Redirects Manager

Create, manage, and track URL redirects directly from WordPress. Handle changed URLs, fix broken links, and preserve SEO value when restructuring your site—all with detailed statistics on redirect usage.

Use Cases#

• Redirect old blog post URLs after changing your permalink structure
• Fix broken links from external sites pointing to moved content
• Set up vanity URLs for marketing campaigns (e.g., /promo → full landing page URL)
• Redirect deleted pages to relevant alternatives instead of showing 404 errors
• Handle site migrations by redirecting old URLs to new locations

Where to Find It#

Navigate to Switchboard → Redirects to access the full redirect management interface with statistics, bulk actions, and the redirect editor.

How It Works#

1. Add a redirect with source URL (from) and target URL (to)
2. Choose 301 (permanent) or 302 (temporary) redirect type
3. Select exact match or wildcard pattern matching
4. The redirect activates immediately
5. Track hits and last-used timestamps

Dashboard Overview#

The Redirects Manager dashboard shows:

• Total Redirects: Number of redirects you’ve created
• Active Redirects: Currently enabled redirects
• Total Hits: Combined times all redirects have been used
• Hits Today: Redirect usage in the past 24 hours

Plus quick-view panels for:

• Top Performing Redirects: Most-used redirects by hit count
• Recently Added: Your newest redirects

Creating a Redirect#

Step 1: Click “Add Redirect”#

From the Redirects Manager page, click the “Add Redirect” button in the header.

Step 2: Configure the Redirect#

Step 3: Save#

Click “Save Redirect” and it’s immediately active.

Redirect Types#

301 Permanent Redirect#

Use 301 when content has permanently moved:

• Search engines transfer SEO value to the new URL
• Browsers cache the redirect
• Best for: renamed pages, changed permalinks, site migrations

302 Temporary Redirect#

Use 302 when the redirect is temporary:

• Search engines keep the original URL indexed
• Browsers don’t cache as aggressively
• Best for: A/B testing, temporary promotions, maintenance redirects

Match Types#

Exact Match#

Redirects only when the URL path matches exactly.

Wildcard Pattern#

Use * to match multiple URLs with a single redirect.

URL Rules#

Source URL#

• Must be a path on your own domain (e.g., /old-page)
• Full URLs are automatically converted to paths
• Always starts with /
• Cannot redirect to external domains as the source

Target URL#

• Can be a full URL to any destination
• Can be internal (https://yoursite.com/new-page)
• Can be external (https://external-site.com/page)
• Relative paths are converted to full URLs

Searching for Content#

When creating redirects, you can search for existing content:

1. Start typing in the “search to select existing content” field
2. Results show pages, posts, categories, and tags
3. Click a result to auto-fill the URL
4. Works for both source and target fields

This makes it easy to redirect to existing content without copying URLs manually.

Managing Redirects#

Bulk Actions#

Select multiple redirects using checkboxes and apply:

• Delete: Remove selected redirects
• Activate: Enable selected redirects
• Deactivate: Disable without deleting

Sorting and Filtering#

• Click column headers to sort by source URL, target, hits, or date
• Use the search box to filter redirects by URL
• View hit counts to identify popular redirects

Testing Redirects#

Click the external link icon next to any source URL to test the redirect in a new tab.

Hit Tracking#

Every time a redirect is used, Switchboard records:

• Hit Count: Total times the redirect has been triggered
• Last Hit: Timestamp of most recent use

This helps you:

• Identify heavily-used redirects that should remain active
• Find unused redirects that could be cleaned up
• Verify that redirects are working as expected

FAQ#