Chris A. a11n

<p>Backwards Compatible Permalinks helps prevent 404 errors when switching between permalink structures.</p>
<p>It achieves this by appending a set of backwards compatible post rewrite rules. This ensures posts are still accessible at their previous permalink after the permalink structure is updated.</p>
<h4>Example</h4>
<p>Let’s say your permalink structure is set to “Month and name” and you have a post titled “I Love WordPress.” That particular post would live at <code>https://example.com/2019/03/i-love-wordpress/</code>.</p>
<p>But what if you wanted to switch to the “Post name” permalink structure and have your post live at <code>https://example.com/i-love-wordpress/</code> instead?</p>
<p>You could but this would result in the existing post permalink 404ing when visited. Which is problematic if the previous URL was bookmarked or shared on social media.</p>
<p>With Backwards Compatible Permalinks installed your post would be accessible at both the old and new permalink structures:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>https://example.com/2019/03/i-love-wordpress/</code></li>
<li><code>https://example.com/i-love-wordpress/</code></li>
</ul>
<h4>Caveats</h4>
<ul>
<li>This plugin does not work retroactively. i.e. you must have the plugin installed and activated prior to switching permalink structures before backwards compatibility will work.</li>
<li>Currently only standard posts are supported.</li>
<li>Backwards compatibility is not supported between certain permalink structure updates. This is due to a clash between permalink structure regex matching.</li>
<li>Backwards compatibility is only provided between the most recent permalink structure update. i.e. you cannot change your permalink structure 3 times and have backwards compatibility across all 3 structures.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Deactivate or uninstall</h4>
<p>After deactivating or uninstalling this plugin please ensure you visit Settings > Permalinks in the WordPress admin area to flush your rewrite rules.</p>
<h4>Contributing</h4>
<p>Contributions are <a href="https://github.com/aprea/backwards-compatible-permalinks" rel="nofollow ugc">welcomed on GitHub</a>.</p>
<h3>From within WordPress</h3>
<ol>
<li>Visit ‘Plugins > Add New’.</li>
<li>Search for ‘Backwards Compatible Permalinks’.</li>
<li>Activate Backwards Compatible Permalinks from your Plugins page.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Manually</h3>
<ol>
<li>Upload the <code>backwards-compatible-permalinks</code> folder to the <code>/wp-content/plugins/</code> directory.</li>
<li>Activate the Backwards Compatible Permalinks plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.</li>
</ol>


Backwards Compatible Permalinks

Provides a degree of backwards compatibility when switching between permalink structures.

Robin Phillips

<p>This plugin was originally written for authors, but may be useful for others that link to stores such as Amazon, Apple, and Kobo.</p>
<p>It will automatically edit links to various sites so that the user is directed to their local site. It will work on existing links and new ones. Simply add links to your site as usual, and they will be rewritten on the fly to send your visitors to their local site.</p>
<p>In addition, some tidying up of links is performed to remove extraneous junk. If you have affiliate codes, the relevant code will be added to that store’s links.</p>
<p>Changes are only made in the user’s browser. WordPress posts and pages are not changed, so if the plugin is deactivated or removed, they will return to their previous state.</p>
<p>Currently Supported Stores:</p>
<ul>
<li>Amazon</li>
<li>Apple Books</li>
<li>Apple iTunes (audiobooks)</li>
<li>Kobo</li>
<li>Alibris</li>
<li>Google Play</li>
<li>AbeBooks</li>
<li>Barnes & Noble</li>
<li>Bookshop.org</li>
<li>OneBookShelf sites (DriveThruFiction, DriveThruCards, DriveThruComics, DriveThruRPG, Wargame Vault)</li>
<li>Smashwords</li>
</ul>
<p>From version 4.1, Amazon Attribution links are supported. If a link has Amazon Attribution tags, they will be retained. For more information about Amazon Attribution, see: https://advertising.amazon.com/help?#GJXTJCLK4WTWTQWU</p>


Local Links

Alter vendor links so that they go to the user's local store, and optionally add affiliate codes. Some functions require the GeoIP Detection plugin.

Backwards Compatible Permalinks vs Local Links