Redirects
Because the VIP Platform uses NGINX (not Apache), there are no .htaccess
files. Redirects for URLs must be handled with alternative methods. The most suitable solution(s) for a site’s redirects should be chosen based on the amount and types of redirects needed.
- The Safe Redirect Manager plugin is a useful option for a small number of redirects (fewer than 250), and for redirects that will change frequently. Safe Redirect Manager also allows the use of wildcard or regex in redirects.
- To create a large number of redirects (greater than 300) for inactive legacy URLs that now return a
404
HTTP response status code, use the WPCOM Legacy Redirector plugin. - Some redirects can be written directly into a site’s theme code.
- Redirects cannot be configured for any URLs that include
/wp-content/uploads/*
. The VIP File System, which resides upstream from application code, serves all files at that path. A reverse proxy is a possible solution for making a static asset available at a specific URL. - Redirects and custom rewrite rules cannot be configured for any assets with file extensions
.css
,.jpg
,.jpeg
,.gif
,.png
,.swf
,.ico
, regardless of the file’s URL. A reverse proxy is a possible solution for making static assets with these file extensions available at a specific URL. - To use more than one domain per site, set up
vip-config.php
to redirect secondary domains to a desired primary domain. This is particularly useful for mapping domains on a multisite, where redirects between non-www
domains andwww
variants do not occur automatically.
Redirects with a 302
HTTP status are cached by VIP’s page cache for 1 minute, and redirects with a 301
HTTP status are cached for 30 minutes.
Last updated: May 19, 2023