mod-rewrite forwarding without changing URL

Question

I have a small problem with my Apache configuration when creating "pretty" URLs. I've got it to the stage where typing (or linkig for that matter) to

index.html

forwards you to

index.php?pageID=Forside

that is exactly what I want. But how can I get index.html to stay in the address bar of the browser? Right now it forwards and changes the URL to the original one.

Here my .htaccess:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} index\.html
RewriteRule .* http://www.radoor-designs.dk/index.php?pageID=Forside [L]

And before someone comments on it: Options +FollowSymLinks is missing since it triggers an error 500 on a one.com webhotel.

Thanks in advance!

Solution 1

Try the following:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^index\.html$ /index.php?pageID=Forside [L]

I think this may help you to resolve your problem.

Solution 2

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^index.html$  /index.php?pageID=Forside [L]

This will do the redirect for you whilst showing index.html in the browser window.

Comments

[Severin]

When you go on radoor-designs.dk/index.html it opens the index as it should, but changes the URL you typed in into the original -> radoor-designs.dk/index.php?pageID=Forside The whole point of the rewrite was to have a URL that looks good and is SEO friendly - which means that it should not contain ?pageID=something&id=4

[Neo]

is there a difference between index.php and index.php?pageID=Forside?

[Severin]

No - that is the point of it. I want index.html silently linked to the one with the PHP variable. "Invisible" for the user if you want. The browser window should show the content of index.php?pageID=something while the address bar still shows index.html

[maganap]

To explain why this happens, if you start the destination argument in the RewriteRule with http:// it will cause a Redirection (it's just like using the [R] flag, also called an External Redirect). This will cause the browser to make a new request, hence changing the URL showed in the address bar. To avoid a redirection, and actually "map" the URL (internal mapping, user won't see a change in the address bar), don't use [R], and the destination argument in the RewriteRule should point to a relative destination.

[B T]

Why do you think it might resolve the problem? This doesn't explain anything

[Gerardlamo]

This doesn't work for me, as the new url is changed to /index.php?pageID=Forside