Use URL rewriting

This guide explains the principle of rewriting URLs on the fly.

Preamble

• Rewriting URLs on the fly is a technique to change the appearance of URLs on a web page without actually changing the resource path.
• This process is done by virtual redirections, transforming a visible URL into another more aesthetic, while keeping the initial destination invisible to visitors.
• This method is often used to make URLs simpler and readable, by masking dynamic page settings.
• In addition to improving the aesthetics for visitors, it is beneficial for SEO, as search engines generally prefer URLs without complex parameters.

Example URL Rewrite

Take the example of the URL: article.php?id=25&categorie=4&page=3 It can be rewritten in: article-25-4-3.html or titre-article-25-4-3.html Here's how to configure this in a file .htaccess if article.php is in the directory web/admin/ :

Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /admin/
RewriteRule ^article-([0-9]*)-([0-9]*)-([0-9]*).html$ article.php?id=$1&categorie=$2&page=$3 [L]

• Options +FollowSymlinks : authorizes the use of symbolic links
• RewriteEngine on : activates the URL rewrite module from Apache
• RewriteBase /admin/ : indicates the work directory
• RewriteRule : defined the rewrite rule

With this configuration, when a user accesses article-25-4-3.html, it is redirected to article.php?id=25&categorie=4&page=3 without it being visible.

Redirect to another domain

If you have multiple domains pointing to the same site, you can redirect all queries to a main domain. P.e. if www.domaine.xyz and www.mon-domaine.xyz lead to the same site, but that www.mon-domaine.xyz is your main domain, use this rule in the .htaccess of the www.domaine.xyz :

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.mon-domaine.xyz/$1 [R=301]

This will redirect all pages of www.domaine.xyz to www.mon-domaine.xyz in a transparent manner, with permanent redirection (R=301).

Also take note of this other guide on this subject.