Canonical routes are used to ensure that search engines and users access content through a consistent URL. They play an essential role in web development, redirecting incoming requests to a desired URL. They ensure that all versions of the URL point to the same predefined URL to avoid duplication.
Here is the syntax for adding canonical routes in a Rails application:
get "/canonical-route", to: redirect('/original-route')
/canonical-route: This is the route that needs to be redirected to the desired path.
/original-route: This is the actual route where we are redirected when the /canonical-route is accessed through the browser.
Let’s take an example of a demo Rails application where the /home path points to the home page of the application. Now, we want to redirect the /homepage path to the same home page. This is the use case where canonical routes come into action.
Click the “Run” button to execute the code below:
//= link_directory ../stylesheets .css //= link_tree ../../javascript .js
In the above example, the /home path in the URL redirects us to the home page of the application. If we use the /homepage instead of /home in the URL, it will again redirect us to the same home page.
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