URLs and Redirects

URLs and redirects can be set up to allow multiple addresses to point to the same content.

Basic URLs

If more URLs need to be added to trace to a page, it can be done in the URLs section in Brightspot (both permalinks and redirects). Clicking the "Add URL" button as shown in the above screenshot adds more URLs that point to the current page. Examples of using this URL section are as follows:

1. Create a shorter version of the current URL because it's too long
2. Preserve the functionality of an old URL after the old page has been replaced (add the old URL to the new page)
3. Redirect a section's homepage to a subpage in the section itself
4. Create a shorter URL for an attachment

A hierarchy of pages and items on the website can be modified or added in this way (although using sections makes it automatic). When a headline is added to the page, Brightspot will create the URL based on the headline. When the page is added to a section, the URL will be updated to include the section as part of the hierarchy.

For example, when a page headline "cats are adorable" is added to a new page, the URL of that page will be updated to /cats-are-adorable. When that page is added to a section named "opinions," the URL will be updated to /opinions/cats-are-adorable.

Related Tutorials & Other Documentation

How to Change a Page Path URL
Brightspot Documentation: URL Management
Brightspot Article: How to create permalinks and manage redirects

The following sections will go over redirects (site redirect and vanity URL redirect) that only site admins can configure. The distinction between site and vanity URL redirects is where they are pointing from. It's the origin that makes the difference, not the destination. Site redirects point from a whole website domain whereas vanity URL redirects point from a web page.

Site Redirects

A site redirect redirects a whole website domain or subdomain to a particular address (example: redirect career.byuh.edu to acs.byuh.edu/career). Only site admins have access to the settings to set up site redirects.

1. Find Site Redirects in the hamburger menu on the top left > Redirects > Site Redirects.
2. Ensure you are on the Brightspot site you’d like to redirect to. For example, if you want to set up a domain to redirect to acs.byuh.edu, make sure that you see “BYUH Alumni & Career Services” in the top bar of the CMS. If you're in the correct site, this site should be the default filter on the left side of the Site Redirect search menu.
3. Click the New Site Redirect button at the bottom left.
4. Choose the site domain(s) that should be redirected to the Brightspot site. If you want to redirect the legacy URL to a specific section page, you can add the destination in the format of subdomain.byuh/section. If you want to redirect to the homepage, add the homepage url to the destination (ex. acs.byuh.edu).
5. Turn the toggle for Transfer Matched Segments to the right to allow pages off of this domain to redirect also (if you want career.byuh.edu/node1 to redirect to acs.byuh.edu/node1)
6. Hit Publish when complete.
7. Email websites@byu.edu for them to launch the site redirect before it goes live.

Site Redirect Tips & Tricks

When setting up Site Redirects, it’s important to do the following:

1. Set up 4 site redirects, as shown below. Make sure to include the https and http versions of both the www and non-www versions
2. Don’t include a trailing / after each URL
3. Make sure the destination URL is using the https version instead of http
4. Make sure that the destination is a real URL on the destination site. You’ll need to add this URL path to the page to which want the domain to redirect. If this is not done, the redirect will 404.
5. After the new site redirect is created, email websites@byu.edu for them to launch the site redirect before it goes live, especially if it's redirecting from a link that doesn't already exist.
   

Vanity URL Redirects

A vanity URL redirect redirects a web page to a different website or subdomain (example: direct biology.byu.edu/cats to cats.byu.edu). Only Site Admins can add a vanity URL redirect.

1. From the hamburger menu, go to Redirects > Vanity URL Redirects. Make sure that you’re on the site for which you wish to create a vanity redirect.
2. Click New Vanity URL Redirect button at the bottom left.
3. The local URL should be the permalink on a Brightspot page (in the example above, /cats)
4. The destination should be an external domain (in the example above,  cats.byu,edu)
5. If the vanity redirect is supposed to be temporary, turn the "Temporary?" toggle on.
6. Options are provided to Ignore, Preserve, or Modify the Query String. The default is to Ignore. Please note the following:
   
   1. If the Modify option is selected, additional options allow specification of which parameters to keep based on key names.
   2. The options for keeping query parameters by key name allow keeping All, None, All Except, or Only certain key names.
   3. New query parameter key value pairs can also be added in the Add field of the Modify option.