Using "?" in htaccess redirect

Question

I want to redirect

mysite.com/vids.php?id=265s2g

to

mysite.com/watch?v=265s2g

I have tried

RewriteRule ^watch?v=(.*)$ vids.php?id=$1

But gives me a not found error. What is the correct way to do it ?

Answer 1

You can use the following rule to redirect

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^id=([^&]+) [NC]
RewriteRule ^vids.php(.*)$ watch?v=%1 [L,R,NC]

The above rule will redirect,

http://anysite.com/vids.php?id=265s2g

to

http://anysite.com/watch?v=265s2g

Try the test at http://htaccess.madewithlove.be/

Answer 2

You can't match query string in rewrite rule. Use it this way:

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^v=([^&]+) [NC]
RewriteRule ^watch$ vids\.php?id=$1 [L,R,NC]