Our site uses the following schema:
example.com/channels/channel_name?v=videoId I would like to be able to capture the channel_name directory and rewrite it as a query variable like so:
example.com/channels?watch=channel_name&v=videoId What would be the correct .htaccess syntax preserving any trailing parameter variables while masking the transformation from the user?
example.com/channels?watch=channel_name&v=videoId
It's still unclear exactly what you are trying to do here since you've not identified the script (ie. front-controller) that would actually handle this request. What is the name of the script that reads the URL parameters and ultimately serves the content?
You've stated that /channels is a physical directory on the filesystem (so the URL-path would need to at least end in a slash, ie. /channels/?watch=channel_name&v=videoId) so this isn't strictly a valid end-point for a rewrite (as it still requires additional rewriting to script that would actually do something). It would need to be of the form (assuming PHP):
example.com/channels/front-controller.php?watch=channel_name&v=videoId Where front-controller.php is the script that actually handles the request (ie. the front-controller).
In order to achieve this rewrite (from /channels/channel_name?v=videoId) you could do something like the following in the root .htaccess file:
RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(v=videoId)$ RewriteRule ^channels/([\w]+)$ channels/front-controller.php?watch=$1&%1 [QSA,L] Where the channel_name can consist of the characters a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and _ (which covers your example URL).
/channels/front-controller.php is the script that actually handles the request and returns the content. Although, this can be anywhere, it doesn't need to be in the /channels directory (in fact, it would be easier if it wasn't - to avoid potential conflicts).
%1 is a backreference to the captured group in the preceding CondPattern. ie. the value v=videoId. Saves repetition.
This is an internal rewrite - the URL that the user sees stays as /channels/channel_name?v=videoId.
I have a workaround solution:
RewriteRule ^channels/(.*)$ /watch/?channel=$1 [R=302,NC,QSA,L]
Although this is an external redirect - the URL the user sees is modified to the new URL. What file handles the request in this case? Is the v=videoId parameter not required?
/channels?watch=channel_name&v=videoId- this isn't really a valid endpoint (there is no file here) - what is the underlying filesystem path that accepts the request?example.com/channels. It is assumed that any directory after channels, e.g.; "channel_name", are virtual. Hence, something along the lines of:RewriteRule ^channels/(.*)$ /channels/ [R=302,NC,L]/channels/channel_name?v=videoId? You must already have some rewrites in place, otherwise that URL-path is not valid? Any new rewrites you require need to work with your existing rewrites./channels/channel_name/to just the "base" directory/channels/while appending any given directory "channel_name" as a query variable assigned to?watch=channel_name. That's where I'm stumped!/channels?watch=channel_name&v=videoId? If/channelsis a physical directory then rewriting to that URL makes no sense. eg. Are you using PHP, do you have an/channels/front-controller.phpscript that will handle this request?