Changing a Page's URL

What’s a Canonical URL?

By default, the CMS turns a new Page’s Name into a URL, or web address. So, for instance, a Page Name of “New Board Members for 2012” would become a URL of “new-board-members-for-2012”. This is the webpage’s Canonical URL.

Actually, you can have multiple URLs that all point to the same page, but the Canoncial URL is the “real” one where the page resides, and it’s the one that all others will point to. So, for instance, you might have these URLs:

  • new-board-members-for-2012: the Canoncial URL

  • awesome-new-board-members: an additional URL

  • new-board: another additional URL

If a visitor went to http://www.yoursite.com/awesome-new-board-members, the CMS would see this as a valid URL, but also not as the Canonical URL. The visitor would be immediately redirected to the Canonical URL, at http://www.yoursite.com/new-board-members-for-2012.

TIP: For an explanation of Additional Page URL(s), what they are, and their relationship to the Canonical URL, see Creating short URLs for webpages.

Steps for changing a Page's URL

  1. Go to the Page whose URL you want to change.

  2. Hover over Edit and press Properties.

  3. Click on the Page Paths & Location tab.

  4. Change the Canonical URL.

  5. You can change the Canoncial URL, but your URL should follow these rules:

    • All lowercase letters or numbers

    • No special symbols except for the hyphen

    • No spaces; use the hyphen instead

    • Try to be short yet descriptive.

    NOTE: Changing the URL does NOT change the Page’s Name. To do that, change the Page’s Name.

    WARNING: Don’t change the Canonical URL unless you’re sure about what you’re doing! When in doubt, contact WebSanity.

  6. Press Save.

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