KB User's Guide - Documents Tab - Redirecting a Document
Redirecting to another KB document
This feature helps users who access an archived document through a saved bookmark, external website link, or other direct URL find the most current information available in the KnowledgeBase. You can use the redirect page to explain why the original document is no longer available or direct users to a newer document that has replaced it.
Note: The redirect feature requires the destination document to be shared with the same site(s) as the archived document. Before creating the redirect, verify that the site access settings for the new document match those of the original document. This ensures users can successfully access the redirected content.
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In the KB Admin Tools, edit the document that you plan to set to the status of Archive.
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Expand the Related Documents section of the side panel. In the See also field, enter the ID number of the document you would like to redirect to.
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Note: The redirect will only work if there is a single document ID in the field, so make sure you delete any other ID numbers that may already be present.
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Your redirect will only work until the document Expiration date passes, so expand the Activation and Expiration section and click on the Set to never expire link to prevent the document from expiring. This will set the expiration date of the obsolete document to
3000-01-01 00:00:00.
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In the status dropdown menu, select the option to Archive your document (or choose Request to archive... if you do not have publish rights).
Check the Redirect on the Live Site
Navigate to the live site where your document was previously published, (attempt to) open the document that has been archived by entering the specific Document ID into the search field. The KB application will check to see if this archived document has a document ID number in the "See also" field. Next, the KB application verifies that the redirected document is published and unexpired. Your link should appear to "jump" to the document you entered in the See Also field. The word "redirect" will appear in the URL.
In the image below, the obsolete document redirected to a document with the ID of XXXXXX. In this example, your specific Document ID number will appear in the place of the XXXXXX.
Redirecting to a different website URL
In some cases, information you had previously documented in the KB may be moved to another website entirely.
Example: Your department's WordPress site.
In this situation, you have the ability to redirect a single KB document to a specified non-KB URL.
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In the KB Admin Tools, edit the document you want to redirect.
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The document will need to remain in Published status for the redirect to work, so we recommend editing the title of the document to note this for your KB authors.
Example: Append the title with something like, "[Redirecting to dept website]". Also, reference the redirect and its purpose in the document Body to avoid any confusion. -
Expand the Advanced section of the side panel. In the Custom / redirect URL field, enter the website URL that you want to redirect to.
Please note that the URL must:
- Begin with https://
- Be fewer than 256 characters in length
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Your redirect will only work until the document Expiration date passes, so expand the Activation and Expiration section and set this as desired. In most cases, we recommend clicking the Set to never expire link to prevent the document from expiring. Doing so will set the expiration date of the obsolete document to
3000-01-01 00:00:00. -
When you are ready, use the status dropdown menu to Publish the document (or choose Request to publish... if you do not have publish rights).
Check the Redirect on the Live Site
On the live site where your KB document is published, (attempt to) open the document that you set the redirect for. The KB application should immediately redirect you to the specified URL, provided the document is published and unexpired. If it does not work the first time, please clear your browser cache and cookies and try again.