Unable to remove query strings from URL using .htaccess

Question

My URLs look like http://example.com/?n=x. I want the URL to show as http://example.com/. I have used to approaches so far and none of them works.

First one is based on this question:

RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^n=1$ RewriteRule (.*) $1? [R=permanent]

After the answer below I modified the .htaccess file:

 ```RewriteEngine On
 RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^n=(.*)$
 RewriteRule (.*) $1? [R=permanent]```

but it still did not work. Here is the debugging info:

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^n=(.*)$   
This condition was met.


RewriteRule (.*) $1? [R=permanent]   
The new url is http://example.com/blog/cat/??
Test are stopped, a redirect will be made with status code permanent

Second approach is:

RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !^$ RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1 [QSD]

None of them seem to work.

I have a few more questions:

Does rewriting only work if the URL is not typed manually?
Can I still access the values of query strings in PHP?
What happens when a user copies the rewritten URL?

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 23 '16 at 03:58

0

The first approach is correct if you go to http://example.com/?n=1, if I am correct you should change ^n=1$ to ^n=(.*)$.

And the other questions:

It works for all kind. It doesn't matter if it was a robot or a human writing it, when you access a page, .htaccess will be read.
Yes you can. Use $_SERVER["QUERY_STRING"]. If you use the htaccess redirection before explained, you will lose them because you are redirecting.
What do you mean ?

answered Jun 23 '16 at 03:58

matiaslauriti

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Thanks for the answer @P0IT10n The URL is still not rewritten. – SanJeet Singh Jun 23 '16 at 04:14
Try adding between `RewriteEngine On` and `RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^n=(.*)$`, `RewriteBase /` – matiaslauriti Jun 23 '16 at 04:18
If still not working, try see if your `.htaccess` is been read. Use [this](http://htaccess.mwl.be/) to try HTACCESS rules – matiaslauriti Jun 23 '16 at 04:20
I have updated the question to add extra debugging information. :) – SanJeet Singh Jun 23 '16 at 04:30
You have used `http://example.com/blog/cat/??` what should be the correct output of that one ? – matiaslauriti Jun 23 '16 at 04:33
The final output is `http://example.com/blog/cat/??`. My original URL was `http://example.com/blog/cat/?n=1`. – SanJeet Singh Jun 23 '16 at 04:36
I found the fix to the `??`, change this `RewriteRule (.*) $1? [R=permanent]` to this `RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1? [R=permanent]` – matiaslauriti Jun 23 '16 at 04:44
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/115363/discussion-between-p0lt10n-and-sanjeet-singh). – matiaslauriti Jun 23 '16 at 05:00

Unable to remove query strings from URL using .htaccess

1 Answers1