The Settings Tab of the extension allows you to configure how the redirection system works and how certain records or traffic should be handled. Below is a detailed explanation of each field and option available in this tab.

1. Enable Smart Auto Redirect if Detected?

• Description: This option enables the extension to automatically redirect broken links based on a smart detection algorithm. When enabled, the system will analyze broken links and attempt to redirect them to the most appropriate URL without the need for manual intervention.
• Use Case: This is useful for ensuring users are directed to relevant pages even when they land on broken links or old URLs that have been moved.
• Recommendation: Enable this to automatically manage redirects and improve user experience without manually setting redirects for every broken link.

2. Enable Redirect Based on Selective Keywords?

• Description: When enabled, this option allows you to set up keyword-based redirects. If a broken link contains any specified keyword, the system will redirect the user to a specific URL that matches the keyword.
• Use Case: Ideal for redirecting pages like /support or /help to relevant pages (e.g., /get-support) if the broken link contains those terms.
• Recommendation: Turn this on if you want keyword-based redirects that can easily manage a wide range of similar broken links.

3. Enable URL Replacer?

• Description: This option lets you enable the URL Replacer feature, which replaces a specific part of the URL with another string. This redirection works at the OpenCart level (not server level like .htaccess).
• Use Case: Useful for managing URL structure changes (e.g., replacing “/windows” with “/laptop-notebook/windows”) and performing bulk URL modifications.
• Recommendation: Enable this feature if you frequently update product/category URLs or perform URL restructuring.

4. Default Redirect URL

• Description: If no match is found using the Smart Auto Redirect or Keyword-based redirect options, the system will redirect the user to this default URL. If left empty, the user will see a 404 page if no other redirects are available.
• Use Case: Set this to a common page like the homepage or a custom “not found” page to avoid showing 404 errors.
• Recommendation: It’s best to set this to avoid 404 pages and maintain smooth navigation across your website.

5. Default Redirect Type

• Description: Select the default redirect type for your URLs. The options include:
• 301 (Permanent): This indicates that the URL has permanently moved, which is the most SEO-friendly option as it passes link equity (ranking power) to the new URL.
• 302 (Temporary): Indicates that the URL has been temporarily moved.
• 307 (Temporary): A slightly stricter temporary redirect, ensuring the same method is used for the redirected request (e.g., POST to POST).
• Recommendation: Use 301 for most cases, as it is SEO-friendly and ensures proper redirection of search engine rankings.

6. Auto Delete Records

• Description: This option automatically deletes broken link records added by the system that are older than a specified number of days.
• Fields:
  • Days: Specify the number of days after which records will be deleted.
  • Hit Count: Set a value to delete records that have received fewer than this many hits.
• Use Case: Helps you maintain a clean database by removing old or insignificant broken link records.
• Recommendation: Set this to a reasonable number (e.g., 30 days) and a low hit count (e.g., 5) to prevent the accumulation of unnecessary data.

7. Exclude/Ignore URL Query Parameters (Comma Separated)

• Description: Specify which URL query parameters should be ignored when analyzing broken links. These are parts of the URL that often do not affect the core of the page (e.g., ?sort=asc or ?order=desc).
• Example: sort,order
• Use Case: Ignoring parameters like sort or order prevents the system from treating them as unique URLs, thus reducing false positives in your broken link reports.
• Recommendation: Add common query parameters that don’t affect the core URL.

8. Exclude/Ignore URL (URL Keywords) (Comma Separated)

• Description: This field allows you to exclude certain URL patterns from the broken links tracking system. URLs containing these keywords will not be logged or processed for redirection.
• Example: robots.txt,module/,favicon.ico
• Use Case: Useful for ignoring URLs that are not actual web pages, such as robots.txt or OpenCart module paths.
• Recommendation: Add URLs like robots.txt, favicon.ico, or /module/ if they are commonly requested but not meant to be tracked.

9. Exclude/Ignore IP Address (Comma Separated)

• Description: Enter IP addresses to exclude from broken link tracking. Requests from these IPs will not be logged or processed.
• Use Case: This can be helpful if you want to exclude internal traffic (e.g., your own IP address or testing servers) from affecting the data.
• Recommendation: Add your internal or testing IP addresses to prevent skewed results.

10. Exclude/Ignore User Agents (Comma Separated)

• Description: Specify user agents (typically bots) that should be ignored by the broken links tracker. This prevents traffic from certain bots from being logged as broken links.
• Example: Googlebot,Bingbot
• Use Case: Helps ensure that web crawlers don’t flood your broken links reports, keeping the data cleaner and more relevant.
• Recommendation: Add major bots like Googlebot and Bingbot to ensure they are not unnecessarily tracked.

Final Recommendations:

• Regularly review the settings to ensure they align with your current SEO strategy and traffic patterns.
• Ensure proper configurations for the Default Redirect URL and Redirect Type to optimize for both user experience and SEO.
• Periodically clean up old or irrelevant records using the Auto Delete Records feature for database optimization.