WordPress Redirects: A Guide

WordPress, the ubiquitous Content Management System (CMS) is used by businesses, individuals and bloggers worldwide. The platform is loved for its feature-rich offering making it easy to create and manage websites. One such feature is the ability to redirect users to other pages on the same website when needed. Our article discusses ways to redirect WordPress pages, reasons why you might want to redirect users, and more.

Why Redirect Users in WordPress?

There are many reasons why you might want to redirect WordPress pages. This includes:

• Changing the permalink structure of your website to avoid 404 errors
• Moving your website to a new domain
• Reorganising your website’s content
• Creating custom landing pages for marketing campaigns

Different Ways to Redirect in WordPress

WordPress offers different ways to redirect pages:

Using the Redirection Plugin

The Redirection plugin is a quick and straightforward way to redirect WordPress pages, including permanent and temporary redirects. Here’s how:

1. Install and activate the Redirection plugin from the WordPress plugin directory
2. Navigate to the Redirection settings page and click on the Add New button
3. Enter the old URL in the Source URL field and the new URL in the Target URL field
4. Choose the type of redirect you want to set up, i.e., 301 or 302, from the ‘Type’ drop-down menu
5. Save your changes

Using the .htaccess File

You can modify your .htaccess file to configure redirects. Follow these steps:

1. Access your website’s root folder using an FTP client
2. Locate the .htaccess file and download a copy to your computer
3. Open the file using a text editor
4. Add the following code to the top of the file, replacing old and new URLs with the ones you want to redirect:

Redirect 301 /old-url/ http://www.new-url.com/

5. Save your changes and upload the modified .htaccess file back to your website’s root folder

Using the WordPress Editor

You can also use WordPress’s built-in editor to set up redirects when redirecting one page to another page on the same website. Here’s how:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to the Pages section
2. Click on the Edit button next to the page you want to redirect
3. Scroll down to the Page Attributes section and locate the “Parent” dropdown
4. Select the page you want to redirect to from the dropdown
5. Save your changes

Using a Third-Party Plugin

Finally, you can opt to use third-party plugins such as Quick Page/Post Redirect Plugin, Simple 301 Redirects, and Safe Redirect Manager to set up redirects. Here’s how:

1. Install and activate your preferred plugin from the WordPress plugin directory
2. Navigate to the Plugin settings page and follow the plugin’s instructions to set up the redirect
3. Save your changes

Conclusion

WordPress redirects offer a simple way to manage content structure changes and other related scenarios. By following our guide, you can redirect users to other pages on your WordPress site easily.