In the world of web development, there's a concept called URL rewriting. It might sound fancy, but it's a powerful tool that can make your blog's URLs cleaner and easier to manage.
This tutorial will guide you through enabling URL rewriting on your Blogger blog hosted on a custom domain (like blogs.erickouassi.com).
Side Note: This guide uses https://erickouassi.blogspot.com and www.blogs.erickouassi.com as examples. Remember to replace these with your actual custom domain name and its version with "www" prefixed throughout the code and explanations!
What are we achieving?
This code snippet will handle two things:
- Redirecting the root domain: If someone visits
blogs.erickouassi.comorwww.blogs.erickouassi.com, they'll be automatically redirected to your main blog athttps://erickouassi.blogspot.com/. This ensures consistency and avoids confusion. - Preserving URL structure: If someone visits a specific page on
blogs.erickouassi.com(likehttps://blogs.erickouassi.com/about), they'll be redirected to the corresponding page on your Blogger blog (https://erickouassi.blogspot.com/about). This maintains the structure of your URLs for a seamless user experience.
Before we begin:
- This guide assumes you have a custom domain set up for your Blogger blog and access to edit your website's configuration files.
- Basic familiarity with code will be helpful, but no worries, we'll break it down step-by-step.
Let's get started!
- Locate your .htaccess file: This file controls your website's behavior. It might be hidden, so you might need to enable "Show hidden files" in your file manager. Look for a file named
.htaccessin the root directory of yourblogs.erickouassi.comdomain. - Add the code snippet: Paste the entire code block you provided into the
.htaccessfile. Make sure you don't accidentally add extra spaces or modify the code itself. - Save and upload: Save the changes to your
.htaccessfile and upload it back to your server.
Explanation of the code:
RewriteEngine on: This line enables the URL rewriting engine.RewriteOptions inherit: This line ensures that rewrite rules defined in higher directories (like your hosting provider's configuration) are also considered.RewriteCond: These lines check the website's hostname (HTTP_HOST) to see if it matchesblogs.erickouassi.com(with or withoutwww).RewriteRule: These lines define the rewriting rules. The first rule redirects the root domain (^/$) to your Blogger blog with a permanent (301) redirect. The second rule rewrites any other URL onblogs.erickouassi.comto the corresponding URL on your Blogger blog, preserving the structure ((.*)captures any part of the URL after the domain).
Testing your changes:
Once you've uploaded the modified .htaccess file, try visiting blogs.erickouassi.com and www.blogs.erickouassi.com in your web browser. You should be automatically redirected to your Blogger blog. You can also try visiting specific pages on blogs.erickouassi.com to see if they redirect correctly.
Troubleshooting:
- If you encounter any issues, like broken links or unexpected behavior, check your
.htaccessfile for any typos or errors. You can also try temporarily disabling theRewriteEngineline to see if it resolves the problem. - If you're unsure about making these changes yourself, consider consulting your hosting provider's documentation or seeking help from a web developer.
By implementing this code, you've improved your blog's user experience with cleaner URLs and ensured consistency across your domain. Now your visitors can navigate your blog with ease!
Disclaimer: Modifying your website's configuration files can potentially cause issues. Be sure to back up your .htaccess file before making any changes.
Share the Knowledge!
We all benefit from a more informed blogging community. If you found this guide helpful, consider sharing it with your fellow Blogger friends or on social media!