Permalink Manager mimics the core WordPress permalink system and does not automatically modify custom permalinks by default. In most circumstances, it is preferable not to change URLs too frequently.
In general, the reasons for changing your URLs should be carefully considered. To begin with, it may take some time for Google to rediscover your site's pages through the new URLs once you modify them. All of your new URLs will need to be re-crawled by Google to assess their authority and quality. This might cause variations in search result ranks, so be aware.
There are several more reasons why you should aim to keep your URL structure intact. A change, for example, might disable user-saved bookmarks or backlinks on other websites.
Setting up a fallback redirect is one of the most crucial things to remember when changing URLs. In summary, redirects enable you to maintain the majority of your "SEO juice" by informing search engines and visitors that you are permanently shifting one page from one URL to another.
Global & post specific settings
You may change your permalink saving settings on a global level directly from the plugin settings panel. All possible options are shown in the screenshot below and explained further in the next section of this article.
For individual permalinks, you can choose a different configuration and overwrite the global settings. If you wish to use post-specified settings, you may do so for each post or term independently using the URI Editor.
Available update modes
Don't auto-update permalinks (default mode)
In most cases, it is neither recommended nor necessary to automatically update the custom permalinks. As a result, Permalink Manager does not automatically update custom permalinks. This method gives you complete control and allows you to choose which and when you want to change your URL addresses.
Auto-update permalinks
Regardless of above, many users often question how to automatically update a custom URL once the post's title is modified. This feature can be valuable in a variety of other situations as well. For instance, you may request Permalink Manager to automatically update the URI if a different primary term is assigned to the post or the permastructure settings are changed.
What precisely does this functionality do? When you save or edit a post, Permalink Manager will automatically change the value of "Current URI" to the default permalink ("Default URI") depending on your permastructure settings. The "Current URI" column has been set to "read-only" mode as a result of this.
Disable URI Editor to disallow permalink changes
If you don't want Permalink Manager to take control of all your custom permalinks, there is another option available. You can select which permalinks should be modified and which should remain untouched. This could be the case if you don't want Permalink Manager to rewrite all of your custom permalinks and instead want to choose which one has to be modified while leaving the rest as they were before the Permalink Manager was installed.
You can take advantage of this feature by selecting the "Disable URI Editor to disallow permalink changes" option in the plugin settings. This will make the URI Editor display in "read-only" mode, preventing you from editing the custom permalink.
If you want to overwrite the global settings and allow changes to individual permalinks, you can choose "Don’t auto-update permalinks" in the "URI update mode" dropdown field. This field is displayed below the "Current URI" field on the same page where a single post or term can be edited.
Frequently asked questions
Why the "Current URI" field is disabled?
If you decide to update the custom permalinks automatically, you will not be able to edit them using the “Current URI” field. Because any manual changes will be overridden by the default address shown in the "Default URI" column, editing them makes no sense. As a result, if "auto-update" mode is enabled, the input field will be grayed out and disabled.
Similarly, if you have selected "Disable URI Editor to disallow permalink changes" the plugin will not store any changes and there is no purpose in allowing any editing in this situation.
To allow editing, choose "Don’t auto-update permalinks" either globally in the plugin settings or for specific items, depending on your requirements.
How to update WordPress permalink after the title is changed?
Permalink Manager, like WordPress Permalink, uses the native slug for custom permalinks by default. Because the native slug is not automatically changed if you decide to rename a single post later, this might lead to some misconceptions. In other words, if you modify the post title, the URL address will remain same. This is due to the fact that the native slug is generated from the original title after the post or term has been published.
See the example below, where "Auto-update permalinks" is enabled and "Force custom slugs" is set to "Use actual titles as slugs." Permalink Manager will automatically use "Johnny Doe" (johnny-doe) in the "Current URI" instead of the original slug (john-doe). At the same time, if you alter the title, the custom permalink will be automatically updated.
