Adding pretty-print URLs

Overview

Pretty-print URLs (permalinks) in WordPress transform meaningless URL patterns, e.g. index.php?page_id=123 into meaningful URLs, like /wordpress/adding-pretty-print-urls. Navigation is easier to view in the browser, plus it helps with SEO. Enabling pretty-print is a two-part process, add a few lines to your .htaccess and configure the display style in WordPress.

Permalinks before and after as seen in the browser.

Solution

1. Create a .htaccess file inside the document root for your WordPress site if it does not already exist.
2. Add the following lines to the .htaccess file

   <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteBase /
   RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L]
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
   RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
   </IfModule>

   • Files > File Manager works well for performing a quick edit on this file
3. Login to your WordPress admin portal, typically /wp-admin, e.g. http://example.com/wp-admin
4. Visit Settings > Permalinks to choose a permalink structure under Common Settings
   • we use a custom structure with the value /%category/%postname%/ since multiple categories could contain the same post title
     

5. Click Save Changes

See also

• WordPress Codex: Using Permalinks