# Redirect\_from BS? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [March 4, 2007, 4:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/redirect-from-bs/87590 "2007-03-04T04:40:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 4:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/redirect-from-bs/87590/1 "2007-03-04T04:40:23Z")
I’ve notice some entries in the log where folks are just poking around. Is it possible to ‘trap’ these and redirect\_to something valid like the site’s home page? Thanks, Bill ---
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/redirect-from-bs/87590/2 "2007-03-04T14:30:33Z")
Bill W. wrote: > I’ve notice some entries in the log where folks are just poking around. > Is it possible to ‘trap’ these and redirect\_to something valid like the > site’s home page? Sure. I’m working on a site right the requirements to visit a specified page can be complex. I use something at the top of each method like bad\_action and return if … where the “if” clause includes a set of conditions anybody visiting a specific page must meet (@user\_logged\_in, !params[‘id’].blank?, etc.) bad\_action simply redirects to the index page or, if the user is logged in, to the user home page. –Al Evans ---
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/redirect-from-bs/87590/3 "2007-03-04T19:14:05Z")
Bill W. wrote: > I’ve got before\_filters in place for that sort of thing. What I was > thinking / wondering about is something at a higher level that would > catch > attempts to invoke controllers / actions that don’t exist. I guess I’m > asking 'is there some way to redirect to a valid page (like the site’s > home > page) rather than just throwing a 404 ‘Page not found’? I think you can do… map.connect ‘’, :controller =\> “whatever”, :action =\> “home” …at the end of your routes and catch all unrecognized controllers/actions. I haven’t had occasion to do this, though. I don’t think it would work for the case where the controller is recognized, but the action isn’t. –Al Evans ---
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/redirect-from-bs/87590/4 "2007-03-04T16:02:06Z")
Hi Al, Thanks for your reply. More below. Al Evans wrote: > Bill W. wrote: > > > I’ve notice some entries in the log where folks are just poking around. > > Is it possible to ‘trap’ these and redirect\_to something valid like the > > site’s home page? > > Sure. I’m working on a site right the requirements to visit a specified > page can be complex. I use something at the top of each method like > > bad\_action and return if … I’ve got before\_filters in place for that sort of thing. What I was thinking / wondering about is something at a higher level that would catch attempts to invoke controllers / actions that don’t exist. I guess I’m asking 'is there some way to redirect to a valid page (like the site’s home page) rather than just throwing a 404 ‘Page not found’? I’m guessing I should have marked this [OT] now that I think about it. It’s probably something that has to happen outside the Rails app. I just don’t know enough about the architecture to know where the ‘trap’ should be set. Where / what decides that a 404 error gets thrown and that it should display 404.html? Is it configurable so that I could set it to display my home page instead? Thanks, Bill