Mod rewrite for query string

Question

Mod Rewrite noob so pardon my ignorance but all I am trying to do is a simple query string removal

from: http://yourwebsite.com/x?section=y

to: http://yourwebsite.com/x/y

I am adding my mod rewrite rules in my .htaccess like this:

ErrorDocument 404 /404

Options +MultiViews
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.php -f
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1.php

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^section=(.*)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /$1/%1? [R=301,L,NE]

The problem is that on visiting:

http://yourwebsite.com/x?section=y

My rule writes it back as:

http://yourwebsite.com/x.php/y

That .php in the pretty url is pretty darn ugly and I am struggling to get rid of it.

What is wrong in my mod rewrite rule?

Most likely a file x.php exists, so the first RewriteRule matches and rewrites the request to x.php. Just as you configured it to do. So what is it you want to do instead? — arkascha
– arkascha, Commented Oct 21, 2012 at 6:19
x.php exists. It can be visited by http://yourwebsite.com/x. I want urls like http://yourwebsite.com/x?section=y to rewrite to http://yourwebsite.com/x/y. Currently, they are rewritten as http://yourwebsite.com/x.php/y — Rajat
– Rajat, Commented Oct 21, 2012 at 6:29

arkascha · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-21 07:28:46Z

1

Most likely you are looking for something like this:

RewriteEngine on

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d  
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.php -f
RewriteRule ^(.+)\/(.+)$ /$1.php?section=$2 [L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^section=(.*)$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.php -f
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /$1/%1 [R=301,L,NE]

It makes two rewrites:

a request x/y is internally rewritten to x.php?section=y
a request to x?section=y is redirected to x/y

Note that one is an internal rewrite, whilst the other redirects the browser to show a less 'ugly' url.

One hint: in case you can use the logging feature of apaches rewriting module (RewriteLog and RewriteLogLevel) this will offer you a wealth of detailed information on what is actually going on inside the rewrite process.

edited Oct 21, 2012 at 7:28

answered Oct 21, 2012 at 6:44

arkascha

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3 Comments

Rajat Over a year ago

I dont want the point 1. I just want the point 2. My rules almost works except that I am unable to get rid of the ugly .php. After rule application x?section=y looks like x.php/y

arkascha Over a year ago

Well a) look at my comment to your question: you explicitly configure the rewrite to x.php with your own first RewriteRule and b) I'd say that you can change that, but then x.php will not get called, you will get an error that /x does not exist.

arkascha Over a year ago

Question: when x/y is requested, do you want x.php be executed (probably with the argument section=y) or what else should be requested internally as x?

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