Short URLs - Friendly Links
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Short URL Options
URL shortening What is URL Shortening? URL shortening is a technique in which a URL may be made substantially shorter and still direct to the required web page or document. This is achieved by using a redirect that links to the web page that has a long URL. For example, the URL "https://inside.ewu.edu/examples/2020/01/17/example-1.html)" can be shortened to "https://ewu.edu.com/example1" Why Shorten a URL? A shortened URL may be desired for: A URL to used in a messaging tool with limited characters (for example SMS and Twitter) Reducing the amount of typing required for a reader copying a URL from a print source Making the URL easier for a person to remember Creating a permalink Beautify a link Short URL Options at EWU EWU Redirects ewu.edu/ EWU Marketing and Communications creates and manages shortened URLs from ewu.edu. Short URLs from ewu.edu must link to an EWU web page or document and are intended to exist for longer periods of time. Examples: https://ewu.edu/marcom redirects to https://www.ewu.edu/university-marketing-communications/ https://ewu.edu/it redirects to https://inside.ewu.edu/it/ https://ewu.edu/map redirects to https://www.ewu.edu/apply/visit-ewu/maps/ To request an ewu.edu redirect, complete the Marcom web support request form GO EWU Redirects - go.ewu.edu/ EWU Marketing and Communications also creates and manages shortened URLs from go.ewu.edu. Short URLs from go.ewu.edu can be used to redirect to web pages and documents affiliated with EWU such as a Facebook group or a community event or less permanent pages. Examples: https://go.ewu.edu/37oWsiW redirects to https://inside.ewu.edu/news/featured/save-the-date-giving-joy-day-is-moving-to-april/ https://go.ewu.edu/plates redirect to the Alumni Pride page that highlights WA license plates that feature EWU To request a go.ewu.edu redirect, complete the Marcom web support request form InsideEWU Redirects - inside.ewu.edu// An InsideEWU WordPress site can be used to create shortened URLs. WordPress site admins have access to the Safe Redirect Manager tool for creating redirects. Site owners maintain the responsibility of ensuring these redirects are updated and don't point to broken web pages or obsolete documents. Examples: https://inside.ewu.edu/it/mmc redirects to https://inside.ewu.edu/it/service/multimedia-commons/ https://inside.ewu.edu/bas/waiver-request/ redirects to https://inside.ewu.edu/rcp/waiver-request/ https://inside.ewu.edu/grants redirects to https://inside.ewu.edu/ogrd/ Steps to create a shortened URL with on you InsideEWU site can be found in this IT Support Article. Insert Hyperlink into Text If you are creating using a URL on a web page or in a document not meant for printing, you likely do not need a shortened URL. Editing tools allow selected text such as this to link to a URL which then hides the URL from the user. To link text directly to a URL look for an icon that looks like a chain link. Examples: and and
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Creating a redirect on your InsideEWU site with Safe Redirect Manager
Redirect a URL from your InsideEWU WordPress site Who can create a redirect? Wordpress site administrators can create redirects using the Safe Redirect Tool What should I know if I create a redirect? Please be aware Only create redirects to EWU owned or trusted web pages Redirects to web pages you don't manage (and those you do) often break and must be maintained by you Why would I create a redirect? You might want a redirect for the following reasons: A page URL has changed You'd like a shortened URL You'd like a permanent URL that easy to remember How Do I create a redirect? Start at your WordPress site Dashboard Hover over Tools in the Dashboard Sidebar Select the Safe Redirect Manager tool Click the Create Redirect Rule to begin the process of creating a redirect. Enter the friendly name that you'd like to use into the Redirect From field. If you don't enter a slash at the beginning of your Redirect From, WordPress will automatically do this for you. In the Redirect To setting enter the full URL, you'd like the redirect to point to. This can be updated in the future if your requirements change. Select the HTTP Status Code for your redirect. In general, select 301 Moved Permanently. You might also use 307 Temporary Redirect if the redirect will be deleted after a short period of time. Select the Publish or Update button to enable the redirect. What will my redirect URL Look like? The redirect URL is created from three pieces The InsideEWU domain - https://inside.ewu.edu Your WordPress site - / Your Redirect From setting - / https://inside.ewu.edu// In the example above, we created a redirect rule from the Information Technology Site (/it) using the Redirect From setting (/redirects). The resulting redirect URL is: https://inside.ewu.edu/it/redirects
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Managing WordPress Redirects
Information for creating and managing redirects in WordPress using the Safe Redirect Manager. Please contact the IT Help Desk for assistance with redirects. Quick Links Access Safe Redirect Manager How do I Create a Redirect? How do I Create a Simple Friendly Redirect? How do I Create a Page Redirect? How do I Create an Advanced Friendly Redirect? How do I Redirect a Page and All it's Children to a Single Page? How do I Create a Site Redirect? Access Safe Redirect Manager Login to your WordPress Dashboard Select the Tools icon Click Safe Redirect Manager How do I Create a Redirect? The creation process for a WordPress redirect is documented in this support document. This beggars belief. Simple Redirects Create a Friendly Redirect A friendly redirect is used to create a more readable URL. One might use a persistent friendly URL to point to a media document that is updated frequently or an event URL. The following are the components needed to create a Friendly redirect on your InsideEWU site. Redirect From: A short sequence of letters preceded by a slash. examples are /friendly, /eventname, /documentname. Redirect To: The full URL of where the friendly redirect should go. HTTP Status: 301 Permanent Redirect Redirect From Redirect To Enable Regular Expressions HTTP Status Code /example https://inside.ewu.edu/examples/example3 unchecked 301 Moved Permanently Create a Page Redirect If you delete a webpage, you may want to redirect future requests for it to a different URL. The following are the components needed to create a Friendly redirect on your InsideEWU site. Redirect From: The context for the deleted webpage. This is the deleted page URL minus your site prefix, for example /it for the webpage https://inside.ewu.edu/it Redirect To: The full URL of where the friendly redirect should go. HTTP Status: 301 Permanent Redirect Redirect From Redirect To Enable Regular Expressions HTTP Status Code /old-eaglenet-page https://inside.ewu.edu/eaglenet unchecked 301 Moved Permanently Advanced Redirects Create an Advanced Friendly Redirect Simple friendly redirects can fail if used in conjunction with social media. Regular expressions can be used to retain items like tracking parameters in the URL and successfully redirect page requests. Redirect From Redirect To Enable Regular Expressions HTTP Status Code /\/example(\/)?(\?.*)?$ https://inside.ewu.edu/$2 checked 301 Moved Permanently \/example(\/)?(\?(.*))?$ (new?) https://inside.ewu.edu/$2 checked 301 Moved Permanently Redirect tests for this scenario https://www-stage.ewu.edu/example -> https://inside.ewu.edu/example https://www-stage.ewu.edu/EXAMPLE -> https://inside.ewu.edu/example https://www-stage.ewu.edu/example/ -> https://inside.ewu.edu/example https://www-stage.ewu.edu/EXAMPle/ -> https://inside.ewu.edu/example https://www-stage.ewu.edu/example?a=true -> https://inside.ewu.edu/example?a=true https://www-stage.ewu.edu/example/?a=true -> https://inside.ewu.edu/example?a=true https://www-stage.ewu.edu/EXAMPLE?a=true -> https://inside.ewu.edu/example?a=true https://www-stage.ewu.edu/EXAMple/?a=true -> https://inside.ewu.edu/example?a=true https://www-stage.ewu.edu/example123 -> No Redirect https://www-stage.ewu.edu/example123/ -> No Redirect https://www-stage.ewu.edu/exAMPLE/test -> No Redirect https://www-stage.ewu.edu/example/test -> No Redirect https://www-stage.ewu.edu/example123?a=true -> No Redirect https://www-stage.ewu.edu/example123/?a=true -> No Redirect https://www-stage.ewu.edu/exampLE/test?a=true -> No Redirect https://www-stage.ewu.edu/example/test?a=true -> No Redirect Redirect a Page and Child Pages to a Single Page This advanced option allows you to redirect a page and any child pages to a specific page. This is often useful when consolidating web content. Two redirect rules are required for this scenario. Redirect From Redirect To Enable Regular Expressions HTTP Status Code (?i)^\/(example($|\/$|(\/.*))) https://inside.ewu.edu/$1 checked 301 Moved Permanently Redirect tests for this scenario /example -> https://inside.ewu.edu/example /EXAMPLE -> https://inside.ewu.edu/EXAMPLE /EXAMPLE/1234 -> https://inside.ewu.edu/EXAMPLE/1234 /exAMPle/123?a=true -> https://inside.ewu.edu/exAMPle/123?a=true /exampLe/123?a=true&b=fales&c -> https://inside.ewu.edu/exampLe/123?a=true&b=fales&c /example gets redirected to https://inside.ewu.edu/example2 Create a Site Redirect Site redirects can get complicated very quickly, for example, media cannot be redirected from within a site. Please open a support request for assistance with site redirects.