Automatic Redirects

Automatic redirects ensure that URLs within a Heretto Portal environment are stable when content is updated and reorganized.

Automatic redirects are supported only in manual deployments and are enabled by default for each manual deployment. As a result, when content is restructured, for example, files are moved or renamed, URLs in Heretto Portal remain stable.

Automatic redirects detect portal pages that have moved or been renamed by comparing the current version of your site with the previous one after each deployment. They maintain a running list of all URL changes from the past 18 months, automatically carrying forward existing redirects and adding new ones with each update. This ensures visitors can access your content through old links even after multiple site reorganizations.

Automatic redirects are especially helpful in these situations:

When you update topic titles. For example, when you change the title of a task topic.
When you update the names of parent elements in your sitemap. For example, when you change the name of a sitesection (navigational tile), topichead, or the title of a topic under which there is content.
When you move a single file or a group of files in the sitemap. For example, when you move a map from one sitesection to another.

Note:

You can also set up redirects when you change your domain name or when you are moving from a current documentation portal to Heretto Portal by setting up manual redirects. For more information, see Manual Redirects.

It is possible to disable automatic redirects and delete any redirects previously saved for a deployment. This option is especially useful to teams who are implementing Heretto Portal or need to perform major content restructuring and don't want redirects to be recorded. For more information, see Disable Automatic Redirects for a Deployment.

Important Considerations

Automatic redirects for a page are maintained for 18 months since its publication to portal.
Automatic redirects are supported only in manual deployments within one Heretto Portal environment; they are not supported in active sync deployments.
Automatic redirects use UUIDs assigned to topics and the IDs of elements like sitesection, topichead, and version to redirect users. UUIDs are assigned to topics automatically. IDs need to be set manually.

Automatic redirects require the id attribute to be set manually for the sitesection, topichead, and version elements in sitemaps. If the id attribute is missing, automatic redirects will not work.

A sitesection element with the id attribute set to product-a looks like this:

<sitesection id="product-a">
        <topicmeta>
            <navtitle>Product Name</navtitle>
            <shortdesc>(...)</shortdesc>
            <data href="config/icons/icon.png" name="thumbnail"/>
        </topicmeta>
        <mapref format="ditamap" href="map.ditamap"/>
    </sitesection>

Automatic redirects do not support a situation when the UUID of a topic changes.
Automatic redirects do not support URLs to pages with API specifications. For example, if you replace a JSON file with API specifications with a new one, portal will not automatically redirect to new pages, even if the file has the same name. For more information about publishing API specifications, see Heretto API Docs.
Automatic redirects do not support URLs to pages with API specifications if an API method moves from one JSON file to another. For example, when a JSON file is edited in Heretto CCMS to remove a method, then that method is added to a different JSON file in the CCMS.
Automatic redirects do not support redirects between different portal environments or when the domain name changes. For example, when moving from a current documentation portal to Heretto Portal. However, Manual Redirects support both of those scenarios.
If set up, manual redirects override automatic redirects.
Peer links are not part of this feature. For more information, see URL (Peer Links).

Disable Automatic Redirects for a Deployment

Users assigned the Administrator role in Heretto CCMS can disable automatic redirects for deployments. Disabling automatic redirects also removes any previously recorded URL history for a deployment.

We recommend disabling automatic redirects in all deployments when you are in the implementation phase and make frequent, significant changes in content. We recommend re-enabling automatic redirects in all manual deployments before going live with a portal implementation.

Ensure you are assigned the role of Administrator in Heretto CCMS.

In the top-left corner, click the Main Menu and go to Deployments.
From the deployments list, click the one you want to edit and, in the top-right corner, click Edit Deployment.
In the Portal Content Automatic Redirects section, select the Do not maintain portal content URL stability and delete all previous history check box.
Figure 1. Portal Content Automatic Redirects option in the Deployments interface

Any URL history that has been recorded for the deployment has been deleted and automatic redirects are now disabled. If a page URL changes and any users had the old URL saved, they won't be redirected to the new URL and will see a 404 error instead.

Under maintenance

Heretto Help

Automatic Redirects

Important Considerations

Disable Automatic Redirects for a Deployment

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