This guide explains the principle of on-the-fly URL rewriting.

Introduction

• URL rewriting on the fly is a technique that allows you to change the appearance of a web page's URLs without actually altering the resource's path.
• This process is done through virtual redirects, transforming a visible URL into a more aesthetically pleasing one, while keeping the initial destination invisible to visitors.
• This method is often used to make URLs simpler and more readable, by hiding the parameters of dynamic pages.
• In addition to improving aesthetics for visitors, it is beneficial for search engine optimization, as search engines generally prefer URLs without complex parameters.

Example of URL rewriting

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

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 : allows the use of symbolic links
• RewriteEngine on: enables the Apache URL rewriting module
• RewriteBase /admin/ : specifies the working directory
• RewriteRule: defines the rewrite rule

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

Redirect to another domain

If you own multiple domains pointing to the same site, you can redirect all requests to a main domain. For example, if www.domaine.xyz and www.mon-domaine.xyz lead to the same site, but www.mon-domaine.xyz is your main domain, use this rule in the .htaccess of www.domaine.xyz:

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

This will redirect all pages from www.domaine.xyz to www.mon-domaine.xyz transparently, with a permanent redirect (R=301).

Also, refer to this other guide on this topic.