lucy24 - 3:34 am on Nov 16, 2012 (gmt 0)

Good. Then you can toss the whole idea of the map. (I'm not sure anyone here really knows how to use them anyway. The usual advice when something gets horribly complicated is a built-to-order php script with optional database.)

When you do it without the map, what does your current RewriteRule look like?

Also and tangentially: When you say external links, do you mean real links from desirable sites that somehow got mistyped and they're not answering e-mail? Or are they URLs that exist only in google's fevered imagination? You don't want to get into a situation where you redirect one URL and then next week they make up a new one.