For a deep dive, check out the $wp_rewrite class documentation<\/a>. It\u2019s filled with useful information and examples. You can add most of the code directly to your theme\u2019s functions.php<\/strong> file. Let\u2019s first explore the default rewrite rules that come with WordPress.<\/p>\n By making the I included this code snippet in my theme\u2019s page.php<\/strong> file. It displays a large array that might seem confusing at first. However, if you View Source<\/strong> on your webpage, you\u2019ll find it easier to understand how each rewrite rule corresponds to a specific filename. For instance, let\u2019s examine the rules for category rewrites:<\/p>\n The part inside the brackets on the left is the Apache RewriteRule to look for. It starts with \/category\/<\/em> followed by any string of characters. When this pattern is matched, the server knows to use WordPress has a class called When you visit the Permalinks settings in WordPress, you can change the URL structures for categories and tags. However, strangely, there\u2019s no option to change the author URL structure.<\/p>\n You can use the You can use this function without needing the To use this method, you\u2019ll need to access the global If you want to include multiple pages and RSS feeds, you can expand the array. You can either create a PHP function to add more data to the array<\/a> or separate the data blocks with commas. Here\u2019s an updated version of the code:<\/p>\n Remember, these changes won\u2019t take effect until you\u2019ve updated the original URL rewrite rules. You\u2019ll need to do this every time you modify these functions. After that, your new rules will stay in place.<\/p>\n Changes to the URL rewrite code don\u2019t happen instantly. You need to update the .htaccess file for the new code to work. Doing this every time a page loads is inefficient because it writes to the database and refreshes the .htaccess file.<\/p>\n A better way is to go to your permalinks page in the WordPress admin panel and save the changes again. This triggers a flush_rewrite_rules<\/a>, so you don\u2019t have to worry about loading issues for users. You only need to save the page once to update all the rules.<\/p>\n In the This feature is commonly used in WordPress plugin development. For example, you can redirect a custom URL like Many WordPress users recommend hiding the actual paths to theme files. For instance, you might want to access files in the Normally, WordPress routes all content through a single file, usually index.php. But if you want to hide the paths to your theme files, you\u2019ll need to set up rules for multiple files.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve created a new function called The advantage of using these non-WordPress rules is flexibility. You can still use the old URL format if you want. For example:<\/p>\n But it\u2019s much cleaner to use:<\/p>\n If you\u2019re new to coding custom URLs, don\u2019t worry-it can be challenging at first. But practice makes perfect! To help you get started, here are some useful tools and plugins. You might not need all of them, but they\u2019re great resources for anyone working with WordPress URL rewrites.<\/p>\n This plugin is essential for beginners in URL rewriting. It doesn\u2019t modify your website\u2019s existing rules; it simply lets you test your code to see how URLs will redirect. It\u2019s also useful for testing custom query variables for any custom post types.<\/p>\n This plugin is similar to Monkeyman Rewrite Analyzer, but it doesn\u2019t allow you to test your own rules. Instead, it displays all the default WordPress rules and their corresponding redirects. It shows key properties of This plugin offers a different approach to creating new page redirects. It comes with an admin panel where you can edit various settings, including your author and page bases. You can also add your own custom .htaccess rules directly.<\/p>\nContent of $wp_rewrite->rules<\/h3>\n
$wp_rewrite<\/code> class global, you can access its internal data. Your custom rules will be stored in an array named $wp_rewrite->rules<\/code>. Keep this variable in mind, as you\u2019ll likely refer to it multiple times during development.<\/p>\n\r\n<div><code>\r\n <?php\r\n global $wp_rewrite;\r\n print_r($wp_rewrite->rules);\r\n ?>\r\n<\/code><\/div>\r\n<\/pre>\n
\r\n[category\/(.+?)\/?$] => index.php?category_name=$matches[1]\r\n<\/pre>\n
index.php?category_name=<\/code> and replace the variable at the end.<\/p>\nHow to Set Up Custom Permalinks<\/h2>\n
$wp_rewrite<\/code> that offers various options for URL structures. You can access properties like $wp_rewrite->category_base<\/code> or $wp_rewrite->author_base<\/code> to get the default URL settings. You can also create your own custom URL rules.<\/p>\nChanging the Author URL Structure<\/h3>\n
add_rewrite_rule()<\/code> function from WordPress to add new URL settings. For example, I\u2019ve changed the default \/author\/<\/strong> to \/writer\/<\/strong>. You can choose any base you like. Below is a code snippet that you can add to your theme\u2019s functions.php<\/code> file to make these changes.<\/p>\n\r\nadd_action('init', 'add_author_rules');\r\n\r\nfunction add_author_rules() {\r\n add_rewrite_rule(\r\n \"writer\/([^\/]+)\/?\",\r\n \"index.php?author_name=$matches[1]\",\r\n \"top\"\r\n );\r\n\r\n add_rewrite_rule(\r\n \"writer\/([^\/]+)\/page\/?([0-9]{1,})\/?\",\r\n \"index.php?author_name=$matches[1]&paged=$matches[2]\",\r\n \"top\"\r\n );\r\n\r\n add_rewrite_rule(\r\n \"writer\/([^\/]+)\/(feed|rdf|rss|rss2|atom)\/?\",\r\n \"index.php?author_name=$matches[1]&feed=$matches[2]\",\r\n \"top\"\r\n );\r\n\r\n add_rewrite_rule(\r\n \"writer\/([^\/]+)\/feed\/(feed|rdf|rss|rss2|atom)\/?\",\r\n \"index.php?author_name=$matches[1]&feed=$matches[2]\",\r\n \"top\"\r\n );\r\n}\r\n<\/pre>\n$wp_rewrite<\/code> variable. Some developers prefer this approach because it\u2019s easier than using class properties. However, be aware that this method may not work consistently for all WordPress setups. You can also add these rules after updating your .htaccess file (explained later).<\/p>\nHow to Set Up Author URLs Using generate_rewrite_rules<\/h3>\n
$wp_rewrite<\/code> class. Then, create a new variable called $new_rules<\/code> that holds an array of data. The example code below sets up URL rewriting for basic author pages.<\/p>\n\r\nfunction generate_author_rewrite_rules() {\r\n global $wp_rewrite;\r\n $new_rules = array(\r\n \"writer\/([^\/]+)\/?\" => \"index.php?author_name=\" . $wp_rewrite->preg_index(1)\r\n );\r\n $wp_rewrite->rules = $new_rules + $wp_rewrite->rules;\r\n}\r\n<\/pre>\n\r\nfunction generate_author_rewrite_rules() {\r\n global $wp_rewrite;\r\n $new_rules = array(\r\n \"writer\/([^\/]+)\/?\" => \"index.php?author_name=\" . $wp_rewrite->preg_index(1),\r\n \"writer\/([^\/]+)\/page\/?([0-9]{1,})\/?\" => \"index.php?author_name=\" . $wp_rewrite->preg_index(1) . \"&paged=\" . $wp_rewrite->preg_index(2),\r\n \"writer\/([^\/]+)\/(feed|rdf|rss|rss2|atom)\/?\" => \"index.php?author_name=\" . $wp_rewrite->preg_index(1) . \"&feed=\" . $wp_rewrite->preg_index(2),\r\n \"writer\/([^\/]+)\/feed\/(feed|rdf|rss|rss2|atom)\/?\" => \"index.php?author_name=\" . $wp_rewrite->preg_index(1) . \"&feed=\" . $wp_rewrite->preg_index(2)\r\n );\r\n $wp_rewrite->rules = $new_rules + $wp_rewrite->rules;\r\n}\r\n<\/pre>\nHow to Update URL Rewrite Rules<\/h3>\n
How to Use Non-WordPress Rules<\/h2>\n
$wp_rewrite<\/code> class, you can find many options. One important option is $wp_rewrite->non_wp_rules<\/code>. This is an array that stores redirects that don\u2019t go through the index.php file.<\/p>\n\/calendar\/june-2012\/<\/code> to a specific file in your website\u2019s backend, like \/wp-content\/plugins\/calendarplug\/myscript.php<\/code>. Below, you\u2019ll find a detailed example that explains how to use this array for custom rewrite rules.<\/p>\nHow to Hide Your Theme Files<\/h3>\n
\/wp-content\/themes\/mytheme\/<\/code> folder using a cleaner URL. To do this, you\u2019ll need to set up some special WordPress rewrite rules.<\/p>\n\r\nadd_action('generate_rewrite_rules', 'themes_dir_add_rewrites');\r\n\r\nfunction themes_dir_add_rewrites() {\r\n $theme_name = next(explode('\/themes\/', get_stylesheet_directory()));\r\n \r\n global $wp_rewrite;\r\n $new_non_wp_rules = array(\r\n 'css\/(.*)' => 'wp-content\/themes\/' . $theme_name . '\/css\/$1',\r\n 'js\/(.*)' => 'wp-content\/themes\/' . $theme_name . '\/js\/$1',\r\n 'images\/wordpress-urls-rewrite\/(.*)' => 'wp-content\/themes\/' . $theme_name . '\/images\/wordpress-urls-rewrite\/$1',\r\n );\r\n $wp_rewrite->non_wp_rules += $new_non_wp_rules;\r\n}\r\n<\/pre>\nthemes_dir_add_rewrites()<\/code>. This function takes the long URLs and redirects them to shorter, cleaner ones. It uses the non_wp_rules<\/code> option in the $wp_rewrite<\/code> class, which allows for server-side handling instead of routing through WordPress\u2019s index.php.<\/p>\n\/wp-content\/themes\/mytheme\/images\/wordpress-urls-rewrite\/logo.jpg<\/code><\/p>\n\/images\/wordpress-urls-rewrite\/logo.jpg<\/code> instead.<\/p>\nUseful Tools and Plugins for URL Rewriting<\/h2>\n
Monkeyman Rewrite Analyzer<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"Monkeyman](\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/wordpress-urls-rewrite\/rewrite-analyzer-screen2.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nAskApache RewriteRules Viewer<\/a><\/h3>\n
$wp_rewrite<\/code>, like permalink settings and bases for pages, categories, and tags.<\/p>\n![\"AskApache](\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/wordpress-urls-rewrite\/askapache-rewrite-plugins-root.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nWP htaccess Control<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"WP](\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/wordpress-urls-rewrite\/wp-htaccess-control.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nRewrite Rule Tester<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"Rewrite](\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/wordpress-urls-rewrite\/rewrite-rules-tester-webapp.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n