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KB User's Guide - Documents Tab - Redirect a document via the "See also" field

This document describes how the "See also" field can be used to create a redirect from an inactive document to point users to another active document.

Redirecting to another KB document

This feature is useful in cases where you want to make sure that users who try to access an archived document (through saved bookmarks, links from other websites, etc) are able to find more current information that is also documented in the KB. For example, perhaps you want to explain why the old documentation is no longer available, or you have a new document that has effectively replaced it.

Please note that this redirect feature currently requires that the document you are redirecting to is shared with the same site(s) where the old document was published. Make sure you check the site access on the old document and confirm it matches the site access on the newer document before proceeding.

  1. In the KB Admin Tools, edit the document that you are planning to archive.

  2. Expand the Related Documents section of the side panel. In the See also field, enter the ID number of the document you would like to redirect to. 

    In this example, the ID number 12345 is entered in the See Also field under the Related Documents section

    • Note: The redirect will only work if there is a single document ID in the field, so make sure you delete any other ID numbers that may already be present.

  3. Your redirect will only work until the document Expiration date passes, so expand the Activation and Expiration section and set this as desired. In most cases, we recommend clicking the Set to never expire link to prevent the document from expiring. Doing so will set the expiration date of the obsolete document to 3000-01-01 00:00:00.

  4. In the status dropdown menu, select the option to Archive your document (or choose Request to archive... if you do not have publish rights).

    The status dropdrown menu is opened by selecting the More Status Actions button next to the Save Draft button.

Check the Redirect on the Live Site

On the Live Site, (attempt to) open the document that has been deactivated by entering the Document ID into the search field. The system will check to see if this inactive document has a document ID number in the "See also" field. Next, the KB System verifies that the redirected document is Active, to prevent potential infinite loops. Your link may appear to "jump" to a different but related document. The word "redirect" will appear in the URL.

In the image below, the obsolete document redirected to a document with the ID of XXXXXX. Of course, your updated Document ID number will appear in the place of the XXXXXX.

URL bar showing a KB document link with the document number and redirect circled in red

Redirecting to a different website URL

In some cases, information you had previously documented in the KB may be moved to another website entirely, like your department's WordPress site. In this situation, you have the ability to redirect a single KB document to a specified non-KB URL.

  1. In the KB Admin Tools, edit the document that you are planning to archive.

Keywords:
obsolete trash trashed Inactive deactivated redirect route rout routed routing info outdated url address forward prevent broken link guide refer location retired 
Doc ID:
52086
Owned by:
Leah S. in KB User's Guide
Created:
2015-06-08
Updated:
2024-10-14
Sites:
KB User's Guide