How to Remove URL Parameters and index.php from Your URL using .htaccess

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The Problem

Imagine your website's URL looks like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This type of URL can be quite cumbersome and may confuse users. Ideally, you would want the URL to appear as follows:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Solution: Using .htaccess

To achieve this URL transformation, you can utilize the power of the .htaccess file, a configuration file used by Apache Web Server to manage requests and control how URLs are processed.

Step 1: Ensure Proper Setup

Before diving into the code, make sure you have the following setup:

Your .htaccess file is located in the same directory as your folder.

Clear your browser cache to ensure that you're testing with fresh requests.

Step 2: Add Rewrite Rules to Your .htaccess

Replace the contents of your .htaccess file (or add the following rules) with the following code:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Breakdown of the Code

Enable Rewrite Engine:

RewriteEngine ON: This turns on the rewrite capabilities.

External Redirect Rules:

RewriteRule ^ /%1/%2? [R=301,L]: This line tells the server to redirect the request to the pretty URL format (/folder/asdasdAs2), where %1 and %2 represent captured groups from the RewriteCond.

Internal Rewrite Rules:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f: Checks if the request is NOT for a file that exists.

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d: Checks if the request is NOT for a directory that exists.

Important Considerations

Double-check that your server has the mod_rewrite module enabled, as these rules rely on it to function correctly.

Test your new URLs after implementing the code to ensure everything is working as expected.

Conclusion