I don't want a redirect page - I just want it to redirect...

[deansawyer]

Hi Adobe community, I have created an email campaign and it all works (yeay!)

However when the user gets the email there's a link in it to a video we have hosted on vimeo, when the user clicks this link they get a page that pops up saying;

Web page redirection

You are about to access the following web page:

https://vimeo.com/70920206

Is it possible to remove this page altogether so that when the user hits the external link they go directly to it?

Thanks!

[deansawyer]

Just as a follow up to this comment; I've created a simple 'index.html' page to replace the vimeo link but to no avail, judging by this it seems that no matter what I create the external link will ALWAYS ask if you would like to be redirected.
Considering moving to mail chimp as an alternative soluition.

[Liam Dilley]

This is your email client, not your site. This is a means to ensure the links you go to are what you want to go to. This protects you from bad links from spam emails.

[deansawyer]

Hi Liam, I understand what you are saying but I get the same message appearing no matter which email client I use (Apple mail/gmail/outlook) the web redirection page is hosted by BC so the message comes from that source no the email client. To further illustarte the point I can also click onm external links from any of these clients and gain access to the content without any web page redirections.
Thank you for your contribution though, much appreciated.

[Liam Dilley]

Screenshots?

[gertjunes]

I saw this new evolution today and we are not happy with this. This even pops-up when we us the subscription form from one of our clients websites to make a newsletter subscription. Very awkward!

[deansawyer]

Here is the previous one regarding the vimeo link... it displays in the browser (chrome for me) not Apple mail or in the case of clicking through in gmail another tab opens and then displays.

[Liam Dilley]

If your domain is not hosted with BC it will do that as a security feature with DKIM.

[gertjunes]

So is Adobe planning to get rid of its Business Catalyst clients? We are an agency with about 30 clients on Business Catalyst. Only a few client domains are hosted at Business Catalyst. This is really a killer for us.

[deansawyer]

Liam, I thought this might be the case and so created a landing page on BC, (hosted by BC) that the email linked through too, it still came up with the same message.

[Tinymill_Tim]

You mean the link goes to your website and then vimeo? Have you tried adding the domain to the secure domain redirection under site settings?

[deansawyer]

I have just added www.vimeo.com to the secure domain rediection, this doesn't change anything.

To be clear I've tried this two ways now;

1. email external link goes straight to the vimeo link, but comes up with the redirection notification (as screenshot above)

2. email external link goes to a landing page hosted on BC with nothing but a picture and text, still states the redirection (also added this domain to the secure domain redirection list)

Hope that helps..?

[Tinymill_Tim]

Did you add vimeo.com too? i.e. no www.

[deansawyer]

Well I did add the www., now I have added vimeo.com.and www.vimeo.com, neither seems to make a difference though

[gertjunes]

A fast workaround is to create a page in BC with a 301 redirect to the external page you want to be displayed.

The real workaround is to add a TXT record to your external DNS where you state "v=spf1 mx include:worldsecuresystems.com ~all"

see:

http://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-2001

You have to add your own mailserver too, because otherwise your normal mail won't make it to your respondents mailboxes.

Anyway, I don't like the way Adobe introduces these new procedures without warning and making sure the impact on client websites can be minimised.

[deansawyer]

Thanks gertjunes, it looks like you know what you're talking about. I got over sorting out this issue about 3 hours ago and just switched to mail chimp - never used it before and was up and running with a free account in minutes. It does not have this redirection issue and I've solved my problem by going to them instead of Adobe.

- As a side note since creating a temporary landing page for the external email to link to, I seem to have lost the ability to even do email campaigns now, the menu buttons for email and a few otheres just aren't there anymore, only options to manage the new website. I'm not sure what has happened as I'm logging into the account the same way I always have. - This happened about the same time I gave up on BC and looked elsewhere for solutions.

[gertjunes]

Mailchimp is a very good alternative and we already use it for new clients. If Adobe continues along this path, they are going to lose a lot of clients to mailchimp or similar solutions.

[danachenfischer]

It's a hassle, but setup a page in BC then 301 redirect to your intented URL worked.

I am also suprised that with these many people suffering from this new procedure, still haven't heard anything from BC yet. (BKM, explaination, or even a note)

[Lynda-S]

The KB for Secure Redirects says the following:

For security purposes, Business Catalyst requires you to white-list any domain names that are linked to from your site or email campaigns.

If a domain name is not added to the white-list, an intermediary page is displayed when a site visitor clicks a link to this domain.

The domain white-listing applies to the all areas of your site that link to external domains. Example, links from:

• Pages
• Templates
• Email campaigns
• Modules such as blogs, events, and FAQs.

While I understand that BC must be security conscious this is turning into a real hassle. Especially for email campaigns. I have had several email campaigns that contain several external links. These are one time deals that I most likely won't link to again. Also adding the domain doesn't work very well. For example I use AddThis to enable social sharing in all of my emails. addthis.com is the domain. I add that into the Secure Domain Redirection page but it doesn't work! I had to add the EXACT domain, in this case api.addthis.com. I tried adding *.addthis.com but it would not accept this.

What is the point with secure domain redirects? If I was to use a service like Constant Contact I wouldn't have this problem. I use BC because it comes with my site and works well for my purposes. My original understanding was if you were on an https page then the secure domain redirects are enacted. Otherwise it works as normal, a link to a webpage.

While I am on the subject why can't we customize this redirect page? I can understand if BC wants exact language but at least allow us to brand the page vs a bland redirect page. This will, at the least, make it more acceptable. If I was a customer with no web experience and I see this I might wonder if I am being taken to a wrong site BUT if I was to see a fully branded page telling me you are being taken off of the [brand name] website then it would at least make sense.

As Dean said he switched to Mail Chimp because of this issue. I feel others will go the same way. Adobe please do something about this. Give us options please!

Thank You,

Lynda

[Liam Dilley]

Just so you are all aware Mail Chimp are also looking to implement this real soon!

Adding domain.com and www.domain.com in the white listing in the admin works here. If you do site.com and www.site.com wont work as the actual links contain http:// in them.

[Lynda-S]

You cannot add http:// to any domain. See screenshot:

I think the point here is that it is confusing and not easy to use.

It would be very benifical if you could check a box in the email campaign setup that said "Seamlessly redirect all external links." This would solve the problem for many people.

Also I REALLY want to be able to brand this redirect page. Since I can brand every other page why not this one? If I am missing a way to do this please point it out to me?

[michaeld_db]

I just found out about this from a client today. Thanks for the answers above guys.

Under Site Settings there's a (new?) area - Secure Domain Redirection.

Make sure you add 'www.' otherwise some urls mignt not work. I'm adding both with/without www just in case client puts url in one way or the other into their campaign.

Nice solution BC. However I prefer Lynda's suggestion above — It would be very benifical if you could check a box in the email campaign setup that said "Seamlessly redirect all external links."