Redirects and the 404 monitor

The Redirects and 404 tab (Baza Helper > Redirects and 404) sends visitors and search engines from an old address to a new one and keeps a list of addresses that return 404. Rules and the missing-address log live in their own database tables, so they stay fast.

Add a redirect

1. Open the Redirects tab and press Add a redirect.
2. From (address on this site): the old address, for example /old-page/.
3. To: the new address or a full URL.
4. Choose Match and Answer, add an optional Group and press Add redirect.

Match types

• Exact address: the fastest lookup. A trailing slash and letter case can be ignored (see Settings).
• Starts with: every address that begins with the text.
• Regular expression: matched against the path. Use $1, $2 in the target for captured parts, for example from ^/blog/(.*)$ to /news/$1. A broken pattern and a redirect loop are refused when you save.

Answers

301 Moved permanently and 308 Permanent keep the new address for search engines. 302 Found, 303 See other and 307 Temporary are for short-term moves, and 307 and 308 keep the request method. 410 Gone says the page was removed on purpose, and 451 says it is unavailable for legal reasons.

Manage the list

The table shows the source, the target, the answer, how many times a rule was used and when. Search it, filter by answer, match, status or group, switch single rules on or off, or select several and use With selected to turn them on, off or delete them. The list is paged, 25 rules at a time.

The 404 monitor

Missing addresses (404) lists addresses that visitors and bots asked for and no rule caught: the address, how often, when it was first and last seen and where the visitor came from. Filter with Seen at least and Period. Press Redirect on a row to fill the add form with that address, Remove to forget it, or Clear the list. The tab says No missing addresses have been seen until the first one appears.

Import and export

Import accepts a CSV with the columns from, to, answer, match, on and group, a JSON export of this tool, or a JSON export of the Redirection plugin. Export CSV and Export JSON save your rules.

Settings

• Create a redirect when the address of a published page or post changes: a changed slug or parent makes a 301 in the group auto.
• Ignore a trailing slash and Ignore upper and lower case.
• Add the visitor’s query string to the target.
• Keep a list of missing addresses and Forget missing addresses after (days); the list keeps at most 2000 rows and is pruned daily.
• Never list addresses containing: one fragment per line for addresses you do not care about.

Redirects are matched very early in the request (template_redirect, priority 1). Deleting the plugin removes both tables when Delete all Baza Helper data is on in Access & data.