19 Aug, 2007
Removing file extension via .htaccess
Web Development » Snippets » Removing file extension via .htaccess
Problem:
You have the following URLs for your website:
www.example.com/about-us.html
www.example.com/services.html
www.example.com/contact-us.html
However, you would like to hide file extensions from the end users, and allow them to access to the files using the following URLs:
www.example.com/about-us
www.example.com/services
www.example.com/contact-us
Solution:
The solution can be achieved by using Apache’s mod_rewrite. Create an .htaccess file in your website root directory with the following content.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}!-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}!-f
RewriteRule ^([^.]+)\.html$ $1 [L]
# Replace html with your file extension, eg: php, htm, asp
Correction
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.html -f
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1.html
# Replace html with your file extension, eg: php, htm, asp
Many thanks to Binh Nguyen (Commenter #1) for the correction
To add a trailing slash at the end of the URL
(for example: http://www.example.com/about-us/ to go to http://www.example.com/about-us.html)
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.html -f
RewriteRule ^([^/]+)/$ $1.html
# Forces a trailing slash to be added
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(\.[a-zA-Z0-9]{1,5}|/)$
RewriteRule (.*)$ /$1/ [R=301,L]
Benefits:
- Search engine friendly
- Easier to read and remember
- Extension/environment independent; when you change the technology used for your website (for eg: from using asp to php), you can be assured that all the links and bookmarks will still work.
Technorati Tags: htaccess, mod rewrite, url rewriting, nice urls, seo
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