How to Easily Redirect a Website in WordPress
If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either a WordPress developer or someone very close to one. If not, maybe it’s time to consider becoming one.
WordPress is the #2 most popular content management system (CMS) in the world, so if you’re developing a site, you’ll almost certainly be doing it in WordPress. In fact, WordPress is so popular that it has its own unique naming format: wptheming, which you’ll learn about in this guide.
The Different Ways To Redirect A Site
As mentioned above, WordPress is extremely popular and easy to use, which makes it a wonderful platform for people who are new to web design or development. If you’re just getting started, it’s quite likely that you’ll use WordPress to build your site. You’ll find tons of great themes and plugins that can greatly enhance your experience while building your site.
If you’ve been using WordPress for a while and are familiar with its many functions and tools, you might consider one of the following methods for easily redirecting a website within WordPress.
Use The Alias Method
One of the simplest and most convenient ways to redirect a website in WordPress is to use the alias method. The alias method allows you to give a custom name to a URL, thus redirecting the user to a designated location. You can use aliases in your WordPress site using the built-in Aliases API within the dashboard. For example, if you want to display a blog article by a specific author, you could create a URL like this: http://example.com/author/jefferson
When a user clicks on this link, instead of displaying the content of the article, they’ll be automatically redirected to http://example.com/author/jefferson, where they’ll see the content of the article.
This is a great way to create a friendly user experience. You don’t have to memorize any complicated redirects, and if you ever want to change the URL format or point the alias to a different place, it’s a one-click process.
Create A Template
Another fantastic way to easily redirect a website in WordPress is to create a template. A template is just like an easily-accessible, customizable page that you can use to quickly and dynamically create web pages. You can use the WordPress layout framework for this, which makes it extremely easy to build a basic, clean website layout using HTML or PHP.
As with the alias method, you can use templates within WordPress to create simple, one-click redirects. For example, you could create a template that automatically redirects a user to a store or to a blog post by a specific author.
If you want to create a more advanced template you could, using the WordPress Custom Fields API, pull in any data you might need from your database. You can use the data to populate an HTML or PHP template with content. You can find out more about creating a template in WordPress from the WordPress template guide.
Use A Plugin
WordPress plugins are incredible tools that can greatly enhance your experience as a WordPress user. One of the best things about plugins is their ability to streamline and simplify everyday tasks. If you have a specific need that a plugin doesn’t satisfy, you can easily create a custom version that does.
There are several fantastic plugins available that allow you to easily redirect a site. For example, Simple Redirection is a popular plugin that allows you to create redirects for WordPress sites. While this plugin is incredibly easy to use, it doesn’t offer a ton of customization, limiting its ability to fulfill advanced needs. If you want to create a more customized experience, you can also use plugins like Advanced Redirection, which can handle more complex redirect configurations.
Build A Functionally-Complete Website From Scratch
If you’re looking to build a custom, functionally-complete website, you can take one of the following approaches.
Use The Alias Method
As mentioned above, one of the simplest and most convenient ways to redirect a website in WordPress is to use the alias method. If you have a WordPress install and you’re comfortable using it, you can use the alias method to build the exact website you need. Using this method, you don’t need to memorize any complicated redirects, and you can create your own unique URL formats or structures that fit your needs. You can give the URLs you create a custom name, making them easier to remember and more accessible.
For example, if you want to create a website where users can research and compare various home insurance policies, you could use the alias method to build a simple, one-click redirect to a dedicated insurance comparison page. You could then add more comparison pages or switch to a different insurance provider with a simple click of a button.
This method also makes it easy to redirect your whole site or a specific group of pages to a different location. Say you want to redirect all of your blog posts to a specific page, you could use the alias method to create a bunch of redirects like this: http://example.com/blog/post/1
When a user clicks on one of these links, they’ll be redirected to http://example.com/blog/post/1, where they’ll see the content of the post.
This is a quick and easy way to launch a new blog or website, and it makes creating and maintaining links quite simple. You don’t have to worry about any old links breaking, because WordPress ensures that all of your redirects work seamlessly.
Build From A Ground Up
If you have a specific need that none of the above methods address, you can take the time to build a redirect manually. This is a tedious process, but it gives you the ultimate control over your site. You can create anything you want, and because there are no limits, you can build the exact functional website you need.
To build a manually-redirected website, you’ll need to use a tool like hmr (Home Made Miracle Redirect) to track your pages’ URLs and make it easier to find them later. You can use the tool to see a list of all the pages on your site, along with their stats like how many times they’ve been viewed and how much traffic they’ve accumulated. This way, you’ll know exactly what you’re building ahead of time.
If you ever find that you need a bit more flexibility than what the above methods offer, maybe it’s time to consider a different solution. For instance, maybe you need to be able to redirect different pages to different locations based on what platform they’re accessed from (mobile, tablet, or computer). Or perhaps you need to be able to redirect certain pages to specific locations at certain times of the day. A plugin like WP Timed Redirect can help with these sorts of things. It’s quite flexible, and it can handle complex redirect configurations.
As with any tool or technology, there are also times when building a website from scratch isn’t the best solution. Sometimes you need someone else to handle the technicalities so you can focus on what’s important to you: creating a beautiful and functional website.
No matter what your needs are, we hope we were able to help you find a solution with our guide on how to easily redirect a website in WordPress. If you have additional questions, feel free to contact us via the comment section below or via our social media platforms (@thebettersoftware on Twitter and Facebook).