On a recent pitch we were asked how URLs were handled in Community manager when a page was moved. In particular, what happens if a site visitor attempts to access an old URL.

I penned a response and thought it may be useful to post it on the Elcom Blog...

There are 4 types of URL handling in Community Manager which can be enabled by the administrator

1. Parameter
2. Short path friendly URL
3. Full path friendly URL
4. Vanity URL

Parameter
Parameter is the underlying format for URL’s. Each folder and article is assigned a unique ID and this is used in the URL to access that article.
e.g Folder ID 10 and Article ID 5 would be represented as
http://www.afc.gov.au/default.aspx?folderid=10&articleid=5
This format is considered unfriendly because it is somewhat meaningless to users and search engines. When using this format the article and folder can be moved and renamed and links to it will not break because the parameter based name never changes.

Short path friendly URL
Using this method the friendly URL converts the parameters into something more meaningful but only uses one level.
e.g it takes the title of articleid=5 i.e “Careers” and inserts this into the URL
http://www.afc.gov.au/careers/default.aspx
If this article is renamed, then links to it would break
If this article is moved, then links to it would not break

Full path friendly URL
Using this method the full canonical path of the folder structure is represented in the URL in a friendly way
e.g “careers” resides in the “about us” folder therefore the URL would be
http://www.afc.gov.au/aboutus/careers/default.aspx
If this article is renamed, then links to it would break
If this article is moved, then links to it would break
HOWEVER: Community Manager has a Full Path URL service which can be kicked off by an admin at any time and runs through all content and updates links with the new URL. Additionally the URL service can converts short path URLs to full path if a customer decides to move from short URL to full URL.

Vanity URL
The vanity URL allows the user to create a very short URL, usually for marketing purposes or usability reasons.
e.g http://www.afc.gov.au/aboutus/careers/default.aspx can be changed to http://www.afc.gov.au/careers
If this article is renamed, then links to it would break
If this article is moved, then links to it would break

Elcom recommend that organisations use full path friendly URL when implementing Community Manager

If a visitor attempts to access an old URL which no longer exists they would be presented with an article not found page. This page can be customised in order to give the user some further options e.g search, back to home etc...