How to use Redirects | Digistorm Support Hub

The Redirects plugin allows schools to manage URL redirects efficiently, ensuring a seamless user experience when restructuring their websites. This tool is particularly useful when migrating to a new website or modifying page URLs. Currently, we're using the Retour Plugin.

Setting up redirects

Redirects allow School Admins to send traffic from an old URL to a new one.

Go to CMS > Redirects
Redirects > Redirects
Click '+ New Static Redirect'
Enter the following details:
1. Legacy URL Pattern (Source URL) – The page being redirected
  - This is the old URL you want to redirect from. Enter the exact path after your domain name. For example, if your old URL was www.yourschool.com/about-us, you would enter /about-us
2. Legacy URL Match Type - Path or Exact Match
  - This matches against the path only (the part of the URL after the domain name) or the full URL, depending on the setting of Legacy URL Match Type
3. Destination URL (Target URL) – The new destination
  - Enter the new URL you want to redirect visitors to. This can be a full web address (like https://www.yourschool.com/our-school) or a path on your website (like /our-school)
4. Redirect Type – Choose from 301, 302, etc.

Understanding redirect types

Redirects determine how browsers and search engines handle URL changes.

🔵 301 (Permanent Redirect)

Tells search engines that the page has moved permanently.
Best for SEO as it transfers link value.
Example: Moving a school’s "Admissions" page to a new URL.

🟠 302 (Temporary Redirect)

Used when a URL change is temporary.
Does not transfer SEO value.
Example: Redirecting to an event-specific page for a limited time.

💡 Which to use?
For most cases, 301 redirects are recommended unless the change is temporary.

Redirect type	Purpose
301 - Moved Permanently	Best for SEO; transfers ranking to the new URL. Use for permanent page moves.
302 - Found (Temporary)	Used for temporary changes. Doesn't transfer SEO value.
307 - Temporary Redirect	Similar to 302 but ensures the request method remains unchanged.
308 - Permanent Redirect	Works like 301 but ensures the request method remains unchanged.
410 - Gone	Indicates a page is permanently removed without a replacement.

Click Save. The redirect is now active.

Example

Adding a new redirect from a 404 detected page (Dashboard method)

Our system also tracks pages that visitors try to access but can't find (these are called "404 errors"). You can easily create redirects from this information:

Go to Redirects > Dashboard in the CMS.
- It will look something like this:
  - In the "404 File Not Found URL" list, find the URL you want to redirect.
  - Please note: some of these items won’t be pages eg file.ico or file.js. Please ensure you are selecting a page.
Click the "+" icon next to the URL.
This will open an "Edit Redirect" form, with the "Legacy URL Pattern" field automatically filled in with the 404 URL.
Enter the Destination URL (the new page you want to redirect to).
Choose the Redirect Type (usually 301 for permanently moved pages).
Click "Save".

Bulk importing redirects

For large-scale migrations, School Admins can upload a CSV file to import multiple redirects.

Prepare a CSV file with these columns:

Column Name	Description
Legacy URL Pattern	The original URL that needs to be redirected.
Redirect To	The new URL that the old URL should point to.
Match Type	Defines how the match is determined (e.g., exactmatch).
HTTP Status	The type of redirect (301 for permanent, 302 for temporary).
Legacy URL Match Type	Defines the scope of the match (pathonly means only the URL path is considered).
Priority	The priority of the redirect (higher numbers take precedence).

Example CSV data: Download and open in Excel. Save as .csv
retour-redirects.csv

Legacy URL Pattern	Redirect To	Match Type	HTTP Status	Legacy URL Match Type
`/student`	`/student-life`	exactmatch	301	pathonly
`/company`	`https://digistorm.com/`	exactmatch	301	pathonly
`/student-style`	`/student-life`	exactmatch	301	pathonly
`/something`	`https://google.com/`	exactmatch	301	pathonly
`/random`	`https://figma.com/`	exactmatch	301	pathonly

💡 Ensure that all URLs are correctly formatted and there are no spaces or missing values.

Upload the CSV in CMS > Redirects > Import CSV File.

Mapping CSV filelds

CSV File Fields (left side): These are the column headers from your uploaded CSV file.
Retour Redirect Fields (right side): These are the predefined fields within the Redirect plugin.

Ensure all required fields are present
- You should see your CSV column headers in the left column.
- The right column contains the Retour Redirect Fields available for mapping.
Drag & Drop to match fields
- Click and drag each field from the left column to match its corresponding field on the right.
- Ensure each CSV field is assigned to the correct Retour field.
Click Import
Post-Import Check
1. Go to Redirects in the CMS and verify all imported redirects.
  ✅ Check a few URLs manually to ensure they are redirecting correctly.
  ✅ If errors appear, review the CSV file, fix the issues, and re-upload.

Best practices for redirects

Use 301 redirects for permanent page moves to retain SEO value.
Test a few redirects manually after import to confirm functionality.
Avoid conflicting or duplicate redirects in the CSV file.
Use a lower priority number for less important redirects and a higher priority for critical ones.