Redirects (and Proxies)

Adding proxies and redirects are common practices in web development to improve the user experience and optimize content delivery. Proxies and redirects serve different purposes and can be beneficial in various scenarios.

Redirects are mainly used when you have a page that may no longer exist but is still accessed by users through saved bookmarks or external links. Instead of returning a 404 error (not found), you can create a redirect to ensure a smooth transition for your users. By implementing redirects, your site can continue to serve the desired content for these specific routes, maintaining a positive user experience.

By using proxies and redirects, you can optimize content delivery, manage transitions, and provide a seamless user experience. In the following sections, we will explore how to add proxies and redirects using the Deco Admin, step by step.

The general process involves modifying the site's route map and associating a proxy or redirect, depending on the specific use case. At the end of the process, we will know how to create an example route /example-proxy that proxies requests to deco.cx and a route /example-redirect that redirects to the homepage of google.com. Note the difference: the first will keep you within the same domain, while the latter will take you outside the domain of your site.

Adding a redirect

1. Access the Redirects Page

Access the redirects page. This allows access to redirect creation.

2. Press the Create a redirect button

Configure the redirect according to your needs:

From: the source field, which represents the path that the user is trying to access and where they will be redirected. This field supports URLPattern.
To: the destination field. It can be an absolute address or a relative path.
Type: the definition of the redirect type (permanent or temporary)

Choose the type as temporary when the redirect may change over time. If the redirect should not change over time, you can select permanent (which may result in faster responses, as permanent redirects are cached by the user's browser).

3. Create the redirect

To make the redirect take effect, you need to publish the changes to your site.

Then, you can access https://your-site.deco.site/example-redirect and check if the redirect is working correctly.

Adding a Proxy [via ecommerce apps and website]

Proxies are used when you want to keep the user within the same site but provide different content. Proxies allow the sharing of resources under the same domain, providing a unified user experience. This can be especially useful when you need to serve content from different sources or platforms while maintaining a consistent user interface. Proxies are commonly used during platform migration processes, allowing you to gradually adopt Deco and decide whether a specific page should be proxied or served directly by Deco.

To create or edit a proxy instead of a redirect, you can follow these steps:

1. Access the Site App

Access the site app view and look for the Site App. To edit it, click on the app description.

2. Look for the Routes Map

Look for the routes map property in the app's editing form.

Edit the existing proxy to add new routes to be proxied (when applicable) or add a proxy obtained from an ecommerce app.

Publish the changes for the new proxy route to take effect.

Adding a redirects file.

Repeat step 1 from the previous section and look for the Route Maps.

Then:

Upload a file like redirect.csv to the project's base. It should have the indicated format below:
```
from,to,type
/example-redirect,/test,temporary
/google,https://www.google.com,permanent
```
Add the route of type redirectsFromCsv.ts.
Select redirect.csv as the redirects file.
Publish the changes.