404 handling after folder restructure

[pdenchfield]

We publish several HTML5 help outputs to an Azure app server at help.nintex.com.
Almost every HTML5 output shows a new folder structure because the related flare project Content folder was revamped. Example: help.nintex.com/en-us/nwc is one output.

Questions:
1. How can we provide a friendly/graceful 404 experience for people using old URLs with now-bad folder structures?
2. How can we make Google stop indexing the old structures so they no longer show up in Google searches?

We have access to the robots.txt file via FTP but have to go through another team for any updates on the server itself.

Thanks!

[RamonS]

Not sure on the 404 other than modifying it for those sites to provide a link to the main help. You could add in a redirect, but rather sooner than later you want to let people be aware that they bookmarked old stuff.

Google indexing as any other indexer comes by the sites at random. Eventually, the new content gets indexed. The robots.txt file only tells the bots if it is OK to come in and sniff around or if you want them to go away (and they can decide if they do or not, the robots file is not part of a standard and not a mandate to follow, although most do). You can ask Google to stop by at their earliest convenience, see here: https://support.google.com/webmasters/a ... 5812?hl=en

[pdenchfield]

Not sure on the 404 other than modifying it for those sites to provide a link to the main help.

The help.nintex.com URL is equivalent to a single site. Is that right?
On this site are 16 help outputs. Is it possible to set up individual 404 handling by output, so that a bad link within en-us/nwc goes to the index for en-us/nwc?

[RamonS]

That is a question for the web server admin. I do know that a server can be instructed to show custom content when encountering an error such as a 404. If each help system cannot get its own static 404 page then look into writing javascript. The server knows what was requested and from that information it should be possible to determine what the link on the 404 page needs to be.
Have I ever done this? Nope!

[pdenchfield]

Thanks, all! Madcap support confirmed that Flare doesn't have flare handling as a project setting. I'm the second customer to request this feature.

[NorthEast]

Thanks, all! Madcap support confirmed that Flare doesn't have flare handling as a project setting. I'm the second customer to request this feature.

What you're asking about is handled server-side though, so is it really in the scope of what Flare does?

I got the team that manage our web servers to set up 404s for our sites.

2. How can we make Google stop indexing the old structures so they no longer show up in Google searches?

There's good information on Google giving advice on how to move sites, and set up 404s.

https://support.google.com/webmasters/topic/6001951

[pdenchfield]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the link. It's always a pleasure to see your informative responses.

If you host multiple help outputs on a single site, how are 404s handled on an output basis? (instead of a single 404 for the whole site)

Best,
Pamela