Update URL Snippet to Canonical Permalink URL

4 comments

1. Why?

   I think the reason why

   a) domain.com/123
   

   is not redirected back to

   b) domain.com/123/post-slug
   

   with the /%post_id%/%postname%/ permalinks settings, is that the matched rule is:

   [matched_rule] => ([0-9]+)(/[0-9]+)?/?$
   

   You can get that information from the global $wp object.

   There are other useful informations in $wpavailable after the wp action:

   Example (post): domain.com/123/post-slug/

   [query_vars] => Array
       (
           [p] => 123
           [page] => 
           [name] => post-slug
       )
   
   [query_string] => p=123&name=post-slug
   [request] => 123/post-slug
   [matched_rule] => ([0-9]+)/([^/]+)(/[0-9]+)?/?$
   [matched_query] => p=123&name=post-slug&page=
   [did_permalink] => 1
   

   Example (post): domain.com/123/:

   [query_vars] => Array
       (
           [p] => 123
           [page] => 
       )
   [query_string] => p=123
   [request] => 123
   [matched_rule] => ([0-9]+)(/[0-9]+)?/?$
   [matched_query] => p=123&page=
   [did_permalink] => 1
   

   Example (page): domain.com/hello-world/:

   [query_vars] => Array
       (
           [page] => 
           [pagename] => hello-world
       )
   
   [query_string] => pagename=hello-world
   [request] => hello-world
   [matched_rule] => (.?.+?)(/[0-9]+)?/?$
   [matched_query] => pagename=hello-world&page=
   [did_permalink] => 1
   

   Redirect example:

   Here’s an example how to redirect from a) to b) using information from the global $wp object:

   add_action( 'wp', function(){
       global $wp;
       if( is_numeric( $wp->request ) && empty( $wp->query_vars['page'] ) )
       {
           wp_redirect( get_permalink( absint( $wp->request ) ), 301 );
           exit();
       }
   });
   

   i.e. we redirect when the page query varaible is not set and the request is numeric.

   ps: I just want to mention that this is using the wp action, that is fired rather late, but before the template_redirect action, allowing the redirect possible.

   I also tried to come up with an example that is not using the $_SERVER variable 😉

   Hope this helps.

2. The shortlink of a WordPress post is on default domain.com/?p=30, not the Id after the domain. If you like a permalink to the ID as shortlink for each post, then is this possible via a plugin.

   The follow source is a example.

   add_filter('get_shortlink', 'fb_custom_shortlink_filter');
   function fb_custom_shortlink_filter() {
       global $post;
   
       return get_site_url() . '/fb/' . $post->ID;
   }
   

   

   But if you will use the page in the front end with this new short url, is a rewrite important. Below a solution for php and a enhancement in the htaccess.

   Add the source in a plugin and add this to the front end or add in the theme file index.php. The source check the value token from the url. This is only possible ,if you enhance the url via mor_rewrite modul in the .htaccess, see below.

   if ( ! empty( $_GET['token'] ) ) {
     $id = strip_tags( $_GET['token'] );
     if ( is_numeric( $id ) ) {
       header( $_SERVER['SERVER_PROTOCOL'].' 301 Moved Permanently' );
       header( 'Location: ' . get_site_url() . '?p=' . $id );
       exit();
     }
   }
   
   header( $_SERVER['SERVER_PROTOCOL'] . ' 404 Not Found' );
   header( 'Status:404' );
   die( '404 Not Found' )
   

   The rewrite inside the .htaccess

     RewriteEngine on
     RewriteCond   %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
     RewriteCond   %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
     RewriteRule   (.*) index.php?token=$1 [QSA,L]
   

3. This is the closest I got. It makes URLs like what you wanted work: domain.com/123

   // refresh/flush permalinks in the dashboard if this is changed in any way
   add_filter( 'generate_rewrite_rules', 'create_post_id_url' );
   function create_post_id_url( $wp_rewrite ) {
       $feed_rules = array(
           '(d+)' => 'index.php?p='.$wp_rewrite->preg_index(1)
       );
       $wp_rewrite->rules = $feed_rules + $wp_rewrite->rules;
   }
   

   Add this anywhere (e.g. in functions.php), go to Settings > Permalinks and then Save.

   ---

   The only issue with this approach is that the the user will stay on domain.com/123 and won’t be redirected to the canonical version (domain.com/123/post-name). It’s not really much of an issue since you already have a canonical link in the <head> of the website, so it’s not an issue for search engines. It could actually be considered an advantage since the user doesn’t have to wait for a redirect.

   ---

   The alternative would be just using links like domain.com/?p=123. They are only 3 characters longer and don’t add any load on the server — they already work.

   ---

   In the end, why do you even need short urls? Twitter automatically shortens all URLs, I do not see any need to do it nowadays, they just impair the readability of URLs.

4. You can use the following htaccess rule for redirecting domain.com/post-id to domain.com/post-id/post-slug.

   RedirectMatch 301 ^/(d+)$ http://domain.com/?p=$1
   

   Put this rule on top of the WordPress’s default rules.

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