/" using the 'begins' method with 'absolute' un-ticked, then only the matching portion of the URL is changed and all that comes after it is left unchanged.

The following URLs would be affected as shown:

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This is very useful for dealing with product category movements, i.e. when a category is renamed, this method can allow you to redirect all requests to that category and all it's sub-categories and filters (e.g. Size or Price filters) to the new URL, seamlessly, using a single redirect rule.

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When using the begins method with the absolute option off, the Old and New URLs must either: both end with a '/' or neither end with a '/'. For example, you may not redirect from "/dvds_old" to "/dvds/" or the other way around.

This is to prevent problems being caused when applying redirects to URLs that might result in the generation of invalid URLs, such as "/dvds_oldest/" being redirected to "/dvds/est/".

If you select the tick-box to have a redirect be 'absolute', this means that the URL provided in the New URL field will be used instead of the old URL. What this means is that if you configure a redirect to change "/dvds_old/" to "/" using the begins method, the following URLs would be affected as shown:

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This is very useful when removing entire Product Categories from your store and allows you to redirect all ongoing requests to the removed category to the homepage (for example).

Query strings

Query strings are always preserved, regardless of the matching method used. What this means is that if the URL has any fields at the end using the '?', these will be preserved, e.g. "/dvds_old/?name=ben" would become "/dvds/?name=ben/".

Duplicate redirects?

Generally speaking you are not permitted to create more than one redirect with the same Old URL value. This is to prevent confusion and unreliable behaviour in Aurora when a URL ends up matching more than one rule, i.e. how should it then choose which it should use?

There is an exception to this rule of course, when using the begins method. If you create two rules, one using the begins feature and the other not, the one that is not using the begins method will be performed first, if applicable. What this means is that URLs that match the Old URL exactly will use the rule that is not using the begins system while all other URLs will use the other one (assuming they begin with the Old URL value of course). The following URLs would be affected as shown:

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The above table assumes that the following two redirects have been configured:

• URL begins /dvds_old/, then redirect to /dvds/.
• URL matches exactly /dvds_old/, then redirect to /alternate_url/.

CSV Redirect Import and Export

You can import redirects in bulk using a CSV file. Your CSV file must have the following columns, and the 'Field' column names listed must be on line 1 of the CSV file:

Any additional columns will be ignored by the import.

When uploading a CSV file, by default, Aurora will add the redirects from the CSV to those that already exist. Select the Delete existing redirects checkbox to have all existing redirects deleted upon upload of your new CSV file.

Export

To Export a CSV file of your current redirects, which you can amend and re upload, use the Export CSV link.

CSV exports will contain the following columns:

Example CSV file

Old URL,New URL,Begins,Absolute,Created [ro],Modified [ro],Recent Hits [ro],Total Hits [ro]
/oldurl-123,/newurl-123,,absolute,2024-11-20 11:06:03,,1,3
/oldurl-456,/newurl-456,begins,2024-11-20 12:01:01,,0,9
/oldurl-789,/newurl-789,,2024-11-21 10:11:33,2024-11-21 10:15:41,1,1

CSV Validation

Redirect CSV files uploaded to Aurora are validated before they are imported. If the validation fails for any reason (even if it is for only one out of a thousand rules), the entire import will be cancelled and no changes applied to Aurora. This is an important precaution intended to prevent unintentional problems beings caused by partial redirection CSV files being published in the event that some, but not all, are valid.

Example CSV Error Report

When uploading a CSV file, all redirects are scanned for issues and errors.

If any errors are found, the entire CSV Import process is aborted and no redirects will be imported or edited.

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This is done to avoid partial, or potentially damaging (to your traffic) redirects being published to the site.

This process may not catch all issues that could arise, but does check for a range of common ones.

Please see the following example of a report of issues with a redirect CSV file.