.. _managing_redirects:

Managing Redirects
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About redirects
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When dealing with publishing and unpublishing pages you will eventually need to make redirects.
A redirect ensures that when a page is no longer available (404), the visitor and search engines are sent to a new page.
Therefore the visitor won't end up in a breaking journey which would result in a page not found.

Wagtail considers two types of configurable redirects depending on whether *Permanent* is checked or not:

* Permanent redirect (checked by default)
* Temporary redirect

For both redirects the visitor won't experience a difference when visiting a page, but the search engine will react to these two type of redirects differently.

* In the case of a temporary redirect a search engine will keep track of your old page and will index the redirected page as well.
* With a permanent redirect, the search engine will mark the old page as obsolete and considers the new page as a replacement.

.. note::
    As a best practice Wagtail will check redirects as permanent by default, in order to prevent the undermining of your search engine ranking.

Configuring redirects
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.. image:: ../_static/images/screen41_redirects_menu_item.png

To configure redirects head over to 'Redirects', which can be found in the Settings menu, accessible via the left-hand menu bar.

.. image:: ../_static/images/screen42_redirects_interface.png

* Add a redirect by clicking the *Add redirect* button in the top-right.
* Search for redirects already configured by entering your search term in the search bar. The results will be automatically updated as you type.
* Edit the details of a redirect by clicking the URL path in the listing.

.. image:: ../_static/images/screen43_redirects_edit_redirect.png

* Set *Redirect from* to the URL pattern which is no longer available on your site.
* Set the *From site* if applicable (for eg: a multisite environment).
* Check whether the redirect is *Permanent* or temporary (unchecked).

As a last step you can either redirect to a new page within Wagtail **or** you can redirect the page to a different domain outside of Wagtail.

* Select your page from the explorer for *Redirect to a page*.
* Set a full-domain and path for *Redirect to any URL*.

.. note::
    Keep in mind a redirect will only be initiated if the page is not found.
    It will not be applied to existing pages (200) which will resolve on your site.
