VTX Redirect / Custom WordPress software / v2.1.1
A URL changes.
The decision shouldn’t.
Request lifecycle / exact-path rules
Normalize. Match.
Make one decision.
The path is standardized before lookup. One enabled rule supplies the destination; unmatched requests remain with WordPress.
The control plane behind the behavior
A rule you can
actually inspect.
I built both sides: the request lifecycle and the WordPress workspace that controls it.
01 / Runtime contract
One request.
One explicit outcome.
The runtime joins WordPress at template_redirect, before template output. Administration, AJAX and cron requests are left alone.
template_redirect → Normalizer → Repository → wp_safe_redirectSource-derived flow. This diagram does not send requests or change rules.
02 / Operator control
A rule you can
actually inspect.
Source, destination, status and enabled state stay visible together. Changing a URL shouldn’t require editing a theme or scattering redirect logic through it.
Control plane / Runtime
Save deliberately.
Resolve consistently.
- Permission before persistence
- Administration requires
manage_optionsand action-specific nonce validation. - Normalize once per request
- The repository caches normalized rules within the request. Enabled rules are keyed by source path for matching.
- Destination is a decision
- 301, 302, 307 or 308. Preserve the incoming query only when configured and the target has no query already.
03 / Several changes, one workspace
A readable
migration list.
The bulk editor uses one rule per line. An administration activity log records changes; the usage lookup searches WordPress post text for references.
It is not a traffic analytics engine or a complete scan of builder metadata. Bulk input needs review: malformed lines can be skipped.
Engineering includes knowing the limits
Predictable doesn’t
mean unlimited.
What is implemented
Exact-path matching; paused rules excluded from runtime; duplicate checks in individual editing; relative-path cycle validation; WordPress safe-redirect handling with configured destination hosts.
Inspect the source ↗What I would harden next
Absolute same-site cycles need broader graph validation. Bulk edits need the same destination validation as individual edits. Rules live in one option, so large rule sets need measurement—not an unqualified performance claim.