When reviewing Google Analytics this morning I noticed a 404 page view for: http://simeonpilgrim.com/404/blog/2007/07/17/curse-of-the-azure-bonds/
with the refer on the end of the URL, going to the referring web site their is a link to this none existing page but the content was for this page: http://simeonpilgrim.com/blog/2005/08/04/curse-of-the-azure-bonds/
After a bit of reading I found mod_rewrite (Linux hosting) was the tool to fix the problem.
I downloaded the /blog/.htaccess file and used the above mentioned manual to decode the meaning and start hacking me a new file.
Much wasted time latter, I worked out that WordPad was messing with the Unix new-line markers, and changing to Visual Studio was met with success (or lack of server failure).
So what I needed to add was the following line to my Wordpress default .htaccess
RewriteRule ^2007/07/17/curse-of-the-azure-bonds/$ 2005/08/04/curse-of-the-azure-bonds/ [R=permanent,L]
giving me this file
# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /blog/
RewriteRule ^2007/07/17/curse-of-the-azure-bonds/$ 2005/08/04/curse-of-the-azure-bonds/ [R=permanent,L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /blog/index.php [L]
</IfModule> # END WordPress
And magically the link now redirects to the correct page.
You can find these pages in Google Analytics by:
- selecting Content
- selecting Top Content or Content by Title
- entering /404/ in the Find URL search box
Happy Fixing…
