Path Alias Views Brings Drupal Path Aliases into Views

Content editors do not always think about Drupal content in terms of titles or node IDs. Joachim Noreiko describes a recent project where editors instead treated the path as the primary identifier, using spreadsheets to track content by URL alongside information such as responsibility and sign-off status. That observation led him to document the Path Alias Views module, which brings Drupal path aliases into Views so site builders can create administration interfaces organised around paths.

Drupal does not store a direct database relationship between a path alias and the entity it points to because aliases can also target system paths that are not entities. Joachim explains that Path Alias Views addresses this with a custom Views join that derives the relationship from the alias’s internal system path, allowing path_alias entities to relate to content entities whose canonical paths follow a structure such as an entity type followed by its identifier. The integration makes path aliases available through Views fields, filters, sorting, and relationships while retaining Drupal’s flexible underlying path model.

The module also provides an administrative View that Joachim says can be used as a drop-in replacement for Drupal’s core Content Admin view where nodes have path aliases. Its relationship logic is generalised for content entity types using conventional canonical paths, while custom entities with unusual path structures may require a custom Views join through hook_views_data_alter(). An optional integration with the Client-side Hierarchical Select module adds filtering by individual path components. For screenshots, implementation details, and Joachim’s broader discussion of path-first content administration, read Putting paths first: Views support for path alias entities.