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Adam Kalsey

This is the blog of Adam Kalsey. Unusual depth and complexity. Rich, full body with a hint of nutty earthiness.

Content Management

URIs are forever

Freshness Warning
This blog post is over 21 years old. It's possible that the information you read below isn't current and the links no longer work.

23 Jun 2003

I changed the format of my URLs well over a year ago and have been using mod_rewrite to redirect the old formats to the new. The other day, in a fit of organization, I started to comment and refactor my rewrite rules. Among other things, I figured that the format translation had outlived its usefulness. It had been more than a year; surely the old URLs weren’t being requested anymore. Apparently I was wrong.

After removing the translation rules, I started getting about three dozen 404 errors each day for the old URLs. I’ve now put the translation routines back. (Sub-lesson: use source control for your .htaccess files, not just your pages)

The moral of the story is that URLs never die. Once you put a document online, links will point to that address forever.

(Another related note. Could the CVS site use a worse title for their home page?)

Comments

Stephen DesRoches
June 24, 2003 9:08 AM

I have the same problem with files that have been gone for well over a year (maybe even 2). Still today I get refers mainly from google looking for those same pages/images daily. It's not going to give up.

This discussion has been closed.

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