Remove PHP extension from URL
I always found the .php at the end of some website pages I visit (and when I used wordpress) very unattractive and annoying. I wanted to remove it. I found a way to do it using .htaccess file. I will show you how to do it. If you want to remove the .php, .html, or .htm extensions from your website’s URLs, you can do so by using the .htaccess file. This file is a configuration file that allows you to control various aspects of your website’s behavior, including how URLs are displayed to visitors. We will rely on the .htaccess ability to rewrite URLs to remove the extensions from the URLs.
The first thing is to make sure that your website is hosted on a server that supports the use of .htaccess files. Not all servers support this file, so check with your hosting provider if you’re not sure. There are many servers that do not support .htaccess files, so if you’re using one of these, you’ll need to find another way to remove the extensions from your URLs. One famous example of the server that supports .htaccess files is Apache.
We create the .htaccess file in the root directory which is usually the same directory as your index.php or index.html file. You can create the file using any text editor. If you’re using a Mac, you can use TextEdit. If you’re using Windows, you can use Notepad. If you’re using Linux, you can use any text editor you like. You can also use an FTP client to create the file. If you’re using FileZilla, you can right-click on the root directory and select New File. Then, you can name the file .htaccess and save it.
P.S: I don’t recommend using FTP protocol to create the .htaccess file. It’s better to use SFTP or SSH protocol. I know that this might not be possible for some people on some shared hosting plans, but if you have the option, I recommend using SFTP or SSH protocol.
Now, we need to add the following code to the .htaccess file:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.php -f
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1.php
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.html -f
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1.html
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.htm -f
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1.htm
This code tells the server to rewrite any URL that ends in .php, .html, or .htm to the same URL without the extension. For example, if a visitor requests the URL www.melashri.net/about.php, the server will rewrite the URL to www.melashri.net/about and serve the content from the about.php file.
If you’re using WordPress, you can add this code to the .htaccess file in the root directory of your WordPress installation. If you’re using another CMS, you can add this code to the .htaccess file in the root directory of your website. Save your .htaccess file and upload it to your server. Your changes should take effect immediately, and you should now be able to access your website’s pages without the extensions.
It’s worth noting that removing the extensions from your URLs can make it harder for search engines to understand the content of your pages. You may want to consider using other methods, such as using descriptive URLs or using the rel=“canonical” tag, to help search engines understand the content of your pages. For example if you have a page with the URL www.melashri.net/about.php, you can use the rel=“canonical” tag to tell search engines that the page with the URL www.melashri.net/about is the canonical version of the page. This will help search engines understand that the page with the URL www.melashri.net/about is the same page as the page with the URL www.melashri.net/about.php. The code for the rel=“canonical” tag is as follows:
<link rel="canonical" href="https://www.melashri.net/about" />
You can add this code to the head section of your page. You can also add this code to the .htaccess file. If you’re using WordPress, you can add this code to the functions.php file in your theme’s directory. If you’re using another CMS, you can add this code to the header.php file in your theme’s directory. You can also add this code to the index.php file in your theme’s directory. If you’re using a static website (like me), you can add this code to the index.html file in your website’s root directory.