[Zope] Site evolution and redirection strategies

[Howard Hansen]

We're contemplating some major changes to our sites that will break many
existing URLs.  In our first transition (from Front Page to Zope!), I
handled the issue by matching the old URLs and creating a few DTML Methods
with code along the lines of:

    <dtml-call expr="RESPONSE.redirect('index_html')">

This works fine, but it's not terribly clear what's going on.  It seems like
it would be reasonably trivial (i.e., within my powers) to create a python
product that stored the new destination and performed the redirection.  This
product would have the advantage of looking different than a simple DTML
method.

This morning I got a list from my boss of old URLs and their new names,
which got me thinking....  What if there existed a centralized redirection
product that allowed me to enter lists of old and new URLs and have the
redirection automagically happen?  Seems to me that this starts to get into
the realm of acquisition and other deep voodoo magic best left alone.

I'm leaning toward creating the simple product and leaving it at that, or
perhaps additionally creating a script that generates the redirect objects
automatically from my list of old and new URLs.

So I'd love to hear your wisdom.  How have people handled this problem in
the past?  Do products like these already exist?  Are there any gotchas that
I haven't considered?

Any and all help appreciated, as always!

Howard Hansen
http://howardsmusings.com