php redirects

**katy111** · 02-02-12

Hiya iv got a quick question on php redirects - If i have a website which is reading blah-blah.php and im moving the website to WP but WordPress doesn't end any files in .php even though they are php. Iv been told to put a redirect on there, to make sure you i don't drop any links will this get me penalized from google? Thanks

Katy

**dmorison** · 02-02-12

Hi Katy,

There's no reason why you can't use .php as part of a custom permalink structure in WordPress. The settings for how WordPress generates clean URLs are in wp-admin > Settings > Permalinks, so you choose Custom Structure and enter:

Code:

/%postname%.php

With that in place, if you create a post named Blah Blah it will take on the permalink /blah-blah.php (permalinks are lower cased and hyphenated) so if that matches your existing site page URLs and you're happy keeping .php in the URL that should be all you need to do.

A redirect on the other hand should be straight forward to add provided that there is a direct mapping between your old .php page names and the permalink structure being used on your WordPress site. Let's say your site is set-up to permalink to just:

Code:

/blah-blah

When permalinks are enabled, you'll find a file called .htaccess in the top level folder, and in that file you'll find this line (assuming WordPress is installed in the top level)

Code:

RewriteBase /

To add the redirect as you've been advised to do, you could add the following immediately after the above line:

Code:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^(.*).php$ $1 [L,R=301]

Or in English.. if the file requested doesn't already exist; then take the part in-front of .php and issue a 301 "Moved Permanently" redirect to same URL but without .php on the end...

Hope this helps!

Developer of the Price Tapestry Price Comparison Script now with full WordPress Plugin!

**dc000000** · 02-02-12

He's good isn't he

On the seo apsect I don't think it's an issue because it's not another file type - just that it is being re-written to look nice (so is already redirecting).

Some more info here also:

Does removing the .php / .html extension on your pages effect SEO ?

**Cheapdvds** · 02-02-12

Originally Posted by dc000000

He's good isn't he

On the seo apsect I don't think it's an issue because it's not another file type - just that it is being re-written to look nice (so is already redirecting).

Some more info here also:

Does removing the .php / .html extension on your pages effect SEO ?

now if only someone like dmorison created a replacement for affmeter , you would know that you had constant great support and it would actually work

**katy111** · 02-02-12

Hey, thanks everyone for getting back, going to try and get my head around all of that lol but if i get a bit stuck would you mind if i PM you dmorison?

Katy

**dmorison** · 02-02-12

Originally Posted by katy111

Hey, thanks everyone for getting back, going to try and get my head around all of that lol but if i get a bit stuck would you mind if i PM you dmorison?

Katy

No probs..!