Redirects: Best Practices for Schools
1. Use safe characters
| 0-9 | a-z | A-Z |
| - | _ | $ |
| + | ! | . |
| ' | ( | * |
| / | ) |
2. Stay away from using unsafe characters
| Blank & empty spaces | " | < |
| > | # | % |
| { | } | | |
| \ | ^ | ~ |
| [ | ` | ] |
3. Be mindful of using reserved characters
| ; | ? | : |
| @ | = | & |
| /apps/ | /servlet/ | /m/ |
4. Make sure to add a "/" at the end of the redirect from URL
While creating a redirect please make sure to add a "/" at the end of the redirect from URL. Our system will automatically add it for you in case you miss it.
5. Keep your list of redirects up-to-date
Once you create a redirect, make sure that the pages they direct to still exist.
For example, let's say we create a redirect "www.rilohs.com/school-profile" to redirect to https://www.rilohs.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1547305&type=d&pREC_ID=1673414. If the page at the destination gets deleted, this would result in "Page Not Found" errors when users try and visit this friendly URL. We need to make sure that we either delete the redirect for "www.rilohs.org/school-profile" or change the destination to another page.
6. Friendly URLs
You can also set friendly URL for a specific page by going to Page Options. In Page Options, you can create short and personalized URLs that reflect the page's content. This helps visitors understand what your page is about, ensures that the URL is easy to remember, and makes the page search engine friendly. Your friendly URLs set through Page Options will not be saved in Redirects feature and vice versa.