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.htaccessrecursionurl-rewritingseosubdirectory

.htaccess rule for recursive subfolder links

I want one or a few rule for many subfolders url. I don't want to write words like -blog- or -shop- into the rule.

  1. https://www.example.com/en/
  2. https://www.example.com/en
  3. https://www.example.com/en/blog/
  4. https://www.example.com/de/shop
  5. https://www.example.com/en/shop/keyboard
  6. https://www.example.com/de/shop/cpu/amd5/

I want output like this:

print_r($_GET) outputs:

  1. Array ( [lang] => en )
  2. Array ( [lang] => en )
  3. Array ( [lang] => en [seo1] => blog )
  4. Array ( [lang] => de [seo1] => shop )
  5. Array ( [lang] => en [seo1] => shop [seo2] => keyboard )
  6. Array ( [lang] => en [seo1] => shop [seo2] => cpu [seo3] => amd5 )
Solution

  • This would be a simple approach that also allows for exceptions and later flexibility: 

    RewriteEngine on
RequestCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/router\.php
RewriteRule ^/?([^/]+)/?$ /router.php?lang=$1 [END]
RewriteRule ^/?([^/]+)/([^/]+)/?$ /router.php?lang=$1&seo1=$2 [END]
RewriteRule ^/?([^/]+)/([^/]+)/([^/]+)/?$ /router.php?lang=$1&seo1=$2&seo2=$3 [END]
RewriteRule ^/?([^/]+)/([^/]+)/([^/]+)/([^/]+)/?$ /router.php?lang=$1&seo1=$2&seo2=$3&seo3=$4 [END]

    Here /router.php is just an example, you will need to use whatever logic you have implemented internally.

    In case you receive an internal server error (http status 500) using the rule above then chances are that you operate a very old version of the apache http server. You will see a definite hint to an unsupported [END] flag in your http servers error log file in that case. You can either try to upgrade or use the older [L] flag, it probably will work the same in this situation, though that depends a bit on your setup.

    This rule will work likewise in the http servers host configuration or inside a dynamic configuration file (".htaccess" file). Obviously the rewriting module needs to be loaded inside the http server and enabled in the http host. In case you use a dynamic configuration file you need to take care that it's interpretation is enabled at all in the host configuration and that it is located in the host's DOCUMENT_ROOT folder.

    And a general remark: you should always prefer to place such rules in the http servers host configuration instead of using dynamic configuration files (".htaccess"). Those dynamic configuration files add complexity, are often a cause of unexpected behavior, hard to debug and they really slow down the http server. They are only provided as a last option for situations where you do not have access to the real http servers host configuration (read: really cheap service providers) or for applications insisting on writing their own rules (which is an obvious security nightmare).