Below is an example how you use five.grok to install an event handler which checks in the site root for a through-the-web editable Python script. If such script exist it asks it to check for a HTTP redirect.

This behavior allows you to write site-wide redirects easily

• In Python (thank god no Apache regular expressions)
• Redirects can access Plone content items
• You can easily have some redirects migrated from the old (non-Plone) sites

redirect.py:

"""

    Call a custom TTW script and allow it to handle redirects.

    Use Zope Management Interface to add a ``Script (Python)`` item named ``redirect_handler``
    to your site root - you can edit this script in fly to change the redirects.

    * Redirect script must contain ``url`` in its parameter list

"""

import logging

# Now we import things through the last decade...

# Really old old stuff
from zExceptions import Redirect

# Really old stuff
from Products.CMFCore.interfaces import ISiteRoot

# Old stuff
from zope.traversing.interfaces import IBeforeTraverseEvent

# Modern stuff
from five import grok

logger = logging.getLogger("redirect")

@grok.subscribe(ISiteRoot, IBeforeTraverseEvent)
def check_redirect(site, event):
    """
    Check if we have a custom redirect script in Zope application server root.

    If we do then call it and see if we get a redirect.

    The script itself is TTW Python script which may return
    string in the case of redirect or None if no redirect is needed.

    For more examples, check

    http://svn.zope.org/Zope/trunk/src/Zope2/App/tests/testExceptionHook.py?rev=115555&view=markup
    """
    request = event.request

    url = request["ACTUAL_URL"]

    if "no_redirect" in request.form:
        # Use no_redirect query parameter to disable this behavior in the case
        # you mess up with the redirect script
        return

    # Check if we have a redirect handler script in the site root
    if "redirect_handler" in site:

        try:
            # Call the script and get its output
            value = site.redirect_handler(url)
        except Exception, e:
            # No silent exceptions plz
            logger.error("Redirect exception for URL:" + url)
            logger.exception(e)
            return

        if value is not None and value.startswith("http"):
            # Trigger redirect, but only if the output value looks sane
            raise Redirect, value

Then an example redirect_handler script added through ZMI. Remember to add url to the Parameter List field of TTW interface. If the script returns a string starting http it is considered as the need for a redirect and normal Plone traversing is interrupted.

if "blaablaa" in url:
    return "http://webandmobile.mfabrik.com"