Apache Mod_rewrite - seo and more!

[mneylon]

One of the most powerful tools that you can use both for SEO and general site management is to get to grips with mod_rewrite

What does it do?

What doesn't it do!

Seriously though.. mod_rewrite allows you to control and rewrite URIs to suit your needs. You can turn ugly ?=45sd type junk into meaningful and more attractive URIs that both your readers and search engines can take advantage of

For some basic information check out the Apache documentation:
Apache module mod_rewrite - for Apache 1.3.*

Apache 1.3 URL Rewriting Guide - more detailed with examples

If you want to get your hands dirty then this site is an excellent resource:
mod_rewrite Cheat Sheet - Apache - ILoveJackDaniels.com

 

[Cormac]

i have attempted to set this up tonight...
i have ssh'd into my server and i have got the editor up to edit the httpd.conf file...
LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so is uncommented

but i couldn't find ClearModuleList or AddModule mod_rewrite.c to ensure that they each had the correct settings appointed to them. I was following this info > Enable mod_rewrite on Apache

Can i copy the entire httpd.conf file to a clip board and view it in notepad so i can search for the keywords, it would make things a lot easier for me.

I was using putty and there is a clipboard option but it copied the commands and not the actuall file content...

 

[mneylon]

As you are using windows (yes I do read the server logs!) I'd recommend you get WinSCP :: Freeware SFTP and SCP client for Windows so that you can download the files without getting a headache?

Which linux distribution are you using?

 

[Cormac]

Thanks, i'll check out that app now...
edit:that app looks interesting, i opened a terminal within it and attemped to edit the file again in the hope of being able to copy it and it crashed on me :-(

I'm using Ubuntu ( i presume you mean which i'm using personally at home and not which one the server uses?)

 

[mneylon]

Now you are confusing me

If you are using ubuntu on your desktop then you already have scp, as it's part of ssh

What is running on the server?

 

[Cormac]

i'm using windows 2000 at the moment
i have ubuntu but it's switched off

Fedora is on the server

 

[mneylon]

Ok. You should just be able to uncomment the LoadModule directive and give apache a HUP via

/etc/init.d/httpd reload

 

[georgiecasey]

If you have mod_rewrite in a Load Module in the httpd.conf file, what else do you have to do? Have you just tried restarting and seeing if rewriting works. Yeah, rewrite is very powerful, I wish I knew about it from the start. Around 2002, I was spending ages trying to get my PHP scripts to create search-engine friendly directories and files to mimic mod_rewrite. Was very messy.

 

[louie]

check this out for some help:

URL Rewriting - Create Search Engine Friendly URLs