URL Mod Rewrite Question...

AndyBlackSEO · 04-07-2009, 07:24 AM

Hi,

I am having problems getting a mod rewrite on my .htaccess file to work.

I have added the following code to the file........

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on

RewriteRule product-product-(.*)\.php product.php?product=$1

The original url is something like....

http://www.mysite.co.uk/product.php?...%20highlighter

and I want the url to rewrite to..........

Example: http://www.mysite.co.uk/product-prod...ighlighter.php

I have used a website tool to create this rewrite. Is there a reason this wouldn't work?

Ideally, i'd like to rewrite the over url to something like.........

http://www.mysite.com/product/Malmo-...th-highlighter

I also have another url to rewrite to something like.......

http://www.mysite.com/category/Highlighter-Pens

Could anyone point me in the right direction of how I could do this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks

Andy

ehicks727 · 04-07-2009, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyBlackSEO

RewriteRule product-product-(.*).php product.php?product=$1

First of all, I don't know why you have product in the matching URL twice... that's kind of awkward. Anyway, try something like this... I don't know if this will work or not btw, I'm not a mod_rewrite wizard... I just search and experiment until I find my answers.

RewriteRule ^product-product-(.*)$ /product.php?product=$1

As far as...

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyBlackSEO

Ideally, i'd like to rewrite the over url to something like.........

http://www.mysite.com/product/Malmo-...th-highlighter

You have to do that in your code. In pseudo-code, it would look like this...

1. rewrite the url
2. grab what ever is after "product/"
3. check the database for a match
4. if it doesn't match, display 404
5. if it does match, display page

AndyBlackSEO · 04-07-2009, 09:30 AM

Thanks ehics,

Unfortunately that doesn't do anything. Whatever I seem to add just has no effect on anything.

I contact my host last week and they said all I had to do was add the correct code to the .htaccess file which I have done. Nothing else needs to be 'turned on' according to them.

I'm a bit stuck. If it changed something then at least i'd know I was on the right track but whatever I add to the .htaccess file, it doesn't make the blindest bit of difference.

Andy

Philarmon · 04-07-2009, 07:47 PM

Just took a quick look on how my rewrites look like (i'm not a htaccess guru as well

)

Looks a bit different - maybe you want to try it out:

RewriteRule ^product-product-([^-]*).php$ /product.php?product=$1 [L]

Note that there is no "\" before the .php

Not sure but it might be the spaces in the product name that are causing problems ? I never have any spaces in an URL.

Another option would be to track the products with an id and add the product name just for the SEO purposes. Let's say the product id in your database is 556. Within your product name, replace all spaces with "-" before you add it to the URL so the URL looks like this:

http://www.mysite.com/product/556-Ma...th-highlighter

Then this rewrite would definately do the job:

RewriteRule ^product-product/([0-9]*)-([^-]*)$ /product.php?id=$1 [L]

Then just get the product data by id rather than by product name within your product.php script (should be faster to get a int rather than varchar from the database as well)

Hope that helps

AndyBlackSEO · 04-08-2009, 05:23 AM

Hi thanks! I'll try that out now. I would normally use an id, but because I wanted to use the product name or category name within the url I setup the system this way. As I programmed my system to not add duplicate product names I thought this would be ideal for SEO.

I'll give your url syntax a go and see what happens.

Thanks!

Andy

AndyBlackSEO · 04-08-2009, 05:29 AM

Just tried that and there is no difference to the displayed url at all. I'll spend the rest of the day trying to work this out otherwise i'll just get the site indexed with dynamic urls... which isn't what I wanted to do.

If you have any other ideas why it is not noticing the rewrite i'd love to hear them.

Thanks

Andy

AndyBlackSEO · 04-08-2009, 09:59 AM

My host said that I can't just do a mod rewrite using the .htaccess. He said with it using a mySQL databse I have to set the rule in the mySQL queries?!

Does anybody understand this or steer me in the right direction. I'm stuck.

Thanks

Andy

AndyBlackSEO · 04-09-2009, 10:30 AM

Thanks Guys, but i've managed to sort everything now :-)

04-07-2009, 07:24 AM	#1
AndyBlackSEO www.linkabyss.com War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: , , United Kingdom. Posts: 833 Thanks: 18 Thanked 71 Times in 60 Posts	URL Mod Rewrite Question... Hi, I am having problems getting a mod rewrite on my .htaccess file to work. I have added the following code to the file........ Options +FollowSymLinks RewriteEngine on RewriteRule product-product-(.*)\.php product.php?product=$1 The original url is something like.... http://www.mysite.co.uk/product.php?...%20highlighter and I want the url to rewrite to.......... Example: http://www.mysite.co.uk/product-prod...ighlighter.php I have used a website tool to create this rewrite. Is there a reason this wouldn't work? Ideally, i'd like to rewrite the over url to something like......... http://www.mysite.com/product/Malmo-...th-highlighter I also have another url to rewrite to something like....... http://www.mysite.com/category/Highlighter-Pens Could anyone point me in the right direction of how I could do this? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks Andy
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04-07-2009, 09:30 AM	#3
AndyBlackSEO www.linkabyss.com War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: , , United Kingdom. Posts: 833 Thanks: 18 Thanked 71 Times in 60 Posts	Re: URL Mod Rewrite Question... Thanks ehics, Unfortunately that doesn't do anything. Whatever I seem to add just has no effect on anything. I contact my host last week and they said all I had to do was add the correct code to the .htaccess file which I have done. Nothing else needs to be 'turned on' according to them. I'm a bit stuck. If it changed something then at least i'd know I was on the right track but whatever I add to the .htaccess file, it doesn't make the blindest bit of difference. Andy
	NEW Online Article Creator! Now includes brand NEW content research feature! FREE Article Rewriting Tool - Rewrite Existing Articles With Ease! Brand NEW Tool Just Launched! Brand NEW SEO Software Launching Soon! Link ABYSS One Way Link Building System - Offering Full Control And Flexibility Of Where You Obtain Your Links

04-07-2009, 07:47 PM	#4
Philarmon Philipp Kostin War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 53 Thanks: 8 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: URL Mod Rewrite Question... Just took a quick look on how my rewrites look like (i'm not a htaccess guru as well ) Looks a bit different - maybe you want to try it out: RewriteRule ^product-product-([^-]).php$ /product.php?product=$1 [L] Note that there is no "\" before the .php Not sure but it might be the spaces in the product name that are causing problems ? I never have any spaces in an URL. Another option would be to track the products with an id and add the product name just for the SEO purposes. Let's say the product id in your database is 556. Within your product name, replace all spaces with "-" before you add it to the URL so the URL looks like this: http://www.mysite.com/product/556-Ma...th-highlighter Then this rewrite would definately do the job: RewriteRule ^product-product/([0-9])-([^-]*)$ /product.php?id=$1 [L] Then just get the product data by id rather than by product name within your product.php script (should be faster to get a int rather than varchar from the database as well) Hope that helps

04-08-2009, 05:23 AM	#5
AndyBlackSEO www.linkabyss.com War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: , , United Kingdom. Posts: 833 Thanks: 18 Thanked 71 Times in 60 Posts	Re: URL Mod Rewrite Question... Hi thanks! I'll try that out now. I would normally use an id, but because I wanted to use the product name or category name within the url I setup the system this way. As I programmed my system to not add duplicate product names I thought this would be ideal for SEO. I'll give your url syntax a go and see what happens. Thanks! Andy
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04-08-2009, 05:29 AM	#6
AndyBlackSEO www.linkabyss.com War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: , , United Kingdom. Posts: 833 Thanks: 18 Thanked 71 Times in 60 Posts	Re: URL Mod Rewrite Question... Just tried that and there is no difference to the displayed url at all. I'll spend the rest of the day trying to work this out otherwise i'll just get the site indexed with dynamic urls... which isn't what I wanted to do. If you have any other ideas why it is not noticing the rewrite i'd love to hear them. Thanks Andy
	NEW Online Article Creator! Now includes brand NEW content research feature! FREE Article Rewriting Tool - Rewrite Existing Articles With Ease! Brand NEW Tool Just Launched! Brand NEW SEO Software Launching Soon! Link ABYSS One Way Link Building System - Offering Full Control And Flexibility Of Where You Obtain Your Links

04-08-2009, 09:59 AM	#7
AndyBlackSEO www.linkabyss.com War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: , , United Kingdom. Posts: 833 Thanks: 18 Thanked 71 Times in 60 Posts	Re: URL Mod Rewrite Question... My host said that I can't just do a mod rewrite using the .htaccess. He said with it using a mySQL databse I have to set the rule in the mySQL queries?! Does anybody understand this or steer me in the right direction. I'm stuck. Thanks Andy
	NEW Online Article Creator! Now includes brand NEW content research feature! FREE Article Rewriting Tool - Rewrite Existing Articles With Ease! Brand NEW Tool Just Launched! Brand NEW SEO Software Launching Soon! Link ABYSS One Way Link Building System - Offering Full Control And Flexibility Of Where You Obtain Your Links

04-09-2009, 10:30 AM	#8
AndyBlackSEO www.linkabyss.com War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: , , United Kingdom. Posts: 833 Thanks: 18 Thanked 71 Times in 60 Posts	Re: URL Mod Rewrite Question... Thanks Guys, but i've managed to sort everything now :-)
	NEW Online Article Creator! Now includes brand NEW content research feature! FREE Article Rewriting Tool - Rewrite Existing Articles With Ease! Brand NEW Tool Just Launched! Brand NEW SEO Software Launching Soon! Link ABYSS One Way Link Building System - Offering Full Control And Flexibility Of Where You Obtain Your Links