Question

I have the following PHP code:

   <?php  
    if(isset($_GET['article']))
    {
        echo "<b>success</b>";
    }
 ?>

And this html:

<a href="http://localhost/PHPTest/index.php?article_27" >Click me</a>

I am trying to come up with my own url.

By doing so, I try to use mod_rewrite(). This is what is in my .htaccess:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /PHPTest/

RewriteRule ^article_([0-9]+)$ index.php?article=$1

As you can see, I try to get the article get variable..

This however doesnt work.. The htaccess does not comprehend artcile_27, for example, as article=27..

Why is that?

What should happen is that the success word should be printed whenever I press the link. The problem is that it does not.

Answer 1

Your rule should be:

RewriteRule ^index.php?article_([0-9]+)$ index.php?article=$1

However, I’d question the use of mod_rewrite in this way.

First of all, if your url is always just index.php?article_27 then you can get directly at “article_27” using $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'], without mod_rewrite at all.

If you’re going to use mod_rewrite, why not have your URL be /PHPTest/article/27?

RewriteRule ^article/([0-9]+) index.php?article=$1

The above will also allow /PHPTest/article/27/title_of_article_here, which gives you two nice things: the ID is still there so it’s easy to retrieve server-side, and the name is in the URL so it’s nice to read as a human and helps search engines. If you look in your URL bar now, you’ll notice stackoverflow itself uses this method.