[intro]Before you begin this Guide, you need to ensure that you have pointed a domain at your EKM online shop. When you have completed this Guide, you will have installed the URL Redirects feature and will understand how to configure it on your EKM online shop.[/intro]

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The URL Redirects Feature is used to redirect visitors from one URL to another. For example, if you have had your content hosted on another ecommerce platform previously, you can install the URL Redirects feature and configure it so visitors who click on the URLs for your old Category and Product pages are automatically redirected to the new versions on your EKM online shop.

The feature is also useful if you choose to list Webpages in your Menu, as you can simply create a Category with the same name as the Webpage, and then redirect it to the Webpage itself.

Installing the Feature

1. From the Dashboard, click Features on the left-hand menu:

2. Click the Feature Library tab:

3. Scroll down to the Shop Management features and click the View More button on the right-hand side:

4. Click the URL Redirects icon:

5. Click the green Install Feature button:

6. Click the Launch button:

Using URL Redirects

1. When you have added some redirects, the URL Redirects feature will look like this:

2. You can add a redirect manually by clicking the green button in the top right-hand corner:

3. Alternatively, you can upload a .csv file (spreadsheet) of redirects by clicking the white Import Redirects button in the top right-hand corner:

4. Looking further down the page, your redirects are listed below a search bar. You can click the button on the far right-hand side of the search bar to choose whether you want to search through ‘All’, the ‘From’ or the ‘To’ redirects:

5. On the far right-hand side, you can also click the white Sort button, and from the drop-down, select the order you would like your redirects to be listed:

6. On the left-hand side of each redirect listed is a tick box. You can tick single or multiple redirects to delete them in bulk, by clicking the button that will appear across the bottom of the page:

Redirecting within your EKM online shop

1. To redirect pages within your EKM online shop, such as making a Webpage appear listed in the Menu on your homepage, you would first create the Webpage as normal:

2. Then you need to create a Category with the same name as the Webpage you want to redirect to:

3. When the cache on your shop has cleared, open a new browser tab and visit your EKM online shop via the domain name, the way a customer would see it. The first thing you need to do is click on the Category that has the same name as your Webpage, and copy the last part of the URL. You don’t need your domain name, just the slash and whatever is after it:

4. Return to your original browser tab and open the URL Redirects feature. Click Add Redirect:

5. Copy the back end of the Category Page URL into the Redirect From field:

6. Then click back onto your other browser tab displaying the front end of your EKM online shop. This time, you need to visit the Webpage you want to redirect to. Once on the page, you need to copy the back part of the URL as you did before - the slash after your domain name and everything after that:

7. Return to your other browser tab and paste the back end of the Webpage URL into the Redirect To field within the URL Redirects feature. Then you need to click the Add button:

8. Your completed redirect will then look like this:

Wait for the cache to clear on your EKM online shop, and then test out the link on your Menu which now - instead of taking you to a Category Page - will redirect you to your Webpage.

Making custom URLs

Custom URLs are ideal for sharing on print media as they are easily remembered and typed into a browser’s address bar. If you want to make a custom URL, you can do this by pasting in the custom URL in the Redirect From field, before adding the back end of the URL for the page you want to direct customers to into the Redirect To field and clicking the green Add Redirect button:

Redirecting from old URLs

Being able to redirect customers from your old shop structured URLs to the new pages within your EKM online shop is essential if you have moved your shop contents from another e-commerce platform to EKM, as this prevents any disruption for your customers.

[warning]You need to ensure that when redirecting from old URLs to new ones, all of the URLs are on the same domain name and that the domain name is the primary one for your EKM online shop.[/warning]

In the Redirect From field, you need to add in the back end of your former URL and again, disregard the domain name, you simply need to include the slash and anything after that. In the Redirect To field, you need to add the back end of the URL for the relevant Product, Category or Webpage on your EKM online shop, before clicking the green Add button:

Uploading Redirects using a Spreadsheet

If you have a lot of URL Redirects to create, it may be a lot easier for you to use a spreadsheet. To upload redirects using a spreadsheet, you need to create a blank CSV file and add your redirects in there. 

1. To begin, you need to open a blank spreadsheet, naming the first column ‘From’ and the second column ‘To’, like this:

2. You then need to paste your old URLs into the first column, with their new equivalents in the second column, like this:

3. Save your spreadsheet as a .csv file type and click the Import Redirects button within the URL Redirects feature on your EKM online shop:

4. Using the File Explorer window, locate and select the spreadsheet on your own computer, and then click the Open button:

5. You’ll then see your uploaded redirects listed below:

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[contact] If you need our help with your EKM online shop, contact your Ecommerce Expert or the Customer Support Team, who will be able to point you in the right direction. We're open from 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-5.30pm weekends. If you'd like to suggest a feature or an upgrade on any of the EKM platforms, please let us know on the EKM Suggestions Board. If you have a non-account-specific question to ask the EKM Team, join us in the EKM Community. [/contact]