This Is How You Can Remove 'index.html' From Your WordPress URLs
If you're running a WordPress website, you may have noticed that your URLs often include the "index.html" part, which can look messy and unprofessional. In this article, we'll show you how to easily remove the "index.html" from your WordPress URLs, improving your website's appearance and user experience.
Understanding the Problem
By default, WordPress generates URLs that include the "index.html" file name, like this:
https://example.com/about/index.html
This can make your URLs look cluttered and difficult to read, especially if you have a lot of content on your website. Additionally, having the "index.html" in your URLs can negatively impact your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts, as search engines may not interpret the URLs as cleanly as they could.
The Solution: Modifying the .htaccess File
The solution to this problem is to modify your website's .htaccess
file, which is a configuration file that controls how your web server handles requests to your website. By making a few changes to this file, you can remove the "index.html" from your WordPress URLs.
Here's how to do it:
-
Backup Your .htaccess File
Before making any changes, it's always a good idea to create a backup of your .htaccess
file. This will ensure that you can revert the changes if something goes wrong.
-
Access Your .htaccess File
To access your .htaccess
file, you can either use a file manager provided by your web hosting provider or connect to your website using an FTP client. The .htaccess
file is typically located in the root directory of your WordPress installation.
-
Add the Rewrite Rules
Once you've located the .htaccess
file, add the following lines of code to the file:
# Remove index.html from URL
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.html -f
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1.html [L]
This code tells your web server to remove the "index.html" part from the URL if the requested file exists with the ".html" extension.
-
Save and Upload the .htaccess File
After adding the rewrite rules, save the .htaccess
file and upload it back to your website's root directory.
Once you've completed these steps, your WordPress URLs should now look like this:
https://example.com/about/
Instead of:
https://example.com/about/index.html
Verifying the Changes
To ensure that the changes have been successfully implemented, you can try accessing a few pages on your website and checking the URLs. If the "index.html" part has been removed, then the process was successful.
If you encounter any issues or the changes don't seem to be taking effect, you may need to clear your browser's cache or check your web server's configuration settings.
Additional Considerations
While removing the "index.html" from your WordPress URLs can improve the appearance and user experience of your website, there are a few additional considerations to keep in mind:
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Redirects: If you have existing links or bookmarks that point to the old URLs with "index.html", you'll need to set up 301 redirects to ensure that users and search engines are directed to the new, clean URLs.
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Caching: Some caching plugins or server-level caching configurations may cache the old URLs with "index.html". Make sure to clear your website's cache after making the changes to the .htaccess
file.
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Permalink Structure: In addition to modifying the .htaccess
file, you may also want to consider updating your WordPress Permalink settings to a more SEO-friendly structure, such as "/%postname%/".
By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily remove the "index.html" from your WordPress URLs, improving the overall appearance and user experience of your website. And if you're looking for a way to further optimize your website's performance and conversion rates, be sure to check out Flowpoint.ai, which can help you identify and fix technical issues that are impacting your website's success.
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