---
title: "How to Redirect WordPress Posts After Changing Permalinks"
description: "In this article: Install Redirection Setup Redirects Some WordPress updates require more proactive work than others. Security plugins require detailed customization per your environment and usually..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/wordpress/wordpress-redirects-permalinks/
date: 2019-09-20
modified: 2026-03-11
author: "InMotion Hosting Contributor"
categories: ["WordPress Hosting", "WordPress Tutorials"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# How to Redirect WordPress Posts After Changing Permalinks

**In this article:**

- [Install Redirection](#install)
- [Setup](#setup)
- [Redirects](#redirects)

Some WordPress updates require more proactive work than others. [Security plugins](/support/edu/wordpress/plugins/recommended-security-plugins/) require detailed customization per your environment and usually provide activity logs for reactive changes. [Accessibility improvements](/support/website/6-ways-to-improve-website-accessibility/) require user testing to ensure it improves user experience.

WordPress [search engine optimization (SEO)](/support/website/seo/seo-getting-started-guide/) requires time and research. A plugin like [All in One SEO](/support/edu/wordpress/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/) or [Yoast SEO](/support/edu/wordpress/plugins/yoast-seo/) helps. But simply updating your WordPress permalinks from the longer **day and name** or **month and name** formats to a more concise option makes your URL’s easier to read and improves SEO immediately. Doing this *correctly* requires handling potential [404 – File Not Found](/support/website/error-numbers/404-error-page-not-found/) errors as older links become invalid if not redirected somehow.

An .htaccess 301 redirect can suffice for new websites with only a few pages. However, seasoned WordPress sites would benefit from a plugin to manage these changes automatically with logs to help fix related issues.

Below we cover how to use the **Redirection plugin** to redirect WordPress posts after changing permalinks.

Get better performance without additional plugins with our Nginx-powered [WordPress Hosting](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/wordpress-hosting).

## Install Redirection

There are multiple ways to install the [Redirection plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/redirection/). You can [install the plugin manually](/support/website/how-to-upload-files-server/) or via [WP-CLI](/support/edu/wordpress/wp-cli/install-a-plugin-using-wp-cli/) (plugin slug `redirection`). Below we’ll use the WordPress dashboard.

1. [Log in to your WordPress dashboard](/support/edu/wordpress/logging-into-wordpress-dashboard/).
2. [Install the Redirection plugin](/support/edu/wordpress/plugins/install-wordpress-plugins/).
3. **Activate** the plugin.

## Setup

1. Hover over **Tools** and click **Redirection**.
2. Read the Getting Started page and click **Start Setup**.
3. (Optional) Select **Monitor permalink changes in WordPress posts and pages.** You can change these settings at any time.
4. Click **Continue Setup**.
5. If the REST API check is Good, click **Finish Setup**.
6. Click **Finished**.

![](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/redirection-setup-start.png)*Start Setup*

![](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/redirection-setup-basics.png)*Configure Basic Setup*

![](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/redirection-setup-finished.png)*Check REST API*

![WordPress Permalinks section](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/wordpress-permalinks.png)*Configure permalinks to your preference*

## Create Redirects

1. Do **NOT** make any changes, yet. Decide your [preferred permalinks](/support/edu/wordpress/setting-up-permalinks-on-your-wordpress-site/) but do** NOT Save Changes**. You’re looking at the permalinks to see how your WordPress site is creating a URL for its links.
2. Once you have determined your permalink settings, you need to find the correct Regular Expression (regex) input for your redirect settings. Below are some common changes:**Day and Name** to **Post name**:Source: `/^/\d{4}/\d{2}/\d{2}/(.*)`Target: `https://domain.com/$1/`Example: https://domain.com/**2019/09/20/**aboutBecomes https://domain.com/aboutDomain to `/blog` except URLs with `/blog`:Source: `/^/(?!blog)(.*)`Target: `/blog/$1`Example: https://domain.com/aboutBecomes https://domain.com/**blog/**aboutOld domain to new domain:Source: `/(.*)`Target: https://newsite.com/$1/Example: https://domain.comBecomes https://domain.net
3. (Optional) Read more about Regex options on the developer’s website – [Redirection.me](https://redirection.me/support/redirect-regular-expressions/#common).
4. [Configure your permalinks](/support/edu/wordpress/setting-up-permalinks-on-your-wordpress-site/) and **Save Changes**.
5. On the left, hover over **Tools** and click **Redirection**.
6. Under *Add new redirection*, add your **Source URL** regex and select **Regex** from the *URL options / Regex* drop-down on the right.
7. Type your **Target URL** and click **Add Redirect**.
8. Test your redirect.

Improve your SEO by checking the Redirection logs.