URI Settings
The URI Management Settings tab is important for your store because it is how the Miva admin creates and manages the page addresses for your website.
To manage URLs, click Settings in the lower left corner, then click the URI Management subheading. Then click the URIs tab.
On This Page
Understanding Link Source
There are three options in the Link Source dropdown in the Runtime section.
- Long URLs
- Legacy SEO Short Link
- URI Management
Caution
For users on Miva Version 9 and later, URI Management is the only link source that should be used, but it’s good to have an understanding of the legacy sources as well.
Long URLs : Long URLs are the original style of URLs that the Miva admin used in Version 7 and earlier. URLs in this style look like this: http://mystore.mivamerchantdev.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=hawaiian_shirt&Store_Code=sample_store
Legacy SEO Short Link : These links were introduced in Miva Version 8. URLs in this style look like this: http://mystore.mivamerchantdev.com/product/hawaiian_shirt.html
- In Miva Version 8, this URL style was called “Short Links” and were configured in Domain Settings>SEO Settings Tab.
- In Miva Version 9, this URL style is called “Legacy SEO Short Link” and is still supported. See URI Management>Legacy SEO Settings.
URI Management : Starting with Version 9, URI Management established a new type of Miva URL. With this style, the URL is almost completely customizable. You can create a URL of almost anything you desire, and you then “map” that URL to a location in your store. By default, a product page URL would look like this: http://mystore.mivamerchantdev.com/hawaiian-shirt.html
URL Prefix : This field usually contains your store domain and defines the protocol. It is rarely necessary to change this field.
Secure URL Prefix : If your domain is using a secure certificate, enter the https domain in this field.
Invalid URL Destination : When the admin encounters an invalid URL being used, it will reroute the user to a screen that is specified here. The default screen (page) is NTFD (Page Not Found) but it can be any page an owner specifies, including a custom page.
- Store : For businesses with multiple stores, an invalid URL can be directed to a specific store page by entering the store code in this field, and then specifying the screen in the next field.
- Screen : Enter the screen (page) code here if a page besides NTFD is desired.
Note
If there is only one store then the store code is not needed and it will reroute to the screen specified in the next field. If there are multiple stores and this field is blank, the browser will navigate to the store selection page.
Page URIs
Page URIs are created for any store page other than product and category pages. For example, ABUS (About Us) and SFNT (Storefront) would have URLs created by the settings in this section.
One reason the URI Management style URL is so customizable with URI Management, is because the style of URL is generated using Miva admin template code.
Page URI Template : This contains the default code for pages in your online store which are not category or product pages, like ABUS (About Us). This code can be modified in this field, which is then applied globally to your store.
Note
Individual URLs can also be edited in the URIs tab of the URI Management section of the admin.
Generate/Delete URIs for New Pages : Both the generate and delete check boxes are only used with the URI Management link source. These check boxes control whether the URLs in the URIs tab of the URI Management page.
Update Page URIs : If a change was made that changed the “construction” of a URI Management style URL, such as changing the URI template code, these settings allow you to control whether you want to update all of the existing URIs to reflect those changes.
Caution
Changing your URIs can affect your SEO rankings.
Never : Existing site URIs would not change, but your new URIs would reflect your changes.
Add a Non-canonical URI :
- Normal : The existing URIs are not changed and are still canonical. A duplicate set of URIs is created and these are marked as non-canonical.
- 30X Redirect : The existing URIs are not changed and are still canonical. New URIs will be created that redirect to the canonical URIs.
Replace Existing Canonical URI :
- Leave Old Canonical : Creates a new URI which becomes the new canonical URI. The existing canonical URI is marked as normal (non-canonical).
- Delete Old Canonical : The existing URI is deleted. New URIs are created and are marked as canonical.
- 30X Redirect : New URIs are created and marked as canonical. The existing URI is changed to a 30X redirect to the new URI.
Category URIs
The settings in this section affect URLs that are created for category pages. The settings behave as the settings in the Page URIs section as noted above.
Product URIs
The settings in this section affect URLs that are created for product pages. The settings behave as the settings in the Page URIs section as noted above.
