A redirect can do more than send /promo to one fixed page. Two toggles in the editor — forward path and forward query string — let a single link carry whatever was appended to it through to the destination. This is the difference between a redirect that flattens your URLs and one that moves them intact.
Path forwarding: deep links survive
With forward path on, anything after the link's own path is appended to the destination:
- The link is yourdomain.com/docs → target https://newsite.com/docs
- A visitor opens yourdomain.com/docs/install → they land on https://newsite.com/docs/install
Without it, every visitor gets exactly the target URL, no matter what they appended. With it, one link covers an entire tree of pages — the standard setup for domain moves and documentation redirects, where old deep links are everywhere (bookmarks, search indexes, other sites' citations) and each one deserves to keep working.
Query forwarding: parameters ride along
With forward query string on (it's on by default for new links), everything after the ? is re-attached to the destination: yourdomain.com/promo?utm_source=news arrives at the target with ?utm_source=news intact. Your campaign tracking survives the hop — see campaign tracking with UTM parameters.
Choosing between them
- Short link to one page (a flyer, a bio link): both off — the link is the destination, nothing to carry.
- Directory or section redirect (/docs, /blog): path forwarding on.
- Tracking campaigns: query forwarding on (the default).
- Domain moves: path forwarding on, always — see redirecting an entire domain.
Test before you trust it
After saving, open a deep URL with a query string attached and watch the address bar on arrival. The combined result is built from your target plus the forwarded pieces, so a target that already ends in ? or has its own parameters combines cleanly rather than colliding.