Path Alias Release

Removes a URL alias when the live revision is unpublished or trashed, so a redirect can use that path. Publishing the page again restores the alias, unless a redirect already owns it.

Archived and trashed pages keep their aliases by default. Redirect will not accept a path that an alias still uses, so the old address cannot be pointed at a replacement page.

Features

Basic function. On save, delete the alias for a translation whose live revision just went offline. Remember that release. When the translation is live again, generate the alias, unless an enabled redirect already uses that path for the same language.

What enabling it adds.

• Alias removal for an unpublished live revision, a moderation state that is unpublished and the default revision (such as Archived), and a trashed entity.
• A warning that lists each address this save removed. With Redirect installed, each address links to the add-redirect form with the path and language filled in. The link opens in a new window.
• A log entry on the path_alias_release channel for each alias removed, restored, or left offline because a redirect owns the path. Filter Recent log messages by that type.
• Pathauto is skipped while every translation is offline, so the alias is not written back on the same save. It runs again when a translation is restored.

When to use it. Use this when editors archive, unpublish, or trash a page and then need that public path for a redirect. Drafts, reviews, and other non-default revisions do not release the alias. A save inside an active workspace is ignored.

Example use cases.

• Archive a published page and add a redirect from its old address to the page that replaced it.
• Trash a published page, then restore it later with the same alias.
• Unpublish one translation. The other published translations keep their own aliases.

Post-Installation

There is no settings page.

1. Enable Path Alias Release.
2. Optionally enable Pathauto, Redirect, and Trash. Content Moderation and Workspaces are detected when they are already installed.
3. Archive, unpublish, or trash a published page. The alias is removed and the warning lists it.

Saving a page that is already offline does not show the warning again. Creating a page straight into an archived state does not show it either, because no stored alias was removed.

Additional Requirements

• Drupal 11.2 or later
• PHP 8.3 or later
• Path and Path alias, both in Drupal core

Similar projects

• Pathauto generates aliases. This module turns that generation off while the live page is offline and turns it on again when the page returns.
• Redirect stores the replacement path. It cannot take an address that an alias still uses. This module frees that address and links to the add form.
• Node Archive is a Drupal 7 module that can delete a node alias when the node is archived. This module does that for any Drupal 11 entity with a path field, and it can restore the alias.

Supporting this Module

File bug reports and feature requests in the issue queue.

Community Documentation

See the README in the Git repository for optional modules and the kernel test command.