updating seed URLs
I didn't see a concrete answer to this in the Help Center documentation, so maybe someone can confirm ---
If we update a URL to reflect any changes (http to https, or a completely different URL for the same content when the site moves), will this create two separate records in the public/wayback interface or will there be one record that displays the crawl history for both/multiple URLs?
Is the easiest way to do this just to mark the old seed inactive and create a new one? And assume users will find both?
How do other institutions handle sites changing their URLs while giving users the easiest public access? Is there a best practice for linking the two seeds?
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Official comment
Existing seed URL edits that do not affect Wayback calendar access:
- Editing the URL protocol from http/https
- Removing or adding the subdomain www
- Removing or adding the ending slash (/) from a URL string
Making any/all of the above edits to your seed URL won't change the access point to the Wayback calendar page. You will continue to see all of the same archives accessible by date on its calendar page as you did before. However, adding any other subdomain, subdirectory, or otherwise changing the URL would change the calendar page that the seed points to.
If a site's URL changes significantly, instead of editing the existing seed URL directly we recommend deactivating it and adding a new seed so that the access point to the old version is retained. The Groups feature is a helpful way to link seeds when a website's address is not persistent over the years. Specifying these URLs as a "Group" allows collection curators to identify seed URLs that should be considered the same site, and sites in each 'Group' that you create will be listed together under the designated group name on your public collection listing page (at archive-it.org). More information on organizing seeds into Groups can be found here: https://support.archive-it.org/hc/en-us/articles/208332743-Organize-seeds-as-a-group-.
Raven Germain, Web Archivist
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Hello Sarah Newhouse
Did you get a response? I am very interested in this issue as well!
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