This is How to Redirect Only One Page Over HTTP When Your WordPress Site is HTTPS
As the web becomes increasingly secure, more and more websites are making the switch to HTTPS. This is a great step forward for online security, but it can sometimes present challenges, especially when you have specific content that needs to be accessible over the traditional HTTP protocol.
In this article, we'll explore a common scenario – your WordPress site is fully HTTPS-enabled, but you need to redirect a single page or post to HTTP. We'll walk through the step-by-step process to achieve this without compromising the overall security of your website.
Understanding the HTTPS to HTTP Redirect Challenge
When you migrate your WordPress site from HTTP to HTTPS, the best practice is to redirect all pages and content to use the secure HTTPS protocol. This ensures your entire website is served over a secure connection, protecting your users' data and information.
However, there may be cases where you need to maintain certain content or functionality over the traditional HTTP protocol. Perhaps you have an older embed or third-party integration that doesn't support HTTPS, or you need to serve content in a specific way for legacy systems or user access.
Naive attempts to redirect a single page or post back to HTTP can often lead to security issues or unexpected behavior. Simply adding a redirect rule to your .htaccess
file or WordPress plugin won't work, as it will attempt to redirect your entire site over HTTP, negating the benefits of HTTPS.
The Right Way to Redirect a Single Page Over HTTP
To properly redirect a single page or post on your WordPress site from HTTPS to HTTP, we'll need to use a combination of techniques. This will allow you to maintain the secure HTTPS protocol for your entire website while selectively serving a specific piece of content over the traditional HTTP protocol.
Here's a step-by-step guide to achieve this:
1. Identify the Page or Post to Redirect
First, you'll need to determine which specific page or post on your WordPress site needs to be accessible over HTTP. Make a note of the URL path for this page, as you'll need it in the next steps.
For example, let's say you have a legacy page at the URL /legacy-content
that needs to be served over HTTP.
2. Create a Custom Rewrite Rule in WordPress
Next, you'll need to create a custom rewrite rule in WordPress to handle the HTTP to HTTPS redirection for your website, while exempting the specific page or post you identified in the previous step.
To do this, add the following code to your WordPress theme's functions.php
file:
function my_custom_redirect() {
if (!is_ssl() && !is_admin() && $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] != '/legacy-content') {
wp_redirect('https://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], 301);
exit;
}
}
add_action('template_redirect', 'my_custom_redirect');
In this code, we're using the template_redirect
action hook to check the current request. If the following conditions are met:
- The request is not over HTTPS (i.e., it's HTTP)
- The request is not for the WordPress admin area
- The request is not for the
/legacy-content
page
Then we redirect the user to the HTTPS version of the same URL using a 301 (permanent) redirect.
This ensures that all pages and content on your WordPress site are served over the secure HTTPS protocol, except for the specific page or post you want to keep accessible over HTTP.
3. Handle the HTTP to HTTPS Redirect for the Specific Page
Now that you've set up the custom redirection rule, you need to ensure that the /legacy-content
page is actually accessible over HTTP. To do this, you'll need to create another custom rewrite rule to handle the HTTP to HTTPS redirect for this specific page.
Add the following code to your WordPress theme's functions.php
file, immediately after the previous code block:
function my_legacy_content_redirect() {
if (is_ssl() && $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] == '/legacy-content') {
wp_redirect('http://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/legacy-content', 301);
exit;
}
}
add_action('template_redirect', 'my_legacy_content_redirect');
In this code, we're checking if the current request is for the /legacy-content
page and if it's being served over HTTPS. If those conditions are met, we redirect the user to the HTTP version of the same URL using a 301 (permanent) redirect.
This ensures that the /legacy-content
page is always accessible over the HTTP protocol, while the rest of your WordPress site remains secure under HTTPS.
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4. Test and Verify the Redirects
After implementing the custom redirect rules, it's important to thoroughly test your website to ensure the redirects are working as expected.
Start by visiting your website over HTTP and verify that you're being redirected to the HTTPS version of the site, except for the /legacy-content
page, which should remain accessible over HTTP.
Next, visit the /legacy-content
page over HTTPS and confirm that you're being redirected to the HTTP version of the same page.
Make any necessary adjustments to the redirect rules or the specific URL paths until you're satisfied with the behavior.
Considerations and Best Practices
While the solution we've outlined above should work for most scenarios, there are a few additional considerations and best practices to keep in mind:
-
Avoid Duplicate Content Issues: Ensure that your website's content is not accessible from both the HTTP and HTTPS versions of the same page. This can lead to search engine penalties for duplicate content. The redirect rules you've implemented should effectively prevent this.
-
Secure Mixed Content: Even though you're serving the /legacy-content
page over HTTP, make sure that any resources (images, scripts, CSS, etc.) used on that page are also served over HTTP. Serving mixed content (HTTP and HTTPS) on the same page can cause security warnings in modern web browsers.
-
Update Internal Links: If you have any internal links on your WordPress site that point to the /legacy-content
page, make sure to update them to use the HTTP protocol. This will ensure a seamless user experience and prevent any potential issues.
-
Monitor and Maintain: Regularly review your website's performance and security, especially if you make any changes to your redirect rules or content delivery. Ensure that the HTTP to HTTPS redirects are still functioning as expected and that you're not introducing any new security vulnerabilities.
By following these steps, you can successfully redirect a single page or post on your WordPress site from HTTPS to HTTP, while keeping the rest of your website secure and served over the modern, encrypted HTTPS protocol.
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