Domain, access and SEO

Redirect old links to the right page

When a page on your help center moves or goes away, send its old address somewhere useful instead of a not-found page. A custom redirect takes readers, and search engines, from an old path on your help center to any URL you choose.

Who can do this: Owners and Admins · Plans: All plans

Add a redirect

  1. In the left menu, click the gear icon, then Settings.

  2. Under Custom redirects, click Add redirect.

  3. In From path, type the old path without a leading slash. For https://help.example.com/pricing-2024, type pricing-2024.

  4. In To URL, enter the full address of the page it should open, starting with https://. For example: https://help.example.com/content/plans-and-prices.

  5. Click Save redirect.

Screen recording. Under Custom redirects, click Add redirect. Enter the old path and the page it should open. Click Save redirect.
The old path goes in without a leading slash.

You'll see "Redirect added", and the new redirect appears in the list as old path → new URL.

Type the path without a leading slash. The From path field's example shows one (/api-docs), but a path saved with a leading slash never matches. Type api-docs, not /api-docs. Also leave out your domain, any slash at the end, and anything from a question mark on. If you've already saved a redirect with a leading slash, delete it and add it again without the slash.

How redirects work

  • They only run on not-found pages. A redirect kicks in when nothing else lives at the old path. If a published article or category still uses that address, readers see it instead.

  • They're permanent. HelpCenter.io answers with a 301 redirect, which tells search engines the page has moved for good.

  • They can point anywhere: another article in your help center, a page on your website, or another site.

  • One redirect per path. Adding a redirect for a path that already has one replaces its destination.

  • Copy the path exactly as it appears after your domain. On help centers with more than one language, every article and category path starts with a language code, your default language's included, for example en/content/pricing or de/content/preise. An address without the code, like content/pricing, is sent on to its language version first, so a redirect saved without the code never fires.

To delete a redirect, click the trash icon next to it. When your list grows long, a search box appears so you can find a redirect by its path or destination.

Redirects HelpCenter.io handles for you

  • Changed article URLs. When you change an article's URL, its old address keeps working and sends readers to the new one. See Set an article's search title, description and URL.

  • Deleted articles. In Trash, open a deleted article's menu and choose Create redirect to send its old address to a full URL of your choice. See Delete and restore articles.

  • Unpublished articles show a not-found page. To send their readers elsewhere, add a custom redirect for the article's path, like content/old-article. See Unpublish an article.

Custom redirects only work on your help center's current address. If you rename your subdomain, the old helpcenter.io address can't be redirected. See Change your help center's address.

Troubleshooting

The redirect doesn't fire. Check the path in the list. If it starts with a slash, delete it and add it again without one. Make sure a published page doesn't still live at that path, and that the path doesn't include your domain or a question mark.

"The to field must be a valid URL." Enter a full address, starting with https://.

You see "Fill in both fields first". Both From path and To URL need a value.

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