YT Custom Redirect Manager

A simple and powerful WordPress plugin for managing 301 redirects with CSV import/export functionality. Perfect for site migrations, URL restructuring, and SEO management.

Features

Simple Admin UI: Easy-to-use interface for managing redirects
301 Redirects: Proper permanent redirects for SEO
CSV Import: Bulk import redirects from CSV files
CSV Export: Export all redirects for backup or migration
Fast Execution: Uses template_redirect hook for early processing
URL Normalization: Handles both relative and absolute URLs
Duplicate Detection: Prevents duplicate source URLs
Search Functionality: Quick search through your redirects
Click to Copy: Click any URL to copy it to clipboard
Responsive Design: Mobile-friendly admin interface
WPCS Compliant: Follows WordPress coding standards

Installation

Upload the yt-custom-redirect-manager folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
Go to Tools → Redirects to manage your redirects
Add redirects manually or import from CSV

Usage

Adding Redirects Manually

Navigate to Tools → Redirects
Fill in the "Add New Redirect" form:
- Source URL: The old URL to redirect from (e.g., /old-page)
- Destination URL: The new URL to redirect to (e.g., /new-page)
Click "Add Redirect"

URL Formats Supported

Relative URLs (recommended):

Source: /old-page
Destination: /new-page

Absolute URLs:

Source: https://yoursite.com/old-page
Destination: https://yoursite.com/new-page

External URLs:

Source: /old-page
Destination: https://external-site.com/page

Mixed formats:

Source: /old-page
Destination: https://yoursite.com/new-page

CSV Import

Prepare your CSV file with two columns: source and destination

Example CSV format:

source,destination
/old-page-1,/new-page-1
/old-page-2,/new-page-2
/old-blog,/blog

Go to Tools → Redirects
Click "Choose File" under Import/Export section
Select your CSV file
Click "Import CSV"

CSV Export

Go to Tools → Redirects
Click "Export CSV" button
Save the downloaded file (redirects-YYYY-MM-DD.csv)
Use this file for backup or migration to another site

How It Works

Redirect Processing

User visits a URL (e.g., /old-page)
Plugin checks if URL matches any source URLs
If match found, redirects to destination URL (301 permanent)
If no match, WordPress continues normal page loading

Execution Flow

template_redirect hook (priority 1)
  ↓
Get current URL
  ↓
Normalize URL format
  ↓
Loop through redirects
  ↓
Match found? → wp_safe_redirect() with 301
  ↓
No match? → Continue to WordPress

URL Normalization

The plugin normalizes URLs for consistent matching:

Input variations:

old-page → /old-page
/old-page/ → /old-page
https://site.com/old-page → /old-page

Normalized output:

Leading slash added if missing
Trailing slashes removed (except root /)
Full URLs converted to paths for matching

Admin Interface

Dashboard Sections

Statistics
- Total number of active redirects
Import/Export
- CSV file upload for bulk import
- One-click export of all redirects
Add New Redirect
- Source URL field with validation
- Destination URL field with validation
- Auto-formatting of URLs
Current Redirects
- Table showing all active redirects
- Source and destination URLs
- 301 redirect type badge
- Delete button for each redirect
- Search functionality
- Click to copy URLs

File Structure

yt-custom-redirect-manager/
├── class-yt-custom-redirect-manager.php    # Main plugin file (~600 lines)
├── assets/
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── yt-crm-admin.css                # Admin UI styles
│   └── js/
│       └── yt-crm-admin.js                 # Admin interactions
└── README.md                                # This file

Prefix Convention

All functions, classes, and elements use the yt_crm prefix:

Class: YT_Custom_Redirect_Manager
Constants: YT_CUSTOM_REDIRECT_MANAGER_*
Functions: yt_crm_*
CSS Classes: .yt-crm-*
JavaScript Object: ytCrmAdmin
Options: yt_custom_redirect_manager_redirects
Text Domain: yt-custom-redirect-manager

Database Storage

Redirects are stored as a single option:

Option name: yt_custom_redirect_manager_redirects
Format: Array of redirect objects

Structure:

array(
    array(
        'source' => '/old-page',
        'destination' => '/new-page'
    ),
    // ... more redirects
)

Security Features

Capability Checks: All admin actions require manage_options
Nonce Verification: CSRF protection on all forms
Input Sanitization: All inputs sanitized before storage
Output Escaping: All output properly escaped
File Upload Validation: CSV files validated before processing
Safe Redirects: Uses wp_safe_redirect() for security

Performance

Early Execution: Runs on template_redirect (priority 1)
Fast Matching: Simple array loop with normalized URLs
No Database Queries: Redirects loaded once from options
Cached in Object: Stored in class property for efficiency
Minimal Overhead: Only processes on front-end, not admin

CSV Format

Import Format

source,destination
/old-url-1,/new-url-1
/old-url-2,/new-url-2
/about-old,/about

Export Format

The plugin exports in the same format:

Header row: source,destination
Each redirect as a row
Properly escaped CSV format
UTF-8 encoding

CSV Import Rules

Header row: First row can be header (will be skipped if detected)
Two columns: Must have source and destination
Empty rows: Skipped automatically
Duplicates: Source URLs that already exist are skipped
Validation: Empty source or destination are skipped

Use Cases

Site Migration

Moving from old domain to new domain:

source,destination
/,https://newdomain.com/
/about,https://newdomain.com/about
/contact,https://newdomain.com/contact

URL Restructuring

Changing URL structure:

source,destination
/blog/old-post,/articles/old-post
/products/item-1,/shop/item-1
/services/consulting,/consulting

SEO Consolidation

Combining duplicate content:

source,destination
/old-category/post,/new-category/post
/archive/2020/post,/blog/post
/tag/old-tag,/category/new-category

Handling Deleted Content

Redirecting removed pages:

source,destination
/discontinued-product,/products
/old-service,/services
/expired-offer,/

Troubleshooting

Redirects not working?

Check plugin activation: Ensure plugin is activated
Clear cache: Clear any caching plugins or CDN cache
Check URL format: Verify source URL matches exactly
Test in incognito: Browser may cache redirects
Check for conflicts: Disable other redirect plugins

CSV import failing?

Check file format: Must be valid CSV with comma delimiter
Check encoding: Should be UTF-8
Verify structure: Two columns (source, destination)
Check for errors: Look at WordPress admin notices
File size: Very large files may timeout (split into smaller files)

Redirect loops?

If you create circular redirects:

/page-a → /page-b
/page-b → /page-a

This will cause infinite redirects. The plugin doesn't prevent this, so be careful!

Source and destination same?

The JavaScript validation prevents this, but if you import via CSV, the plugin will create the redirect. This is essentially a no-op.

Best Practices

Test redirects: Always test after adding redirects
Use relative URLs: Easier to migrate between environments
Export regularly: Keep backups of your redirect rules
Document changes: Keep notes on why redirects were created
Clean up old redirects: Remove redirects for pages that no longer need them
Use 301 for permanent: Plugin uses 301 (permanent) - appropriate for most cases
Avoid redirect chains: Redirect directly to final destination

Limitations

Current Version

301 only: Only permanent redirects (not 302 temporary)
Exact match: No wildcard or regex matching
No conditions: Can't redirect based on user role, device, etc.
No redirect history: Doesn't track redirect hits or statistics
Single destination: Each source has one destination

Not Included

Analytics: No tracking of redirect usage
Bulk edit: No bulk delete or edit functionality
Redirect chains: No detection of redirect chains
URL parameters: Query strings not preserved
Complex patterns: No regex or wildcard support

Uninstallation

When the plugin is deleted via WordPress admin:

All redirects are removed from database
Plugin option is deleted
WordPress cache is flushed
No traces left behind

Requirements

WordPress 5.8 or higher
PHP 7.4 or higher
manage_options capability for admin access

Complexity

Main PHP File: ~600 lines (with comments)
CSS File: ~165 lines
JS File: ~215 lines
Total: ~980 lines across all files

FAQ

Can I redirect to external sites?

Yes! Just use the full URL in the destination field:

Source: /old-page
Destination: https://external-site.com/page

Does it preserve query strings?

No, query strings are not automatically preserved. You need to include them in your redirect rules.

Can I redirect the homepage?

Yes, use / as the source URL:

Source: /
Destination: /new-home

How many redirects can I have?

There's no hard limit, but performance may degrade with thousands of redirects. For large-scale redirects, consider server-level solutions.

Does it work with custom post types?

Yes! The plugin intercepts all URLs before WordPress routing, so it works with posts, pages, custom post types, and even non-existent URLs.

Can I import from other redirect plugins?

If you can export to CSV format from another plugin, you can import here. Just ensure the CSV has source and destination columns.

What about regex or wildcards?

Not supported in this lite version. Each redirect is an exact match.

Changelog

1.0.0

Initial release
301 redirect functionality
Admin UI for managing redirects
CSV import functionality
CSV export functionality
URL normalization
Duplicate detection
Search functionality
Click to copy URLs
Mobile-responsive design

License

GPL v2 or later

Author

Krasen Slavov

Website: https://krasenslavov.com
GitHub: https://github.com/krasenslavov

Support

For issues and feature requests, please visit the GitHub repository.

Future Enhancements

Potential features for future versions:

Redirect statistics and analytics
302 temporary redirects
Wildcard matching
Regex pattern support
Bulk delete functionality
Redirect chains detection
Import from other plugins
Conditional redirects (user role, device, etc.)
Query string preservation
Redirect testing tool

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