URL Rewriting Tool

A URL rewriting tool generates the Apache mod_rewrite rules (.htaccess RewriteRule directives) that turn ugly, technical URLs into clean, readable ones — transforming product.php?id=42&cat=shoes into /shoes/product-42. The clean URL is what visitors see; the rewrite rule maps it invisibly to the real script behind it.

Clean URLs matter for SEO and usability: they're readable (users trust and remember them), keyword-bearing (a small ranking help), and shareable (no cryptic parameters). URL rewriting is how you get them without restructuring your actual files.

Specify your URL pattern — the clean form you want and the real URL it maps to — and generate the RewriteRule code for your .htaccess.

Common rewrites: query strings to paths (?id=42 becomes /item/42 — the classic clean-URL transformation); removing file extensions (/about instead of /about.php); enforcing trailing-slash consistency; and pattern-based mapping (a whole category of URLs handled by one rule with captured variables). The rules use regular expressions to match the clean URL and rewrite it to the real one, with captured groups ($1, $2) passing the variable parts through.

Deployment and cautions: rules go in the .htaccess file at your site root, requiring RewriteEngine On first; Apache parses .htaccess per-request, so a syntax error 500-errors the whole site (test on staging, or be ready to revert). The regex is the tricky part — overly broad patterns can catch URLs they shouldn't or create loops, so test each rule. And a note: this is Apache-specific — Nginx uses different rewrite syntax (in server config, not .htaccess). For simpler needs — redirecting old URLs to new — our .htaccess Redirect Generator handles 301s; use rewriting when you're presenting clean URLs for existing dynamic content. Verify results with the Redirect Checker and Status Code Checker.