Show default page to all (including unauthenticated) users

Question

Here is the situation: there has been an application for years. It's old and should not be used. Therefore I created a whole new application to replace the other. Now I want to show a piece of information to the users trying to access the old one (regardless whether already authenticated or, which is more likely, not yet authenticated) and a link to the new one.

I don't want to change anything in the old one or just change as few things as possible, it should stay. So I came up with an idea: why not backing up current Default.aspx and then creating new Default.aspx telling users to try and use the new application (maybe slightly modifying web.config but how?). However, when an unauthenticated user enters ~/Default.aspx, she gets redirected to the login page.

Is it possible to allow unauthenticated users to see this default page without getting redirected to the login page just to give their credentials and then see the default page telling that there is the other application?

Answer 1

Are you just looking to "announce" that users should go to the "new" application (and not do an auto-redirect)?

IF SO, then wouldn't a simple html page that made this announcement be your "linker"?

The reason I'm suggesting .html (instead of an .aspx page) is that if you "don't want to change anything" in the old site, then an html page/file takes it out of the "ASP.Net pipeline" (asp.net will not process it, IIS will) - I'm guessing that the entire old application requires authentication because you mentioned the default.aspx (normally the default document of the web site/application) already requires a login (which is why it redirects).

You can set the "old" application default document to be this (new) standard "announcement" page.

Hth...