Wordpress Permalink Settings

5 replies
Wordpress Permalink Settings Question:

I am relatively new to using Wordpress and I'm not sure if this question has been asked before or not.

I think I made the mistake having the Permalink Settings set to /%category%/%postname%/ format.

My question is, if I convert the Permalink format from /%category%/%postname%/ to /%postname%/ how badly will it screw up my blog?

Would it be best to just leave it, or risk it?
I do have the blog backed up. But I thought I would ask to be better informed.

Thanks for your replies.
#permalink #settings #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author Intrepreneur
    It depends.

    I see a lot of people getting good rankings in Google using the date archive then postname. I would advise against category.

    Personally I use /%postname%/

    Check some of the top results and judge for yourself.
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    • Profile picture of the author IMStudentforlife
      Just to clarify, I am currently using /%postname%/ in my other blogs/sites. It's just that this particular blog was started back in August. And I was new to blogging, but added a lot of content.

      Now to fix the problem and convert it over to /%postname%/ I wonder how bad that would mess up the site.

      All Hail, CTRL + Z!
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      Old School SEO and IM, 1MediaZone

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    • Profile picture of the author NMP
      I think changing permalinks won't mess up from 2.7 or so.
      If you get in trouble you may need to fix your htaccess.

      Or reverse if in panic
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  • Profile picture of the author VegasGreg
    Either way is fine, but if your blog is already "established" and has links pointing to it and posts already indexed, you may not want to change the permalinks as that will change all the urls.

    If it is relatively new, there is no harm in changing it.
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    Greg Schueler - Wordpress Fanatic... Living The Offline Marketing Dream...

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    • Profile picture of the author IMStudentforlife
      If August of 2009 makes it "established" then it is. I do get some traffic but from a competitor stand point not as much as the more established sites of 2007 (but yet have had no updates since 2007).

      This also could be the result of the now infamous Google May day fiasco. Like I said I'm just currently troubleshooting the problems.

      Thanks for your replies.
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      Old School SEO and IM, 1MediaZone

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      The Strangest Secret in the World
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