I have a website which we moved from custom cms to WordPress about 2 years ago, and for the purpose of getting the old page rank back I want to set up redirects with mod_rewrite, because some page links did change, so here is my case:
So basically I want to do the following (beware of minor changes in URLs):
http://example.com/category_one to https://example.com/category-one/.http://example.com/category_one/sub_page_one to https://example.com/category-one/subpage-one/.I managed to get the first of those redirects working, but the second one doesn't get rewritten, but my knowledge is limited here, so I'd be happy of a working example on how to "chain" both rewrites.
EDIT:
Here is my current .htaccess:
ErrorDocument 401 default
# BEGIN W3TC Browser Cache
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
AddType text/css .css
AddType text/x-component .htc
AddType application/x-javascript .js
AddType application/javascript .js2
AddType text/javascript .js3
AddType text/x-js .js4
AddType text/html .html .htm
AddType text/richtext .rtf .rtx
AddType text/plain .txt
AddType text/xsd .xsd
AddType text/xsl .xsl
AddType text/xml .xml
AddType video/asf .asf .asx .wax .wmv .wmx
AddType video/avi .avi
AddType image/bmp .bmp
AddType application/java .class
AddType video/divx .divx
AddType application/msword .doc .docx
AddType application/vnd.ms-fontobject .eot
AddType application/x-msdownload .exe
AddType image/gif .gif
AddType application/x-gzip .gz .gzip
AddType image/x-icon .ico
AddType image/jpeg .jpg .jpeg .jpe
AddType image/webp .webp
AddType application/json .json
AddType application/vnd.ms-access .mdb
AddType audio/midi .mid .midi
AddType video/quicktime .mov .qt
AddType audio/mpeg .mp3 .m4a
AddType video/mp4 .mp4 .m4v
AddType video/mpeg .mpeg .mpg .mpe
AddType video/webm .webm
AddType application/vnd.ms-project .mpp
AddType application/x-font-otf .otf
AddType application/vnd.ms-opentype ._otf
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database .odb
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart .odc
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula .odf
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics .odg
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation .odp
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet .ods
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text .odt
AddType audio/ogg .ogg
AddType application/pdf .pdf
AddType image/png .png
AddType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint .pot .pps .ppt .pptx
AddType audio/x-realaudio .ra .ram
AddType image/svg+xml .svg .svgz
AddType application/x-shockwave-flash .swf
AddType application/x-tar .tar
AddType image/tiff .tif .tiff
AddType application/x-font-ttf .ttf .ttc
AddType application/vnd.ms-opentype ._ttf
AddType audio/wav .wav
AddType audio/wma .wma
AddType application/vnd.ms-write .wri
AddType application/font-woff .woff
AddType application/font-woff2 .woff2
AddType application/vnd.ms-excel .xla .xls .xlsx .xlt .xlw
AddType application/zip .zip
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresByType text/css A31536000
ExpiresByType text/x-component A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-javascript A31536000
ExpiresByType application/javascript A31536000
ExpiresByType text/javascript A31536000
ExpiresByType text/x-js A31536000
ExpiresByType text/html A3600
ExpiresByType text/richtext A3600
ExpiresByType text/plain A3600
ExpiresByType text/xsd A3600
ExpiresByType text/xsl A3600
ExpiresByType text/xml A3600
ExpiresByType video/asf A31536000
ExpiresByType video/avi A31536000
ExpiresByType image/bmp A31536000
ExpiresByType application/java A31536000
ExpiresByType video/divx A31536000
ExpiresByType application/msword A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-fontobject A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-msdownload A31536000
ExpiresByType image/gif A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-gzip A31536000
ExpiresByType image/x-icon A31536000
ExpiresByType image/jpeg A31536000
ExpiresByType image/webp A31536000
ExpiresByType application/json A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-access A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/midi A31536000
ExpiresByType video/quicktime A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/mpeg A31536000
ExpiresByType video/mp4 A31536000
ExpiresByType video/mpeg A31536000
ExpiresByType video/webm A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-project A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-font-otf A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-opentype A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/ogg A31536000
ExpiresByType application/pdf A31536000
ExpiresByType image/png A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/x-realaudio A31536000
ExpiresByType image/svg+xml A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-tar A31536000
ExpiresByType image/tiff A31536000
ExpiresByType application/x-font-ttf A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-opentype A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/wav A31536000
ExpiresByType audio/wma A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-write A31536000
ExpiresByType application/font-woff A31536000
ExpiresByType application/font-woff2 A31536000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-excel A31536000
ExpiresByType application/zip A31536000
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css text/x-component application/x-javascript application/javascript text/javascript text/x-js text/html text/richtext text/plain text/xsd text/xsl text/xml image/bmp application/java application/msword application/vnd.ms-fontobject application/x-msdownload image/x-icon application/json application/vnd.ms-access video/webm application/vnd.ms-project application/x-font-otf application/vnd.ms-opentype application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text audio/ogg application/pdf application/vnd.ms-powerpoint image/svg+xml application/x-shockwave-flash image/tiff application/x-font-ttf application/vnd.ms-opentype audio/wav application/vnd.ms-write application/font-woff application/font-woff2 application/vnd.ms-excel
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
# DEFLATE by extension
AddOutputFilter DEFLATE js css htm html xml
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
<FilesMatch "\.(css|htc|less|js|js2|js3|js4|CSS|HTC|LESS|JS|JS2|JS3|JS4)$">
FileETag MTime Size
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Pragma "public"
Header append Cache-Control "public"
Header unset Set-Cookie
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "\.(html|htm|rtf|rtx|txt|xsd|xsl|xml|HTML|HTM|RTF|RTX|TXT|XSD|XSL|XML)$">
FileETag MTime Size
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header append Vary User-Agent env=!dont-vary
Header set Pragma "public"
Header append Cache-Control "public"
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "\.(asf|asx|wax|wmv|wmx|avi|bmp|class|divx|doc|docx|eot|exe|gif|gz|gzip|ico|jpg|jpeg|jpe|webp|json|mdb|mid|midi|mov|qt|mp3|m4a|mp4|m4v|mpeg|mpg|mpe|webm|mpp|otf|_otf|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|pdf|png|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|ra|ram|svg|svgz|swf|tar|tif|tiff|ttf|ttc|_ttf|wav|wma|wri|woff|woff2|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|zip|ASF|ASX|WAX|WMV|WMX|AVI|BMP|CLASS|DIVX|DOC|DOCX|EOT|EXE|GIF|GZ|GZIP|ICO|JPG|JPEG|JPE|WEBP|JSON|MDB|MID|MIDI|MOV|QT|MP3|M4A|MP4|M4V|MPEG|MPG|MPE|WEBM|MPP|OTF|_OTF|ODB|ODC|ODF|ODG|ODP|ODS|ODT|OGG|PDF|PNG|POT|PPS|PPT|PPTX|RA|RAM|SVG|SVGZ|SWF|TAR|TIF|TIFF|TTF|TTC|_TTF|WAV|WMA|WRI|WOFF|WOFF2|XLA|XLS|XLSX|XLT|XLW|ZIP)$">
FileETag MTime Size
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Pragma "public"
Header append Cache-Control "public"
Header unset Set-Cookie
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "\.(bmp|class|doc|docx|eot|exe|ico|json|mdb|webm|mpp|otf|_otf|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|pdf|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|svg|svgz|swf|tif|tiff|ttf|ttc|_ttf|wav|wri|woff|woff2|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|BMP|CLASS|DOC|DOCX|EOT|EXE|ICO|JSON|MDB|WEBM|MPP|OTF|_OTF|ODB|ODC|ODF|ODG|ODP|ODS|ODT|OGG|PDF|POT|PPS|PPT|PPTX|SVG|SVGZ|SWF|TIF|TIFF|TTF|TTC|_TTF|WAV|WRI|WOFF|WOFF2|XLA|XLS|XLSX|XLT|XLW)$">
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header unset Last-Modified
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Referrer-Policy ""
</IfModule>
# END W3TC Browser Cache
# BEGIN Old Site Redirects
Redirect 301 /category_one/sub_page_one/ /category-one/subpage-one/
Redirect 301 /category_one/ /category-one/
Redirect 301 /category_two/ /category-two/
Redirect 301 /category_two/sub_page_two/ /category-two/subpage-two/
# END Old Site Redirects
# BEGIN W3TC Page Cache core
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =on
RewriteRule .* - [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} =443
RewriteRule .* - [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
RewriteCond %{HTTP:X-Forwarded-Proto} =https [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [E=W3TC_SSL:_ssl]
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Accept-Encoding} gzip
RewriteRule .* - [E=W3TC_ENC:_gzip]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} w3tc_preview [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [E=W3TC_PREVIEW:_preview]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} !=POST
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} =""
RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} !(comment_author|wp\-postpass|w3tc_logged_out|wordpress_logged_in|wptouch_switch_toggle) [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \/$
RewriteCond "%{DOCUMENT_ROOT}/wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/%{HTTP_HOST}/%{REQUEST_URI}/_index%{ENV:W3TC_SSL}%{ENV:W3TC_PREVIEW}.html%{ENV:W3TC_ENC}" -F
RewriteRule .* "/wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/%{HTTP_HOST}/%{REQUEST_URI}/_index%{ENV:W3TC_SSL}%{ENV:W3TC_PREVIEW}.html%{ENV:W3TC_ENC}" [L]
</IfModule>
# END W3TC Page Cache core
# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress
As you can see, I tried with normal Redirect, but what happens is URL http://example.com/category_one/sub_page_one/ redirects to https://example.com/category-one/sub_page_one/, so the desired result is only partial.
I managed to get the first of those redirects working
Although there's nothing in the .htaccess file you posted that appears to do this?
As you can see, I tried with normal Redirect, but what happens is URL
http://example.com/category_one/sub_page_one/redirects tohttps://example.com/category-one/sub_page_one/
Again, the directives you posted in the question won't perform such a redirect?! There's nothing that specifically redirects HTTP to HTTPS? So, if you are seeing such a redirect you are either seeing a cached response or WordPress itself is performing this redirect. (Although the category-two redirect(s) would produce such a result since they are in the wrong order - see below).
(Aside: In your example URLs you appear to be converting underscores (_) to hyphens (-) in the URL-path, however, you don't state this as a requirement and the resulting URL in your last (edited) example still contains underscores. So, I assume this is not a specific requirement and that source and target URLs can simply be different.)
You should avoid mixing mod_alias Redirect directives and mod_rewrite RewriteRule directives. The simpler Redirect directive is prefix matching and always executes after mod-rewrite, despite the apparent order in the config file.
The order of these directives can also be important. They may need to be in order of specificity (depending on the directive and/or regex used). If there is any ambiguity then the most specific rule needs to be first.
# BEGIN Old Site Redirects Redirect 301 /category_one/sub_page_one/ /category-one/subpage-one/ Redirect 301 /category_one/ /category-one/ Redirect 301 /category_two/ /category-two/ Redirect 301 /category_two/sub_page_two/ /category-two/subpage-two/ # END Old Site Redirects
Due to the prefix-matching nature of the Redirect directive, the last two rules are in the wrong order. The 4th rule will never get processed, and a request for /category_two/sub_page_two/ would get redirected to /category-two/sub_page_two/ (everything after the match is appended to the target).
Try changing the above to the following instead:
# BEGIN Old Site Redirects
RewriteRule ^category_one/?$ https://example.com/category-one/ [R=301,L]
RewriteRule ^category_one/sub_page_one/?$ https://example.com/category-one/subpage-one/ [R=301,L]
RewriteRule ^category_two/?$ https://example.com/category-two/ [R=301,L]
RewriteRule ^category_two/sub_page_two/?$ https://example.com/category-two/subpage-two/ [R=301,L]
# END Old Site Redirects
There is no slash prefix on the RewriteRule pattern when used in .htaccess. The regex /?$ allows for an optional trailing slash on the requested URL.
These directives also force HTTPS. (Rather than allowing WordPress to do this later (2nd redirect) - if that is how it is configured.)
Since these directives match specific URLs, the order is not important.
Test with 302 (temporary) redirects first to avoid potential caching issues associated with 301 (permanent) redirects.
You will need to clear your browser cache before testing.
However, if you have many "old" URLs then it would be more efficient to process this later in your application logic (ie. when your application determines that the request is not valid).
we moved from custom cms to WordPress about 2 years ago
You've had no redirects from "old" to "new" URLs in the past 2 years? It might be a bit late to get "the old page rank back". Have you confirmed (from your logs) that these "old" URLs are still being requested?