URL changes when moving or renaming

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) – also known as a web address or path – is created by the WCMS when a web page is saved.  It is highly recommended that you let the WCMS automatically generate a URL by selecting Generate automatic URL alias under URL Alias.

Configuring URLs

When automatically generated, the URL will contain a segment for any parent(s) in the hierarchy above your web page, followed by the current web page segment, which is determined by the web page Title field. URL segments are the parts of a URL delimited by slashes. Each segment will truncate text if it exceeds 60 characters; the entire URL will be truncated if it exceeds 255 characters. When not automatically generated, the segment of the URL that would be determined by the page's title must instead be manually inputted. For further information on how to configure the URL, review step 9 of Create a Web page.

Changing URLs

If a web page is renamed (the title changed) or the parent is changed using the content editing page, the URL of the page will change immediately. If the page has any children, their URLs will change the next time they are edited and saved.

If a webpage is moved from its current parent using the menu "list links" page, the URL of the page will change the next time the page is edited and saved. If the page has any children, once this page has been edited and saved, the URL will change the next time it is edited and saved.

If a URL path has changed you should:

1. Immediately resave any items (parents and any children) affected by a menu change or a renaming.  

2. Clear all caches to update any internal links.

3. Create redirects for all URL paths that have changed.

Creating a redirect to account for a URL change

It is always best practice when URLs change to create a Redirect from the old URL to the new URL. If over a month has passed and you notice the redirect is not being utilized, it likely won’t negatively impact site visitors to delete it.