Write down the intended address

An address preference record explains the publisher's intention for one piece of content. It connects an internal page identity to the public URL that should represent it. This is useful when several systems can influence addresses, including a content editor, a routing layer, and a deployment configuration.

Start with the page's purpose and current address. Record whether it should be publicly discoverable, whether equivalent variants exist, and which variant should be preferred. A short explanation is more useful than a bare setting because it lets a future reviewer distinguish a deliberate choice from an inherited default.

Preserve the reason

Include the observation that motivated a change, the person or process responsible, and the previous value. If a parameter variant is equivalent, describe that equivalence. If an old address has been replaced, explain how the new destination meets the same reader need. Do not infer equivalence merely because two paths contain similar words.

Compare the record with the published page periodically. The canonical tag, internal links, sitemap, and redirects may drift when templates or content move. A disagreement identifies something to inspect; it does not tell an automated executor which setting is authoritative without additional evidence.

Make recovery possible

Before applying a preference change, identify the bounded edit that would restore the previous state and the checks needed to confirm it worked. Address changes can affect other pages, so recovery should account for links and redirects as well as the one field being edited.