URLs
How are urls generated? How can urls be changed? How can redirects be created?
When is a product or category URL genereated?
A product or category url is generated on-the-fly as soon as the relevant item becomes available in the store (usually when given a channel). For products this usually happens when they are added to a channel (or customer filter). For categories, this usually happens when any product is available within them (or the Show empty categories setting is active in Umbraco).
How is a product or category url structured?
A product or category url and consist of:
domain
language identifier
default category url name
product url name
unique postfix
variant parameter
An example product url might look like this:
///
How is a product or category url name determined?
The product or category url name is generated by transforming the translated name in PIM into a valid url name, falling back on the system name if no translation exist. Eg. a category named Writing utensils will get the url name:
writing-utensils
Any special characters (not valid for urls) are transformed into dashes, so a Product named Pen w. graphite / H4 will get the url name:
pen-w--graphite---h4
Must be unique
A specific product or category url name (eg. the "pen-rollerball" or "writing-utensils" part) must be unique. If an identical name already exist (eg. if another product or category has an identical name), the entity ID will be post-fixed the url after a underscore. It might look like this, if a product names already exist:
our-webstore.com/en/writing-utensils/pen-rollerball_1254306789
This is true for both category and product url names.
Will the url name for a product or category automatically change once created?
No, the url name for a product or category will not automatically change once generated. However, if needed, it can be regenerated by Chainbox. This is done by deleting the url name, and generating it again, based on its current name (translated or system).
The usual motivations for regenerating urls are:
Misleading / older names
Create better url names for SEO ranking
Create more clean and user-friendly urls
Steps to have urls regenerated ny Chainbox
Chainbox can help with any steps below where you might need it. Steps 3-4 can only be done with Chainbox' assistance.
Reach out to [email protected] to get assistance.
Overall steps:
Identiy URLs we wish to change.
Assign a unique url-name for each product or category.
Regenerate url names
Create redirects for the old -> new urls (see article about 301 redirects)
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