Move WordPress .htaccess Rules to the httpd.conf File

WordPress SEO friendly permalinks are set via rewrite rules within the root .htaccess file.

Standard .htaccess file WordPress SEO friendly permalink rules.

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

The above sort of .htaccess file rules in theory can be moved (you don’t HAVE to) to the httpd.conf or domain specific conf file via a Directory directive like this added to the domains VirtualHost directive:

<Directory /home/domainname/public_html> # BEGIN WordPress <IfModule mod_rewrite.c> RewriteEngine On RewriteBase / RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L] RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteRule . /index.php [L] </IfModule> # END WordPress </Directory>

After moving the rules your conf file will look something like the screenshot above.

Note: It’s important to wrap the WordPress rules inside a Directory directive, without it, it won’t work.

I added the rules to a conf files which holds the directives/rules for this domain rather than the main httpd.conf file, end result is the same.

Continue Reading Performance Tip: Move Rewrite Rules from .htaccess to httpd.conf