Requesting and Understanding Redirect Rules in uConnect

Submit a request to Support with the current URL, the destination URL (if applicable), whether the change should be permanent or temporary, and any context about why the redirect is needed.

⚠️ Important: Redirects affect live visitor traffic. A small mistake can send users to the wrong page, create a redirect loop, or send search engines the wrong signal. That's why it's worth a quick read before submitting your request!

What Is a Redirect?

A redirect tells a browser that one URL should lead somewhere else, or that a page should no longer be available. This is useful when:

Content has moved
A page is temporarily unavailable
An outdated section of your site needs to be retired

Depending on the status code used, a redirect can:

Send visitors to a new location
Tell search engines the move is permanent or temporary
Return a "not found" or "gone" response instead of loading content

The most common question to ask yourself: should this URL point somewhere new, or should it stop working on purpose?

How to Request a Redirect from Support

When you contact Support, please include as much of the following as possible:

Detail	Description
Redirect from	The old path visitors are using
Redirect to	The new destination (if this is a redirect, not a removal)
Permanent or temporary	Whether this change is final
Reason for the change	e.g., page moved, section retired, temporary issue, outdated file
Desired timing	If the redirect needs to go live by a certain event or launch date
Examples to test	Sample URLs you'd like confirmed after setup

💡 Best practice: If you're not completely sure a redirect should be permanent, ask for a temporary redirect first. It's usually safer to start with a temporary rule and update it later.

How Redirects Are Configured Behind the Scenes

Support creates redirect rules in your site's redirect manager. The options available depend on the HTTP status code selected.

Status Group	What Support Enters	Typical Use
3XX	A source URL and a destination URL	Send visitors from one URL to another
4XX	A source URL only	Return an error response instead of redirecting

For redirect rules, the source path is usually entered as a relative path, not a full web address. This means Support configures the path portion of the URL rather than tying the rule to one specific mapped domain.

A note on mapped domains: If your site has multiple mapped domains, a relative redirect path applies based on whichever mapped domain the visitor used. If traffic needs to be redirected from a domain that is not mapped to your site, that redirect must be configured outside the platform by your domain owner or IT team.

Which Status Codes Matter Most

There are many HTTP status codes, but most customer requests fall into one of these four:

Code	Name	What It Means	When to Ask for It
301	Moved Permanently	The old URL has a new long-term home	The move is final and should stay that way
302	Found / Temporary Redirect	The old URL points somewhere else for now	The original page may return later
404	Not Found	The requested page should not be available	You don't want visitors sent to a replacement page
410	Gone	The page was intentionally removed permanently	Content has been retired with no replacement

The backend can also support 303, 307, and 403 in some cases, but these are less common for customer-facing requests. For most situations, 301, 302, 404, and 410 are the ones to know.

301 vs. 302: Choosing Permanent or Temporary

This is the most important decision in most redirect requests.

Ask yourself: If someone bookmarked the new destination and came back a year from now, should they still end up there?

If yes → request a 301
If not sure → request a 302
If the original page is only unavailable for a short time → request a 302

⚠️ Be careful with 301 redirects. Browsers and search engines may treat them as long-term truth. Undoing a 301 later is possible, but effects can linger since browsers cache them and search engines may take time to reprocess the old URL.

Why Permanent Redirects Need Extra Care

A 301 does more than move traffic — it tells search engines and browsers that the old URL has permanently moved:

Browsers may cache it aggressively — some visitors may keep being redirected even after a change is reversed.
Search engines may transfer ranking signals — the old URL can lose visibility while the new one becomes the primary destination.
Fixes can take time to settle — reversing a permanent redirect isn't always immediate from an SEO perspective.

This is why Support may ask clarifying questions before setting up a 301 redirect.

Wildcard Redirects for Groups of Pages

Sometimes one rule can cover many URLs. A wildcard can match a pattern instead of a single page.

Example 1 — Preserving the path:

From: audience/*
To: channel/*

This preserves the portion after the slash, so a visitor going to /audience/alumni would be sent to /channel/alumni.

Example 2 — Consolidating to one destination:

From: our-team/*
To: /staff

In this case, every page under /our-team/ goes to a single destination.

💡 Advanced behavior: Pattern-based redirects are powerful, but they can also affect more URLs than expected. If you need a wildcard redirect, include examples of both URLs that should redirect and URLs that should not.

What Can Go Wrong

The most common issue is a redirect loop. This happens when one rule sends visitors to a URL that's already affected by another redirect — sometimes sending them back again:

A redirects to B
B redirects back to A
The browser refuses to load the page

Conflicts can also happen when an older rule overlaps with a new wildcard rule. This is why Support reviews existing redirects before publishing a new one.

What Visitors Will Experience

Type	Visitor Experience
3XX redirect	Sent to the new location automatically
404 page	Sees a "not found" experience instead of content
410 page	Sees that the page is no longer available

In most redirect cases, the transition is seamless, and visitors won't see a special message before arriving at the new destination.

Tips for Making a Strong Support Request

✅ Share the exact old and new URLs whenever possible

✅ Say whether the change is permanent or temporary

✅ Explain whether search visibility matters for this page

✅ Mention if this is a single page or a whole section

✅ Call out any related redirects already in place

✅ If multiple domains are involved, specify which domains are mapped to the site

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a redirect point to an external website (not on our uConnect site)? Yes. A redirect destination can point to a full external URL when appropriate — just include the full destination in your request.
Is it ever better to show an error page instead of redirecting? Yes. In some cases, a 404 or 410 response is more appropriate than sending visitors elsewhere, especially when there's no clear replacement page.
Can Support redirect traffic from a domain that isn't mapped to our site? No. If the source domain isn't mapped to your site, the redirect can't be handled in the platform's redirect manager. It must be configured by whoever controls that domain — such as your IT team or hosting provider.

Summary

If you need a redirect, our Support team can create it for you. The key is to provide the source URL, the destination (if needed), and whether the change is permanent or temporary. Understanding the difference between 301, 302, 404, and 410 helps you request the right behavior and avoid issues with search engines, caching, and redirect loops.