/Zendesk-Help-Center-Redirection

Workaround JS script that provides redirect capability to Zendesk Guide implementations.

Primary LanguageJavaScriptMIT LicenseMIT

Zendesk Guide Redirection

Summary

Currently there is no way to redirect Zendesk Guide articles using a 301 redirect.

While this a 301 is the right way to forward a URL, it is currently not an option for Zendesk Guide users. In certain instances, however, redirection is still necessary for education, content availability, and a positive end user experience.

The JS script contained in this repository provides a workaround to redirect end users from archived Zendesk Guide articles to either a new article or a new URL altogether.

Usage Instructions

There are several steps that must be taken in order to redirect.

  1. If redirecting from a Zendesk Guide article to another Zendesk Guide article, collect both of those article IDs. If redirecting from a Zendesk Guide article to an external URL, collect the old Zendesk Guide ID and the external URL.

    • The Article ID can be gathered from the URL of the article

  2. Edit the JavaScript Snippet.

    • Replace "YOURSUBDOMAIN" with your Zendesk Guide subdomain. For example, "help.scottsupport.com" or . "support.scottcompany.com". This should ultimately match the URL of the Zendesk Guide help center.

    • If redirecting from a Guide article to another Guide article, place the old article id and the new article id in the hash table as specified in the code comment.

    • If redirecting from a Guide article to an external URL, place the old article id in the hash table, and the newExternalURL variable as specified in the code comment.

    • Place this snippet in <script> tags in the <head>...</head> section of the Help Center code. This is likely in document_head.hbs.

  3. Adding additional redirects requires adding any old/new article ID's or external URLs to the hash table, and pushing the updated code live.

  4. MAKE SURE TO ARCHIVE OLD ARTICLES. If you only "unpublish", then the redirect will send to an authentication page and not to the new article.

Video Instructions

Video link here