301 and 302 redirects in Enhance

What you'll achieve

• send a whole domain to another one, from the website's “Redirects” page;
• send old pages to the new ones, with rules in .htaccess;
• check that the redirect works and doesn't create a loop.

Before you start

• For https:// and for the version with or without www, don't use this page: use “Force https” and the rule from Redirect to HTTPS and www.
• Make a list: the old address and the new address, for each page.
• Log in to Enhance at https://server.nbt-host.com. We use the English names, exactly as they appear on screen.

The steps

A. A whole domain to another one (from Enhance)

Example: you also have domeniul-tau.com as an alias of the website, and you want all its visitors to end up on domeniul-tau.ro.

1. In Enhance, go to “Websites” » the website. Open the “Redirects” tab (on a narrower screen, it's in the “Advanced” menu).
2. Click “Add redirect”.
3. For the type, leave 301 (permanent). Choose 302 only for something temporary, such as a campaign page.
4. For the domain, choose only the alias (domeniul-tau.com), not “All domains” and not the main domain.
5. Leave the field after / empty, so it applies to the whole domain.
6. For the destination, after https://, enter domeniul-tau.ro, with no / at the end.
7. Click “Add”. The requested page is kept: anyone who opens domeniul-tau.com/contact lands on domeniul-tau.ro/contact.

If Enhance shows “Redirect loop”, the redirect would send the domain to itself: click “Cancel” and choose only the alias.

B. An old page to a new one (in .htaccess)

For page addresses, the safest option is one rule per page in .htaccess:

1. On the website's page, go to the “Files” tab » public_html, right-click .htaccess » “Edit”. If the file doesn't exist, create it with “New” » “File”.
2. Add the lines at the top of the file, one for each page: the old address without the domain, then the full new address.

Redirect 301 /despre-noi.html https://domeniul-tau.ro/despre
Redirect 301 /servicii/vechi https://domeniul-tau.ro/servicii

3. Save, then open the old address in a private window: you should land on the new one.

Good to know:

• write the old address starting with / and without the domain; write the new address in full, with https://;
• Redirect also sends everything “under” the old address: /servicii/vechi/ceva lands on /servicii/ceva;
• in WordPress, put the lines above the # BEGIN WordPress block, not inside it, so WordPress doesn't delete them. You can also use a redirect plugin, but don't add the same redirects in both places.

C. Check

Open each old address in a private window or in a redirect checker (for example httpstatus.io). You should see a single hop, with a 301 code, to the new address, which responds with 200.

If something doesn't work

• The browser says “too many redirects”. Two rules conflict. See “Too many redirects”: how to stop the loop.
• The redirect doesn't apply. Your browser remembered the old version: try a private window. With .htaccess, check the spelling and that the lines come before any other rules that match the same address.
• The website shows a 500 error after you edited .htaccess. A typo stops the whole file from working. Delete the lines you added and add them again, carefully (see Error 500 Internal Server Error and the blank page).
• A new domain doesn't redirect. The domain must first be added in Enhance (as an alias) and point to our server (see Subdomains and additional domains in Enhance).