What to change
A directory rename has two audiences: links the organisation can update and references outside its control. Ask the supplier for a list of owned pages still using the old address, then update those references at their shared source. Keep an appropriate compatibility route for external visitors. Test both a corrected internal link and an old saved address, because they should reach the same useful place through different mechanisms.
A worked example
Illustrative example
Illustrative test: Follow the same guide sidebar before and after the link correction. Imagine the Resources directory becomes Guides while older service-page sidebars retain the old route. The supplier updates the shared sidebar source and keeps the agreed onward route for saved bookmarks. Your team follows one new sidebar link and one old email link. Both reach the intended directory, while the release record distinguishes the updated links the practice controls from external references that still need compatibility support.
What this means for your practice
Renaming a resource directory affects both links you control and links other people have saved. Treat them separately. Ask your supplier to update menus, sidebars and article references at their shared source, so ordinary browsing goes directly to the new location. Keep an appropriate onward route from the old address for bookmarks and external materials that cannot all be changed immediately. Review one corrected internal link and one genuinely old saved link. Both should reach the right place, although the old one may use an automatic move. A successful new directory alone does not prove that the rest of the website has caught up with its new address.
How to check the result
Owned links land directly on the approved directory and old external links retain an appropriate route.
A mistake to avoid
Deleting the redirect immediately can strand bookmarks outside your control.
Turn reading into a next step
Your action checklist
Work through these checks with your team or supplier. Tick the ones you have resolved and leave unknowns open.
Record what you know, what is still missing and the answer you need from your team or supplier.
Use project decisions only, without personal, patient or confidential details. Entries stay in this page and are not submitted to Kay & Co. Copy or download before leaving; this page does not save your notes.
Further reading
These sources provide background for the topic. The practice examples and checklist are illustrative planning suggestions from Kay & Co.
Related guides
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