The captured wildcard in a Rails 3 route can be used in the redirect method:
match 'via/:source' => redirect('/?utm_source=%{source}')
This example is intended to improve metrics for customer acquisition campaigns.
utm_source is for Google Analytics, which KISSMetrics logs as Ad Campaign
Hits.
The URLs are now friendlier for sharing:
/via/email
/via/twitter
/via/search-ads
/via/blog-ads
When the user clicks them, they’ll be redirected to:
/?utm_source=email
/?utm_source=twitter
/?utm_source=search-ads
/?utm_source=blog-ads
The URLs are also encapsulated. If the Google Analytics params need to change,
the developer can edit config/routes.rb and deploy. All past routes will still
work.