mod_rewrite rule not working as expected

Question

i'm trying to define a mod rewrite rule which should work like this: contact.php -> index.php?page=contact

my htaccess file has the following content:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^%1$   index.php?page=%1 [L]

unfortunately this gives me a 404. any ideas what's wrong? thanks

Answer 1

Try this:

RewriteRule ^/([a-zA-Z_-]+)\.php$ index.php?page=$1

This should capture a request for /something.php and then load index.php?page=something. So long as the "something" only conatins lowercase or uppercase letters (a to z), underscores or hyphens. Add or remove characters if you need a different set of rules for what can make up the name of a valid page.