Best way to do a large number of redirects...

[PHP_tyro]

 

Hi all.

 

I'm coming from an ASP environment and need to convert a website for hosting on Linux/Apache. I think I can handle most of it bit by bit, but there's one thing I need advice on.

 

I have a 404.asp file that handles a lot of redirections. My explorations so far tell me that the way to handle redirection with Linux/Apache is to include a line like the following in the .htaccess file:

 

redirect 302 /DICTIONARY http://www.dictionary.com

 

Simple enough, but what bothers me about that method is the number of redirects that have to be inserted in the file -- at the moment it would add over 400 lines to .htaccess, and more will need to be added over time.

 

Is the size of .htaccess an important consideration?

 

Is there a better way to do this? I like the idea of having a single plain text file containing all the redirections and calling it into a server-side page for processing.

 

Also, I don't understand the difference between 302 and 301 redirects. Temporary and permanent, yes, but what is the effective difference?

 

Many thanks,

Billy

 

[marcus]

400 lines is what? 1-3kb filesize? Should be no worry there.

 

http://www.seomatrix.com/articles/301-redirects.php

[gromer]

400 lines is what? 1-3kb filesize? Should be no worry there.

 

http://www.seomatrix.com/articles/301-redirects.php

 

I think he doesn't want to write them all?

[marcus]

Is there a better way to do this? I like the idea of having a single plain text file containing all the redirections and calling it into a server-side page for processing.

 

File isn't going to write itself, eh?

[PHP_tyro]

400 lines is what? 1-3kb filesize? Should be no worry there.

 

http://www.seomatrix.com/articles/301-redirects.php

 

Yes, I've seen a few articles that talk about 301/302 and page rank, but I don't care about maintaining page rank in this case, because I'm referring/redirecting to sites not owned by me and over which I have no control. For example they might be sites for which I am an affiliate, or sites I am referring my visitor to for more information, or for a download or whatever.

 

I guess in that case it probably doesn't matter whether I use 301 or 302?

 

I think he doesn't want to write them all?

 

No, that's not a problem, I don't need to write them all out. I copied the lot in one go from the IIS server and used Microsoft Word to edit them from the ASP format to the format I quoted above, then pasted them back into Notepad. They are all converted to "Linux speak" and ready to go.

 

The main reason I'd like to have them in a text file that could be automatically imported for server-side processing is for ongoing ease of maintenance. Just editing a text file and FTP'ing it to the server would be simpler and less dangerous than frequent messing with the .htaccess file.