When you delete or move a post, the old URL breaks. Redirection lets Linkilo automatically (or manually) redirect visitors from the old URL to a new one, and finds the internal links that still point at redirected URLs so you can clean them up.
What this is
A redirect manager built into Linkilo. Handles 301 (permanent), 302 and 307 (temporary) redirects, wildcard and regex rules, a 404 monitor, and import/export. Redirects are stored in Linkilo's own database tables.
Turn on auto-redirect on delete
The killer feature here: when you delete a post, Linkilo writes a redirect automatically.
- Go to Linkilo → Manage → Settings → Redirection (under the Tools group).
One card: Auto-redirect deleted pages.
Create redirects automatically
Master toggle. When ON, every time a post or page is trashed, Linkilo writes a 301 redirect for its old URL.
Where to send visitors
Dropdown:
- Homepage — redirect to your site root
- Let it 404 — preserves the not-found behavior (no redirect created)
- Custom URL — redirect to a URL you specify
Custom URL
Full URL including https://. Only used when the dropdown above is set to Custom URL.
Send to the post category page instead
When ON, deleted posts go to their primary category page instead of the default target above. Overrides the dropdown for posts that have categories.
How long to keep each redirect
Dropdown: 1 year / 2 years / Permanent. Applies to auto-created redirects.
Click Save Settings.
View and manage redirects
Go to Linkilo → Fix → Redirection. The Redirection Manager page has four tabs: Redirects, Site Scanner, 404 Monitor and Tools.
The Redirects tab lists every rule with:
- From — the old URL path
- To — the destination
- Info — redirect type (301/302/307), active status and click count
- Actions — view details, update the internal links that still point at the old URL, extend expiry, delete
Use the search box to find a rule, tick several rows to apply a bulk action, and click the chains button to detect redirect chains (one redirect leading to another).
Add a manual redirect
- On the Redirects tab, find the Add Redirect card.
- Enter the Old URL Path (for example
/old-page/— the path, without your domain) and the New Destination (a full URL or a path on your site). - Pick the Type: Permanent (301), Temporary (302) or Temporary Strict (307).
- Optionally tick Keep query strings (so
?utm_source=...is passed along) or Use regex pattern. - Click Add.
The redirect is live immediately.
When to use 301 vs 302
- 301 permanent — for real moves. Google updates its index to use the new URL.
- 302 temporary — for short-term moves. Google keeps indexing the old URL.
Use 301 for almost everything. 302 only when the move really is temporary (e.g., redirecting to a maintenance page for an hour). 307 is a stricter temporary redirect; most sites never need it.
Wildcard and regex rules
For pattern-based redirects you have two options:
- Wildcard — use
*in the Old URL Path, for example/old-blog/*, to match everything under a folder. - Regex — tick Use regex pattern and enter a regular expression in the Old URL Path field. Only use this if you're comfortable writing regular expressions; a bad pattern can match more than you intended.
Use the Test Redirect tool on the Tools tab to check a URL against your rules before relying on them.
Clean up links that point at redirects
A redirect protects the visitor, but your own content shouldn't keep linking to the old URL. The Site Scanner tab scans all posts, pages and custom post types for links that point to redirected URLs. Click the scan button, review the list, then use Fix Now on a row or tick several and click Fix Selected to point them straight at the final URL. Every change is recorded under Undo History for 24 hours.
Links that point at redirects, and redirect chains, also appear in the Linkilo → Fix → Fix Link Health queue, where same-site fixes can be applied in batches with rollback snapshots. Redirect rule rows there are review-only.
404 Monitor
The 404 Monitor tab lists the URLs visitors and bots requested that returned Not Found, with hits, last hit and referrer. Click the fix action on a row to create a redirect for that path, or use Auto-fix 404s: Preview suggestions shows the destination Linkilo would pick for each 404, Create all redirects files them, and Undo last batch reverses the run. Clear All empties the 404 list.
Tools
- Import from other redirect plugins — click Detect available sources, then Preview or Import the rules Linkilo found.
- Find duplicate redirects — Scan for duplicates, then Resolve all (keep newest).
- Flatten redirect chains — Preview chains, then Flatten all so each source points directly at its final destination.
- Export Redirects — download all rules as CSV.
- Bulk Import Redirects — paste CSV or upload a file with the columns
old_url,new_url,type,pass_query. A sample template is available to download. Preview before importing. - Test Redirect — enter a URL and see which rule (if any) catches it.
Common Questions
Will redirects affect SEO?
Done right, redirects PROTECT your SEO. When a URL changes, Google sees the 301 and transfers ranking to the new URL. Without a redirect, the old URL becomes a 404 and you lose ranking.
Will old redirects accumulate forever?
The How long to keep each redirect setting cleans them up. After the time period, auto-created redirects are removed. You can extend a single rule from its row actions (1, 2 or 5 years).
Manual redirects you added yourself stay until you delete them.
What happens if I delete a post and forgot to set up Auto-redirect?
The old URL returns a 404. It will show up in the 404 Monitor once someone requests it; create the redirect from there, or add it manually on the Redirects tab.
Can I import redirects from another plugin?
Yes. Open the Tools tab and click Detect available sources under Import from other redirect plugins. If your old plugin isn't detected, export its rules to CSV and use Bulk Import Redirects.
Will Linkilo conflict with the standalone Redirection plugin?
Don't run both. Import your rules into Linkilo, confirm they work with Test Redirect, then deactivate the other plugin. Two redirect engines handling the same URLs leads to unpredictable behavior.
Can I redirect from external domains?
No. Linkilo only handles URLs on YOUR site. External-to-external redirects aren't in scope.
How many redirects can I have?
There is no hard limit on rules. The 404 list is capped so it can't grow without bound, and redirect click history is cleaned up in 90-day batches.
Last reviewed for Linkilo 3.0.0 (October 2026).