May 5th, 2024

Query string parameters are components of a URL that are used to pass data from a client (typically a web browser) to a web server. They appear after the question mark (?) in a URL and consist of key-value pairs separated by ampersands (&). For example, consider the following URL:

In this URL:

Query string parameters are often used in web applications to customize or filter content, perform searches, or provide additional information to the server. They allow for dynamic content generation and interaction between the client and the server.

ChangeTower's new update will by default strip the query string parameters from the discovered URLs. This means that when our crawlers come across a URL containing query string parameters, they will remove those parameters from the URL, essentially creating a “new URL”. After that, the crawler will visit the “new URL” and look for links on that page. The URLs that are discovered on that page will be added to the report of discovered URLs, and if more URLs with query string parameters are detected, those query string parameters will also be removed from the URLs.

Still, we understand that some query string parameters might be important for you and your business. While ChangeTower will by default remove any query string parameter discovered in a URL, you can still add the import query string parameters to your “Include list” when setting up a domain scan. Specifying which QSPs should be included will ensure that URLs containing those parameters will be crawled, followed, and included in the domain scan report.

This list can be configured in the advanced settings of your domain scan. You will list the URL parameters here, separated by a pipe (”|”) symbol.

You can also toggle off this feature completely, but we would encourage you to utilize this feature if / when there are QSPs for a given domain that need to be considered.