How to... Sunset a Page

'Sunsetting' is the process of retiring a page that is no longer necessary, most often due to outdated content or site changes.

The process includes an Archive step and a Page URL Redirect step. When correctly configured, an outdated page's URL will automatically lead a visitor to a replacement page instead of a '404 - Page Not Found' error screen.

Get Started

Before you start, copy the public URL of the page to sunset into a note or document. Having the URL handy for copy/paste makes the redirect step go quickly. 

You will also need a plan for where you are sending visitors to the page going forwards. This can be any other page URL in the George Mason University site collection.

Log in to your site, locate the page to sunset, and click the page's Edit Settings tab.
 

Archive the Page

Archiving hides a page from site visitors and search engine crawls. To prepare for page archiving:  

• Change the Page Title: Add ' Archive – ' in front of the text in the page Title field.  
   
• Update Options under the Page Settings menu. The Page Settings menu is located on the right-side of the screen.  
   
  • Menu Settings: Uncheck the option 'Provide a Menu Link'.  
     
  • URL Redirects: If any redirects are listed, delete them using the Operations dropdown.  
     
  • URL Alias: Uncheck the 'Generate automatic URL alias' option. Add 'archive-' to the start of the url, after the slash.  
      
     
•  Save changes by republishing the page. At the bottom of the Edit Settings screen, do the following:  
   
  • Verify that the page's current state is Published   
     
  • Confirm that the Change to selector is set to Published   
     
  • Click the blue Save button  
     
• Save the page in an Archived state. Change the edit status of the newly renamed page from Published to Archived. While still on the Edit Settings screen:  
   
  • Verify the page's current state is Published   
     
  • Select Archived from the Change to selector   
     
  • Click the blue Save button

Should you have missed a step and need to make changes to this page again, the page will become published once again upon hitting save. Please double check that you have completed all of these steps correctly and that the page is archived before continuing.  
 

Redirect the Page 

Once the page is archived, the next step is to redirect the page URL. A page URL can be redirected to any other page URL in the George Mason University site collection.  

Confirm Removal of Existing Redirects and Aliases

Most redirects and aliases can be removed by deleting them from the Page Settings panel. 

Occasionally, a page may have redirects that originate from another page’s URL. To avoid page URLs from looping back on each other, it's best to confirm that layered redirects and aliases have been deleted from the page.

Find and Remove Additional Redirects: 

• Using the Drupal Admin toolbar, navigate to the URL Redirects screen:  Configuration > Search and Metadata > URL Redirects.  
   
• Once on the URL Redirect screen, use the Filter feature to find any redirected URLs associated with the page.   
   
• Remove use the Operations Links option selector 'delete’ option from the Operations links selector.  
   
• Once on the Delete Confirmation screen, click the blue Delete button.  
   
• Repeat these steps until all redirects related to the URL have been removed.   
   

Find and Remove Additional Aliases:

• Using the Drupal Admin toolbar, navigate to the URL Aliases screen: Configuration > Search and Metadata > URL Aliases  
   
• Enter the relative portion of the original URL into the Filter aliases field and click the gray Filter button.  
   
• For each alias found, select Delete from the Operations selector.  
   
• Once on the Delete Confirmation screen, click the blue Delete button.  
   
• Repeat these steps until all aliases related to the URL have been removed.  
   

Set Up the New Page URL Redirect

After all old page URL redirects and aliases are removed, a new page URL should be set up to move site visitors that may have the old URL along to a replacement page, avoiding a '404 - Page Not Found' error screen.

• Using the Drupal Admin toolbar, navigate to the Add URL Redirect screen: Configuration > Search and Metadata > URL Redirects > Add URL Redirect.  
   
• On the Add URL Redirect screen, enter the relative portion of the original URL in the Path field, and enter the destination URL—the page where you want site visitors to be directed to—in the “to” field.
   

Confirm the Redirect Is In Place:

• Open a fresh, private/incognito browser window.   
   
• Paste the original URL into the browser address bar.   
   
• Verify that the redirect takes you to the new destination.
   

If the original page still appears, please ask for help using the SiteMasonry CMS support form.