Routing

Routing defines how your content URLs are structured. Configure paths like /about, /blog/my-post, or /uk/en/products/blue-shirt and Foir handles the rest.

How Routing Works

1. Configure your URL structure in the Route Tree
2. Foir generates all possible URLs from your content
3. When a visitor arrives, their URL is matched instantly
4. The right content and variant is delivered

URL Patterns

Static Pages

Fixed URLs for specific content:

Dynamic Pages

URLs generated from content:

Market/Locale Prefixes

Add geographic or language prefixes:

Configuring Routes

Route Tree Editor

1. Go to Settings > Routing
2. The Route Tree shows your URL structure
3. Add, remove, or reorder nodes
4. Publish to apply changes

Node Types

Static Node - A fixed path segment

• Example: /shop or /blog

Entity Node - A specific piece of content

• Example: Homepage at /

Entity Catchall - All content of a type

• Example: All blog posts under /blog/

Context Node - A market or locale prefix

• Example: /uk/ for UK market

Context Catchall - All markets or locales

• Example: /uk/, /us/, /ca/ etc.

Example Structure

/                          (Homepage)
├── about                  (About page)
├── contact                (Contact page)
├── blog/
│   └── [all blog posts]   (Blog post pages)
└── [markets]/
    └── [locales]/
        ├── products/
        │   └── [all products]
        └── collections/
            └── [all collections]

This generates URLs like:

• /about
• /blog/my-post
• /uk/en/products/blue-shirt
• /us/en/collections/summer-sale

SEO Settings

Canonical URLs

Control which URL is the “official” one:

• Canonical route - The primary URL, indexed by search engines
• Alias route - Alternative URLs that redirect or reference the canonical

Alias Handling

When content has multiple URLs, choose how to handle them:

Hreflang

For multilingual sites, Foir automatically groups related pages:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-GB" href="/uk/en/products/jacket" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-US" href="/us/en/products/jacket" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr-CA" href="/ca/fr/products/veste" />

Redirects

Creating Redirects

1. Go to Settings > Redirects
2. Click Create Redirect
3. Configure:
   • From: /old-product
   • To: /new-product
   • Status: 301 (permanent) or 302 (temporary)
4. Optionally set active dates

Redirect Use Cases

• URL changes when renaming content
• Old URLs from previous systems
• Marketing campaign URLs
• Typo corrections

Breadcrumbs

Foir automatically generates breadcrumbs from the URL path:

URL: /uk/en/collections/sale/products/blue-shirt

Breadcrumbs:

1. Home → /uk/en
2. Collections → /uk/en/collections
3. Sale → /uk/en/collections/sale
4. Products → /uk/en/collections/sale/products
5. Blue Shirt → (current page)

Content Visibility

Context Membership

Content can be limited to specific contexts:

• This product is only available in UK and US markets
• This page only shows in English locales
• This collection only appears for VIP customers

Access Requirements

Routes can require conditions:

• /account/* requires authentication
• /checkout/* requires authentication
• /admin/* requires admin role

Publishing Routes

When you publish the Route Tree:

1. All possible URLs are recalculated
2. New routes become active
3. Removed routes return 404
4. Redirects are updated

Content changes also trigger route updates when:

• A new page is published
• A slug/handle changes
• Context membership changes

Best Practices

1. Plan your structure - Think about how URLs should look before setting up
2. Keep URLs clean - Short, descriptive, lowercase
3. Use consistent patterns - Same structure across similar content
4. Set up redirects - When changing URLs, redirect old ones
5. Test thoroughly - Check URLs work before publishing
6. Consider SEO - Use canonical URLs to avoid duplicate content

Next Steps

• Variants - Content targeting by audience
• Targeting - Rules that affect routing
• Entities - Content structure overview