Quick Links
Redirecting pages
Before you move or remove any Web page, you need to consider whether such actions will break links on other DU sites, or frustrate those who access your content with bookmarks. To avoid these problems, isn't hard. But it does require some follow-through.
Step 1: Identify links to the page.
Use the "Links" feature of the DU search engine to show all pages that link to a specific URL. Here's how:
- From the DU Home page, click "FindIt at DU" under the heading QuickLinks.
- On the FindIt page, click "Advanced Search" below the photo on the next page. Or click here and bookmark the long Advanced Search URL in your favorites.)
- Type your URL in the last form field on the page -- the one labled "Find pages that link to the page".
If there are no links to the page in question, you can probably remove or relocate the page without consequence. If there are links, continue through the steps here.
Step 2: Ask others to change their links.
Now that you know what links need to be updated, you'll need to contact the owner(s) of those pages beyond your control. If that's not apparent from the page, email the DU webmaster and ask for a contact. Be sure to include the specific URL in your request.
Step 3: Redirect the page.
There are two primary methods available for re-routing a visitor from one URL to another automatically -- a page redirect OR a server redirect.
A page redirect requires keeping the page in place, but substituting the content with a message saying where the page can now be found and optionally including code that makes the switch automatic after a few seconds.
A server redirect must be setup by someone with access to the server's configuration files. Typically, server redirects are only implemented for blocks of pages, like when a whole site moves from one address to another. To request a site redirect on the central Web server (agora.cair.du.edu), email the DU Webmaster.
To setup an automatic page redirect requires manually editing HTML code. Place the line below in the header of your HTML page. Be sure to replace the ??? with the address of the new page.
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5; URL=http://???">
REMEMBER: Include some words on the page to tell the visitor what's happening and why. Here's an example:
The page you requested has been moved.
You should be
redirected to the new page in 5 seconds.
If you are not redirected, click on this
link:
http://urlOfYourNewPage
