July 12, 2007: Issue 196
A redirect is a short URL that lets users access a Web page buried deep in a site without typing a long string of characters.
For instance, if you want to steer magazine readers to a window trellis project at www.diyideas.com/outdoorideas/Accents/windowtrellis_1.html, you might want to create a
redirect to that site—perhaps www.diyideas.com/trellis.
To create a redirect, work with the site’s principal editor to submit a request to the Web producer. Make sure the Web team can activate the redirect before any reference to it hits the newsstand. Redirects can’t be duplicated, so it’s a good idea to keep a list of the ones you’ve used.
Just as with a home page URL, you can choose whether to treat a reference to your Web site in a redirect as a name (DIYideas.com/trellis) or as an address (www.diyideas.com/trellis). Either way, you must include the .com extension.
Remember that URLs are case-sensitive after a slash. Incorrect capitalization will result in an error message when a user tries to access the site.
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