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User guide

Getting started

Add your first redirect, read the 404 log as a work queue, and find the chains you have already built.

Redirects accumulate for years and nobody ever reads them again. Redirector’s point of view is that the interesting artefact is not the rule list — it is the 404 log, because that is the list of things visitors are actually failing to find.

Install

wp plugin install subset-redirector --activate

The 404 log starts recording immediately. Rules are yours to add, and there are none by default.

Add a rule

Open Tools → Redirects (placeholder — not final), and give it a source path, a destination and a status code. If you are unsure which code, read status codes first — the choice has consequences that last for years, because browsers cache some of them permanently.

Read the 404 log

This is the part worth doing weekly. Misses are grouped by requested path with a hit count and a referrer, which turns a firehose into a work queue: the paths at the top are the ones costing you visitors.

Three patterns show up on nearly every site:

  • A post that was renamed. The old slug is 404ing and the referrer is Google. This is the one to fix first, and it is what automatic slug redirects exist to prevent.
  • A file somebody linked to and you deleted. Usually a PDF. The referrer tells you who linked to it.
  • Vulnerability scanners. Long runs of /wp-content/plugins/something/readme.txt from one address. Not your problem and not worth redirecting.

Planned for 1.0.0Changelog

Manual rules, regex matching with a tester, the grouped 404 log and CSV import and export are the free version’s first release.

Check for chains

A chain is a redirect that points at another redirect. Each hop costs a round trip, and search engines stop following after a handful. A loop is worse: it is a page nobody can reach at all.

The health check screen (placeholder — not final) walks every rule to its final destination and flags anything that redirects more than once or eats itself. This is a Pro feature, and it is the one most likely to find something on a site with a long history.

What to read next

Status codes is the background, and true whichever plugin you use. The developer reference covers matching in your own code and exporting to the web server.